JOHN SMEATON, DIRECTOR OF SPUC: Parents criticise primary schools in Tower Hamlets

Monday, 19 November 2012

Parents criticise primary schools in Tower Hamlets

Parents in Tower Hamlets are unhappy with sex education in the borough's primary schools. SPUC Safe at School and SRE Islamic have released a report today which contains statements from 20 local parents on their poor experiences with sex and relationships education (SRE). The report can be read at http://www.spuc.org.uk/campaigns/safeatschool/towerhamlets201211

Antonia Tully of Safe at School told the media today:

"I am supporting parents in this area to protect their children from explicit sex education. I encourage the parents who contact me from across the country to try to work with their child's school to eliminate inappropriate sex education which is harmful to children. Sadly many parents in Tower Hamlets feel that the schools are not listening to them sufficiently.

"Parents are worried that although some schools are removing the most graphic elements from the SRE lessons, the sex education programmes in use are fundamentally flawed. These programmes are based on the Alfred Kinsey premise that children are sexual from birth. Parents know this is not true."

The report on SRE in Tower Hamlets includes the results of a questionnaire sent to all the borough's primary schools under the Freedom of Information Act and shows that many schools use highly explicit materials.

The Tower Hamlets Parents Action Group on SRE is holding a meeting today to inform parents about how they can protect their children from SRE. The group is angry that the Mayor and Isobel Cattermole, corporate director of the Children, Schools and Families Directorate, have so far not responded to their concerns, despite repeated requests for a meeting.

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About Me

I became involved in SPUC after graduating, when I established a branch in south London in 1974. I have worked full-time for SPUC for 42 years. I became chief executive of SPUC in the UK in 1996, having been general secretary since 1978. I was elected vice-president of International Right to Life Federation in 2005. At UN conferences in Cairo, Copenhagen, Beijing, Istanbul and Rome, I helped coordinate more than 150 pro-life/pro-family groups resulting in pro-life victories in Cairo, Istanbul and Rome. I was educated at Salesian College, London, before going to Oxford where I graduated in English Language and Literature. I qualified as a teacher, becoming head of English at a secondary school. I am married to Josephine. We have a grown-up family and we live in north London.