FOI Request - Sex Education in Primary Schools

Request 101003056280

I would like to request the following in primary education:

At what age do pupils begin to receive comprehensive sex education and how much time is allotted for it in the curriculum. This includes discussions of anatomically correct language for sexual organs, forging healthy relationships and general sex education.

Response 18-05-2022

All pupils follow the experiences and outcomes of the Health and Wellbeing curriculum from P1 to P7. Sexual health and relationship education takes place in P6 and P7 when children are first taught about puberty and the changes their bodies are going through and then how human life begins. This is done within a context of loving relationships and builds on the knowledge children have about the correct names for parts of the body they have learned throughout their time at school. There are blocks of lessons of four to six weeks depending on the needs of the class with lessons being of varying lengths from 45 minutes to an hour. Parents are informed that SHARE lessons will take place and they have an opportunity to ask questions about the lessons beforehand if they wish.