Pupils in Nottingham schools will discuss ‘Books I Love about Love’ during this year’s Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) Day.

Taking place in classrooms and homes through online distance learning on Thursday 25 June 2020, RSE Day will feature online creative workshops exploring healthy relationships; with poetry, visual arts, music and dance online lessons, creative challenges and short story and picture book readings.

Organised by Nottingham City Council and ChalleNGe in partnership with the Sex Education Forum, RSE Day will also feature a takeover of the council’s YouTube channel to livestream events and activities across the city. It will also be available to livestream from www.challengenottingham.co.uk and Facebook.

Among the people reading books during the day will be Sid Sloane from Cbeebies, who will appear at 2.45pm on the ChalleNGe/YouTube takeover.

RSE lessons focus on relationships, transition to adulthood, sex education and have a strong emphasis on keeping children safe (especially online). The content is always age appropriate to meet the different needs of primary and secondary pupils and the City Council supports schools to ensure RSE is of a high standard.

RSE Day was pioneered in Nottingham’s schools but is now being celebrated nationally for the second year. RSE Day aims to celebrate positive work around relationships and sex education in schools and the wider community. It is a day for everyone to think about their role in promoting healthy relationships and positive sexual health. Activities in Nottingham are being supported by ChalleNGe.

On RSE Day, Nottingham City Council will launch a new resource for schools exploring faith perspectives on RSE. Developed with local faith leaders, this resource will support teachers in Nottingham schools to reflect diverse faith perspectives in their delivery of RSE, encouraging pupils to recognise and respect the range of views and values.

Catherine Underwood, Corporate Director for People at Nottingham City Council, said: “RSE Day is a really important event in our school calendar. Good RSE can equip young people with facts they can trust, helping to keep them safe and preventing them from turning to playground gossip or dubious information online.

“Nottingham is a diverse city that celebrates equality, inclusivity and respect. We believe it is important to have a positive conversation with children and young people about healthy, respectful and safe relationships.  We are pleased to launch our new resource to support teachers to reflect the range of views, values and faith perspectives around RSE and encourage respect.

“It is important that children and young people are given the opportunity to explore a range of family and relationship types in a way that is supportive, inclusive and affirms children’s different experiences of family life.”

The first local RSE Day took place in Nottingham on 28 June 2018. To build on the success of the first RSE day, the City Council is working in partnership with the Sex Education Forum to increase the profile of the day across the country.

Lucy Emmerson, Director of the Sex Education Forum, said: “RSE Day invites everyone to have a role in Relationships and Sex Education including families, schools and communities. On RSE Day 2020 you can start a conversation, read a book, share thoughts, stories and feelings about friendships, growing up and healthy relationships. These simple actions give out an important message to children and young people that they are not alone at a time when relationships with those around us and access to support are crucial to wellbeing.”

ChalleNGe, Nottingham’s cultural education partnership, is supporting RSE Day by encouraging children to try out creative activities and send creations to be included in a rolling gallery at the end of the day using the hashtag #RSEDayNottm #RSEday.

Cathy Mahmood, ChalleNGe Manager, said: “We’ve commissioned visual artists, dancers, musicians and a poet to join us on RSE day exploring key themes of communication, respect, cooperation, resilience, and trust.

“This will be our first livestreamed full day event in collaboration with the City Council and we’re so delighted to be working together.”

For more information about RSE Day, visit: https://www.sexeducationforum.org.uk/resources/rse-day-25-june-2020

About RSE in Nottingham

RSE Day is the original idea of Nottingham City Council. The first RSE day took place on 28 June 2018 and it will be celebrated on the last Thursday in June every year. 2019 was the first national RSE day which saw us trending at #17 on twitter and the recipients of a supportive quote from Minister Nick Gibb. We also drove engagement from approximately 30 local authorities and many national organisations.

RSE Day aims to celebrate positive work around relationships and sex education in schools and the wider community.  It is a day for everyone to think about their role in promoting healthy relationships and positive sexual health. A set of aims and principles for RSE Day were established in 2019 and are shared by Sex Education Forum and Nottingham City Council. https://www.sexeducationforum.org.uk/resources/rse-day-25-june-2020

To expand on the success of RSE day 2018 & 2019 Nottingham City Council will continue work in partnership with the Sex Education Forum to increase the profile of the day across the country. To ensure maximum exposure and success for the day we will be exploring corporate sponsorship opportunities in 2020 and beyond.

About the Sex Education Forum

The Sex Education Forum, part of the National Children’s Bureau, is the national authority on relationships and sex education (RSE). We believe that good quality RSE is an entitlement for all children and young people and we are working with our partners, who all support statutory RSE and include local authorities, children’s, religious, health and family organisations, to achieve this. For further information visit: www.sexeducationforum.org.uk  

About ChalleNGe

Our purpose is to bring Nottingham’s cultural and education sector together – to explore, research, innovate and improve the city’s cultural learning offer to more and different children and young people.  We want to collaborate, evaluate and facilitate closer working relationships with schools, colleges, universities and other education providers and children and young people. Visit: www.challengenottingham.co.uk

Sid Sloane

Admired by children and parents across the nation, perhaps best known as one of CBeebies’ most-loved founding presenters, Sid Sloane has many more strings to his bow than you might first think.

Actor, presenter and writer, Sid is an energetic force in the world of entertainment. From stage, screen, radio, voice-over and educational appearances, his versatile talent and pragmatic approach sets him apart from other personalities within his genre.

As a children’s well-being advocate and through his company Root4kids, Sid recognizes the need for parents and schools to fully support their children’s physical and mental health. He inspires and delivers practical insights and usable tools to motivate positive behaviour change, leading children to an independent healthy future. Visit www.root4kidstheatre.com to find out more.

StorytimewithSid is an exciting story-reading channel from Sid which can be found on YouTube every weekday ‘LIVE’ at 6:45 PM: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwtXNZnVy-rzAcB36GnTmnw