The CEO of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) has called on the Minister for Education give teachers the training and support needed to deliver an updated Social, Personal, and Health Education (SPHE) programme.
Rachel Morrogh told RTÉ News that she has written to Norma Foley today to emphasise the importance of this “essential component” of what could be an “excellent” resource.
“We have this window of opportunity now to really get in front of the problem of sexual violence,” Ms Morrogh said.
“Through education and training we can really give young people a chance.”
The education of older teens on issues such as mental health and wellbeing, sexuality, consent and other rights is to become mandatory in all schools from 2027 when the new SPHE programme comes into effect.
But Ms Murrogh noted that teachers may find some aspects of it challenging, and called on Minister Foley “to put in place supports so that they feel confident teaching subjects that they may not have taught before”.
Schools are being told this week that the new curriculum will be obligatory for all students from September, 2027.
For students who follow the Leaving Certificate Applied programme, it will be mandatory from September of next year.
The revised curriculum is among 12 new and revised Leaving Certificate subjects published this week by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA).
Currently fewer than 20% of post-primary schools timetable SPHE classes for senior cycle students.
This means many older teens receive little or no personal health education in their final school years.
The new syllabus replaces an optional curriculum that is 13 years old.
One student at Oatlands College, Ryan Murray, said that he learned SPHE in fifth and sixth year and that it was “really, really important”.
“They brought people in and they were really professional about it,” he said. “They taught me about consent and how to deal with all that sort of stuff.”
Schools will be required to deliver 60 hours of teaching and learning in the subject to all students. This is the equivalent of one hour per week.
A revised and mandatory Junior Cycle SPHE curriculum was introduced in schools last year.
The Department of Education said schools were being given until 2027 to introduce the subject at senior cycle level because significant preparatory work was needed to support its introduction and timetabling.
However it said schools could opt-in earlier if they wished.
The new programme has three core strands: Health and Wellbeing, Relationships and Sexuality, and Into Adulthood.
The NCCA said the first strand focusses in particular on the emotional wellbeing of young people and how to manage mental health challenges.
The Relationships and Sexuality strand “aims to build awareness and skills needed for healthy relationships – whether with friends, families or romantic relationships”.
It also addresses Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence (DSGBV) – helping young people to recognise violent and abusive relationships and develop an awareness of their rights and protections under the law.
Topics within this strand include themes addressed in the new Junior Cycle SPHE curriculum – such as consent, pornography, sexual health, and how to stay safe when socialising, both in person and online.
Feedback showed a need for a more effective SPHE programme for young people
The third strand is geared towards helping students prepare for the transition from school to adult life beyond.
The NCCA said the main drivers for change in the SPHE curriculum include “growing evidence of the challenges that young people in Ireland face as they navigate growing up today, coupled with evidence of the important role that school-based health education programmes can play in supporting young people’s social, emotional and physical wellbeing”.
A draft curriculum was published in May of 2023 and the NCCA said it carried out extensive consultation with students, teachers and school leaders before finalising the programme.
It said the feedback clearly highlighted the need to provide more effective SPHE for all children and young people.
It said national policy, including the Programme for Government and the 2021 Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality, supported the development of an updated and age appropriate SPHE curriculum that specifically addressed gender equality; healthy and unhealthy relationships; consent; and domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.
New Leaving Certificate subjects
New specifications have also been published in nine senior cycle subjects, including two new subjects: Climate Action and Sustainable Development, and Drama, Film and Theatre Studies.
These new subjects will be introduced in a small number of schools from next September, before their wider introduction across the system.
Climate Action and Sustainable Development will encourage students to examine their own role as global citizens, “exploring the systems which govern decision making, the drivers of global poverty and environmental injustice”.
The overarching aim of the subject is “to develop students’ capacity for informed and meaningful action for a just and sustainable world”.
The existing subjects for which new curriculums have been developed are: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Business, Arabic, Latin and Ancient Greek.
These revised syllabi will be introduced into schools next September, for students entering fifth year.
An amended Transition Year (TY) Programme statement has also been published.
Schools will be advised to audit their current TY offering and revise it where necessary in line with the new revised version.
Norma Foley said she was pleased to see the new subjects introduced (File: RollingNews.ie)
Two new senior cycle strands for students with certain special educational needs have also been developed.
These extend programmes already available at Junior Cycle and are designed for students whose needs and abilities may prevent them from accessing existing Leaving Certificate programmes.
In what the Department of Education has called a major innovation, students who complete these strands successfully will receive certification from the State Examinations Commission.
Welcoming the new curriculums, Minister for Education Norma Foley said: “This is another very positive step forward in terms of advancing senior cycle reform. There are nine new and revised subjects that students will experience from August/September next year. Each subject will have an additional assessment component worth at least 40% of the marks.
“The aim is that our students will have an opportunity to showcase their talents and ability and also to reduce the stress on them by moving away from the focus on one single exam day in June.”
Ms Foley said she was particularly pleased to see the new subjects introduced.
“These subjects will offer students a new learning experience and avenue to demonstrate their talents and develop key competencies.
“I want to wish the best of luck to the 100 schools around the country who have been selected to be in the first group of schools to offer the subjects from next year.”
The first schools to offer the two new subjects will be announced shortly, the department said.
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Navigating the modern world
The Assistant Principal of a school in Co Wicklow said the new mandatory curriculum is welcome as students need to learn how to navigate the modern world.
However, Eoghan Cleary, who is the Coordinator of SPHE and curricular well-being at Temple Carrig School in Greystones, warned that there is no current training for teachers to teach a senior cycle course.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he said teachers need to be trained in an integral way so they can be confident dealing with such sensitive issues in the classroom.
Mr Cleary said he had attended the introductory training provided by the Department of Education and it was not sufficient.
“We need the training to be able to treat train every year from First to Third Year. There are trainings out there available through places like the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre for specific areas of the programme, but those trainings take four days. The idea that you’d be trained in the entire programme in a two day training and through the department, you know, it doesn’t weigh up.”
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