Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Education – in the Senedd at 1:58 pm on 1 May 2019.
Can I thank Jenny for her positive welcome of the draft that was published yesterday? It is absolutely crucial that everybody understands that what we are proposing here is age and developmentally appropriate relationship and sexuality education that is fully inclusive and reflects the society our children and young people are growing up in and will become adults in. It is about giving those children and young people the language and the knowledge that they will need, as you say, to form healthy relationships—in the first instance, within their own family, and among their peers in school—how they can keep themselves safe, how they have the knowledge to understand what a healthy relationship looks like and what an abusive one looks like. And that is at the heart of what we're trying to do in the development of the new curriculum. But, clearly, I understand that, often, these are sensitive issues, particularly for adults. They're rarely so sensitive for children and young people, who seem to take it all very much in their stride. But it can be very sensitive for adults. And, as part of our engagement around the new curriculum, I will be undertaking a series of roadshow events, and I'll look in particular at engaging with families—mums, dads and carers—on these particular issues. But I'm grateful for the Member's support.