Sir, –I am a secondary school teacher of social, personal and health education (SPHE) and I am extremely concerned about the new Flourish programme intended to cover relationships and sexuality education in primary schools as an accompaniment to the SPHE curriculum ("New Catholic primary school sex education programme published", News, April 27th).
This programme, developed by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, aligns a central part of the Wellbeing Programme for our children with a Catholic ethos.
I have two issues with this approach. First, the conflating of a religious programme with relationships and sexuality education. In every single aspect of Flourish, God and/or Jesus is mentioned. This is not a thorough and scientifically accurate programme as recommended by research. It is a programme that is designed to further the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Second, there is a failure to align the teaching of relationships and sexuality education in primary and secondary schools. This approach goes against the recommendation that the programme is taught in a spiral manner from primary through to secondary school, with greater depth given to similar topics as the students grow and mature.
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Flourish will result in a disconnect between a religious approach taken in the 90 per cent of primary schools under Catholic management and the non-religious approach taken by secondary schools to relationships and sexuality education.
I would be strongly of the opinion that the programme proposed here is one that is more damaging to the long-term health and wellbeing of our children.
It will cause confusion between sexuality and relationships, and religion; a confusion that will echo throughout their lives as they mature and explore their own sexuality.
I would strongly urge the Government to take action on the Objective Education Bill which has been stalled at the committee stage in the Dáil since 2018. I would also urge parents, teachers and principals to fully read the Flourish programme and consider if a programme on sexuality and relationships is the best place to be including God.
The programme does have merit in the values that it teaches but these values are not the sole remit of the Catholic Church and do not need the catechetical framework that this programme seeks to impose. – Yours, etc,
MÁIRE DE BARRA,
Fermoy,
Co Cork.
Sir, – I wish to express my upset on learning of the new Flourish programme intended to cover relationships and sexuality education in primary schools as an accompaniment to the social, personal and health education curriculum. As a mother of two primary-going kids this topic is one causing deep upset and concern currently. This programme was developed by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference and aligns an essential part of student education with a Catholic ethos. That would be fine if pupils had an opt-in policy. Given that the majority of our schools (90 per cent ) are under Catholic patronage, this programme will be the default in many schools and pupils of minority or no religion will either have to suck it up or sit it out.
The suggestion that “Puberty is a gift from God” particularly grates, as does the assertion that “we are perfectly designed by God to procreate with him”. My preference is for a programme that develops pupils skills to manage different situations rather than spending time on aligning with a particular religious perspective. Topics such as bodily autonomy and consent could be meaningfully addressed in an age-appropriate ways.
The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment is completing a review of the relationships and sexuality education curriculum currently and my preference would be to base the content on objective, factual grounds without recourse to the ethos of a school. I appreciate that even supposedly objective content can espouse liberal views, and few things are truly neutral. There is space in religion class to cover the Catholic perspective on these topics rather than imposing a worldview that is increasingly out of step with a modern, inclusive Ireland.
I would encourage other parents to read the details of the Flourish programme and consider if the Catholic Church is best placed to shape our children’s relationship and sexuality education. I would urge you to contact your local TD, voice your rejection of the Flourish programme and request movement on the stalled Objective Sex Education Bill. – Yours, etc,
CATHERINE O’MAHONY,
Ballinlough, Cork.