A woman whose 15-year-old daughter attends Hatcham College in New Cross, London, was told by a judge that she is not permitted to see the sex education teaching material being taught to her child. Clare Page, 47, reportedly lost a case to see the details of a sex education course, per The Times.
However, she said that she is going to continue the fight to make available the course materials used by the School of Sexuality Education, a charity that apparently provides sex education to about 300 schools. Page’s campaign to have the material released was kicked off after her daughter came home from school, saying that her class had been taught about “sex positivity” and the heteronormativity was “a bad thing,” per the report.
The School of Sexuality Education was supported by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in saying that the charity’s commercial interests in concealing the contents of the course superseded the public interest in making them available to the public. Though Page appealed the decision, the first-tier tribunal upheld the initial decision.
The report noted that Page is currently deliberating, in tandem with legal advice, whether she should pursue the case in taking it to an upper-tier tribunal.
Page said: “What the ICO and the judge are trying to suggest is that I, as a parent, may have had a right to see the lesson plans but that doesn’t mean it could be seen by the world at large.”
“I believe all state-funded school resources should be published, citable and open for public or regulatory scrutiny.” Page also said that she wanted to have the material to be able to share with Ofsted and the Department of Education if she felt that there were safeguarding issues, per The Times.
However, the School of Sexuality Education had a different view, saying: “We have always provided full transparency to caregivers and will continue to do so.”
“We believe caregivers have a right to know what their children are being taught and actively encourage schools to involve parents. We welcome the tribunal’s ruling that protects our intellectual property, and allows us to continue to deliver inclusive RSE to young people.”
