Session 2 Breakout Workshops

2.1 Sex Education in Schools: one size does not fit all

Presentation in pdf format

Meg Logan
Cooparoo Secondary College
Brisbane, Qld

This paper addresses the difficult issue of developing a sexuality education implementation plan which meets the needs of teachers as well as those of students. Coorparoo Secondary College has set out to plan a holistic program of health and wellbeing education, based on two key documents. Queensland Health’s The Health Promoting Schools Toolbox (2001) aimed at helping school communities to become healthy places to work, learn and play. The Queensland Department of Education and Training’s Health and Wellbeing Framework (2005) identified six priority areas for schools to focus on:

• Nutrition and physical activity
• Skin Cancer and Sun Safety
• Mental Health
• Drug Education
• Road Safety, and
• Sexual Health

The first step in planning this program was to map where the six priority topics were being incorporated into the curriculum across years 8 to 12. In years 8 and 9 all topics were covered within the personal development strand of the key learning area of Health and Physical Education. Topics were addressed sequentially and age appropriately with assessable outcomes as recommended in the Health and Wellbeing Framework.

After year 9 it became far more difficult to track the delivery of personal development education. While some senior subject areas, such as Health Education and Home Economics, did address a number of these topics, less than 5% of students were being reached. Most year 10, 11 & 12 students were not receiving health and wellbeing education in their school program. Several teachers in the school reported remembering the implementation of a life skills program previously but did not know why it had been phased out.

The task at hand was clear – awareness of the importance of health and wellbeing education for adolescents needed to be highlighted. A meeting was held with administration and the school nurse to decide on a course of action. It was decided that all year 10, 11 and 12 students would do personal development education on a Wednesday afternoon for the remainder of the year. This would require most of the staff to be timetabled on to deliver a prepared program to class groups. This school nurse and key health educator in the school addressed a staff meeting about the health concerns and issues involving our adolescent students and a copy of the framework was disseminated.

We could see immediately the impending doom. Teachers felt anxious about broaching these sensitive topics and unsure on whether they had the expertise to do so. Opportunity would not be given for them to build rapport with the group of students they were working with before the program began. Many teachers are already feeling overworked and undervalued, and the prospect of being asked to do even more was not appreciated.

It was clear we needed to rethink our approach, taking into consideration the needs of our staff as well as our students. Health and wellbeing education must be tailored to meet the needs of the whole school environment. Proposed solutions included:

• The ongoing professional development of staff,
• starting small and establishing strong roots for the program,
• accessing outside agencies to exploit expertise, and
• networking with other schools to think tank and evaluate strategies

This paper will outline the process used in addressing these issues and implementing the revised course. The author and the teacher leading the sex education team will outline how this topic area is being delivered and received.

2.2 Sexuality Education in an Integrated Middle Years Setting

Marguerite Westacott and Debruoniva Richards
Blackall Range Independent School
Sunshine Coast

Blackall Range Independent School is a non-denominational P-10 school located in the hinterland of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. Its philosophy embraces concepts of student self direction, integrated studies and personal development. As part of its overall programming, Blackall Range delivers ongoing sexuality education programs with an emphasis on relationships and ethics.

Historically, FPQ was invited to deliver its education programs on an annual basis. Due to student interest in the topics brought forward by FPQ, high school teacher Marguerite Westacott undertook training with FPQ and subsequently became responsible for delivering an ongoing program. This year, Debruoniva Richards was engaged as another teacher in the high school, and with Deb having graduate qualification in Sexual Health and work experience with FPQ, Marguerite and Deb found that the students’ desires to talk about issues of sexuality and relationships fueled a need for these topics to become a large part of the daily curriculum. We have approached this is two ways:

• By delivering a structured weekly session supported by the High Talk curriculum, separated into two age groupings of years 8/9 and year 10, and
• By addressing issues of sexuality and relationships as they arise within the adolescent cohort.

We have found the this dual approach, which is at all times directed by the students’ desire to learn, has allowed us to deliver information and experiences that are timely and relevant to the students, which has resulted in a high interest level and subsequent participation and engagemen

One of the hallmarks of our approach is the we are able, through the long term and spontaneous nature of our programming, to create a depth and safety within the group that allows for issues of sexuality and ethics to be fully explored. We have also utilised these aspects to reach further afield in engaging speakers from outside of our school community to talk to the students on issues of sexual abuse and socio-cultural influences on sexuality and gender.

