Principles of Design and Delivery of Relationships and Sex Education

Relationships and sex education is a specialist field, and there is a significant body of scholarly literature exploring the best practice approaches for consent development and delivery. Katrina Marson’s research demonstrated that the professionals working across Europe and North America to implement relationships and sex education prioritised a range of principles in the design and delivery of programs.

All relationships and sex education must:

 

Utilise multiple sites of intervention.

It cannot be limited to individual lessons or school programs – it must extend to whole schools, families and communities.

 
 

Start in early childhood.

It is important that children be exposed to relationships and sex education from a young age, in order to promote and protect wellbeing as early as possible.

 

Normalise a positive approach to sexuality and wellbeing.

Reducing shame and taboo around sex, bodies and relationships promotes the entitlement to wellbeing and increases the likelihood that young people will learn to communicate appropriately and openly about such matters over the course of their lives.

Be holistic.

Matters of consent, respect and relationships cannot be separated from puberty, sex, bodies and families: to address these matters in isolation from each other is ineffective. All relationships and sex education programs must cover topics of:

  • Reproduction and families

  • Consent and expressing boundaries

  • Social and emotional development (friendships/relationships)

  • Bodies (including puberty)

Relationships and sex education must focus on improving knowledge, developing attitudes and building behavioural skills.

 

Be modified appropriately for particular groups.

While all relationships and sex education should be relevant to the widest range of participants, particular groups will require important modifications in order to better meet their needs and ensure learning takes place – for example, students with educational needs or disability.

Be age-appropriate, repeated and consistent.

Relationships and sex education must be age-appropriate and initiatives should adopt a ‘spiral curriculum’ approach, progressively building on prior learnings.

 

Promote diversity and inclusivity.

Lessons, materials and resources should represent the lived experience of everyone; for example, images and narratives of people from a diverse range of backgrounds is important.

 

Incorporate evaluation and protection mechanisms.

Measuring performance of relationships and sex education initiatives is important, as is the need to ensure protections are in place to support the safety of participants.