The Department of Health has produced guidance on school nursing including this pathway for sexual health which includes a set of 11 tips from the Sex Education Forum explaining how school nurses can effectively support RSE.
School nurses supporting good quality SRE – a checklist from the Sex Education Forum
1. Are school nurses introduced in person to all pupils, for example by visiting a Year group assembly, tutor-time or SRE lesson?
2. Do pupils learn that they can visit the school nurse and other health services ‘un-invited’ and that it is fine to can come with a worry or a question – they don’t have to wait until there is a problem?
3. Are younger pupils taught correct names for sexual parts of the body and about bodily privacy? If not, have you offered to support teachers with suitable vocabulary and resources?
4. Do primary children learn about puberty before they experience it? Can school nurses provide training for teachers to improve the timing and quality of puberty education?
5. Is the confidentiality offered by school nurses explained to pupils in SRE?
6. Do secondary pupils have opportunities to practice the skills for using a sexual health service by themselves, for example role-play conversations between a nurse or receptionist and a client?
7. Does the SRE programme teach sufficient knowledge about sexual health for young people to be able to assess their own need to use a service?
8. Are school nurses documenting common questions and concerns from pupils and feeding this back anonymously to the lead SRE teacher in order to inform curriculum planning?
9. Do pupils have a way of asking the school nurse a question anonymously, for example by email or a question box and is this facility explained in SRE?
10. Are school nurses aware of any external agencies contributing to the schools SRE and confident about the medical accuracy of what they teach? 11. Are school nurses consulted when the SRE programme is reviewed or the policy updated?
Extract from 'Developing strong relationships and supporting positive sexual health' Department of Health (2013)
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