Parent support for our programs has been derived from holding ongoing parent information sessions and with our focus on creating a fun, informal and relaxed learning environment where educators and students are learning with each other we are able to continually address topical issues that arise within our community and society in a cohesive approach to sexuality education. In essence, we feel that we have had the opportunity to create relationships with each of our students that foster an environment of trust. This success, we feel, is both a part of the teaching environment we work in, as well as our ability to be reflective in our teaching practice.

2.3 Sexuality Education in the Health and Physical Education Curriculum in the Far North

Sharon Jones
Smithfield State High School
Cairns , Qld

Curriculum at Smithfield State High School

• All year 8, 9 and 10 students involved in sexuality education
• Links with FPQ, Cairns Sexual Health and Quac
• Health Education a senior subject that involves students in data collection, analysis and health promotion in relation to sexuality education
• Approach promotes interpersonal skills and decision making
• Links with FPQ for staff skilling

This paper will reflect on learning and teaching at school in the far north that has been implementing sexuality education through the Health and Physical Education Curriculum for many years.

2.4 One Class Once a year to All Classes Once a Week

Aaron Sheppard
and Leigh Murray
Geebung Special School
Brisbane, Qld

Geebung Special School is a primary special school coded for students with intellectual and multiple impairments. The school currently has 96 students aged from 5 to 13 years of age.

The school has re-developed their Human Relationships Education (HRE) program. Moving from a once yearly series of talks given by a school nurse from the Department of Health, with school staff putting out spot fires the rest of the year, to a whole school approach supported by the wider school community, inclusive of all students and implemented by class teachers.

The impetuous for change began in 2007 with a recognition by staff that the school needed to teach a wider concept of HRE which would be inclusive of protective behaviours and that although the program run by Queensland Health was a good one, in large the needs of our student, for a number of reasons including their learning styles were not being met.

In 2008 Family Planning Queensland offered schools the opportunity to gain resources and assistance to develop a HRE program in the school. This offer was taken up by the school and lead by 2 staff who had previously attended in-service in this area.

A key staff member undertook a literature research in the area of HRE prior to working with staff from FPQ, from this a core group of staff established key goals for the school based programs. The basis of our program is that it is to be taught to the whole school from year one through to seven, it address the unique learning needs of individual students and that it include the greater school community such as parents and family.

The development of the whole school program has taken 2 years and the school is now rolling out the program across the school.

In 2009 seventy-five percent of the teaching staff at Geebung Special School are confident in teaching Human Relationships and Sexual Education to their class. The HRE program has been imbedded in the school curriculum and is currently being added to the school Student Record of Achievement, the core skills inventory for the school. The program is also being embraced by the parent population with almost half of the families of the school represented at one of the school’s parent information evenings.

2.5 Teaching sexuality education to students with special needs - How we are navigating the mine field

Emma Davies and Marcia Erdeljac
Pine Rivers Special School
Brisbane, Qld

• How sexuality education is being delivered at our school – An overview of our ‘Personal Development Program’.
• The link the content we are delivering in our program has with the curriculum (i.e. Essential Learnings) and our school’s ‘school wide positive behaviour program’.
• The different issues we were faced with when designing our program.

The value I see in this program as a classroom teacher.

2.6 We can talk about it – A Collaborative Approach by QHealth, Education Queensland and FPQ

Lisa Condon (SBYHN)
& Beryl Plummer (HOD Special Needs)
Tambourine State High School , Tambourine Mt, Qld.

Inspired by the Family Planning Queensland (FPQ) training ** “Teaching sexuality in a special needs context” two key staff at Tamborine Mountain State High capitalised on their existing interdepartmental partnership with Special Needs Students in mind. Beryl Plummer (HOD Special Needs) and Lisa Condon (SBYHN) undertook a collaborative approach to the development of an educational unit designed to meet the needs of Senior Special Needs students at Tamborine Mountain SHS. The combination of curriculum expertise and teaching skills coupled with health support, advice and resourcing proved a winning combination!

Consultation with Special Needs Students identified a clear need for up-to-date information on relationships and sexuality prior to completion of secondary studies. These students were potentially at risk because of very limited opportunities to consolidate knowledge and life experience. Additionally, these students identified that they had not received any sexuality education since Year 9 when FPQ visited the school.

This unit includes a range of topics aimed at minimising risks faced by Special Needs students. Sexuality education was one key topic covered and involved collaborative practice between FPQ, EQ and Qld Health. Using a skills based, partnership approach the SBYHN, class teacher and HOD ensured the topic of risk taking and potential consequences for young adults in the 17-25 year old age group was explored in a holistic and proactively health focused context.

On completion, the young people were invited to evaluate the program. Consequently this educational unit is now in the curriculum and sustainable. The complimentary roles of the SBYHN, teaching staff and FPQ were clearly evidenced throughout this process. With time to reflect on new knowledge the Special Needs Students have again requested additional sexual health sessions to address ongoing emerging concerns.

The presentation will cover:

• Understanding key staff roles/boundaries/opportunities for collaboration
• Topics presented to students
• Student participation/feedback
• Student learning and participation in the developing process
• Outcomes
  • Teachers: Impact on teachers’ own learning/familiarisation with content ensuring sustainable curriculum options.
  • SBYHN: Validation of role in sourcing and providing current and appropriate resources and teacher support for a developing educational unit.
  • Students: New knowledge and positive attitudes allowing positive communication about sexuality; and changes to student awareness/behaviour
• Resources required
• Partnerships/collaboration between organisations (FPQ/EQ/Parents/QLD Health)
• Communication/ Involvement with parents
• Strategies to address changing school curriculum

**This FPQ training is specifically designed for teachers and at the request of Qld Health is no longer available to SBYHNs.

2.7 Resources and activities to Promote a School Based HRE Program

Meg Murr
Chancellor State College
Sunshine Coast , Qld
& Jo Stewart
Family Planning Queensland
Sunshine Coast , Qld

My name is Megan Murr and I have taught both classroom teacher and physical education teacher. For the last 10 years I have been teaching at Chancellor State College – 5 years in the primary campus and 5 years in the secondary campus. I was involved in organising the program with Family Planning while I was working at the Primary Campus. My main role was to liaise with the Family Planning staff to organise parent information nights and timetabling. The program began to grow as the teachers offered follow up sessions to gain feedback and assess the program at the school. It was here that we discovered that the students wanted and probably needed the involvement of their class teachers and specialist PE teachers.

Discussions started amongst interested staff and Family Planning was asked for support to train teachers in the lessons supplied by Family Planning. Volunteering teachers and Family Planning staff were timetabled to team teach together to gain a deep understanding of what an independent program would require in terms of needs for the teachers and needs for the students.

Immediately a program was born.

2.8 Sex Factor: A sexuality education through comedy and dramatisation

Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
Alison Webb, Melbourne, Vic

The Secondary School Nursing Program (SSNP) in collaboration with Family Planning Victoria (FPV), School Focused Youth Services (SFYS), Create, an alternative setting for adolescents/Youth Services implemented a program over 4 years. Sex Factor focused on 130, at risk, year 9 students in 20 secondary schools in Melbourne . The project allowed students to participate in a range of health activities focusing on sexual health and decision making. Students interacted with Secondary School Nurses (SSN), FPV Health Educator, SFYS and Youth Service leaders in an informal environment.

The aims of the Sex Factor Project were to:

• Raise awareness of the multidimensional aspects of sexuality and sexual health of the secondary school students in a series of innovative programs.
• Engage young people in issues of sexuality.
• Increase student awareness of how to access local health services, including SSN at school.
• Provide information about confidentiality.
• To incorporate a “whole schools sexuality approach” in schools.
• Provide evidence based education to students on issues pertaining to sexual and reproductive health, safer sex, the correct and consistent use of condoms, contraception, sexually transmitted infections in particular Chlamydia, unplanned pregnancy, sexual decision making and positive relationships.
• Provide the opportunity for students to disseminate acquired learning to their peers following the participation in Sex Factor.

Sex Factor presented material in a creative manner consisting of monologues written by Create students, theatrical performances by Melbourne based professional comedians, Centre Against Sexual Assault (CASA), Juvenile Justice, FPV, Health Educator and the Secondary School Nursing Program

On evaluation it demonstrated that Sex Factor provided a positive learning environment for adolescent regarding their sexual health. It suggested young people were more likely to consider using health services and seek the SSN for further information regarding contraception, STIs and condom use. The theatrical performances provided an overview of sexual safety whilst the personal stories from Juvenile Justice provided a realistic overview of alcohol and negative consequences of risk taking behaviour. The monologues and health information allowed for discussion about safer sex and contraception. Following Sex Factor, many students felt more equipped to advise their friends on issues of sexual health and resources. Students felt more comfortable about confidentiality issues and seeking health information.

Sex Factor is a health promotion model that can be developed to encompass more school communities to enhance knowledge and access to seeking health services.