8 Top Tips for Engaging RSE

In this blog, Rin Harris, an Education Manager at Brook, shares their top tips for creating engaging RSE lessons from their 13 years’ experience as both a teacher and an external facilitator for Brook.

Teaching RSE can bring up some difficult questions and topics, so creating engaging lessons can feel more challenging than other subjects. Here are some of my top tips as an RSE educator:

1. Set clear ground rules

At Brook, all our lessons include creating a group agreement at the start. Clear rules or agreements are important in any lesson, but for RSE lessons they are especially important as they help create a safe space for discussion and encourage students to be open and non-judgemental. If the conversation goes off track during the lesson, you can refer to the group agreement to remind the class.

2. Keep the distance

Talking of ground rules, this is always an important one: RSE should be about the topic, not about the individual experiences within the room. We do share parts of ourselves when teaching, and that’s okay. For example, you might share that you think communication is really important in any relationship. However, you wouldn’t share anything more personal such as how many relationships you’ve had.

In the same way, students should be directed away from sharing personal experiences with the class. Brook’s RSE lessons all include distancing techniques for example, activities use fictional characters and third-person scenarios that allow young people to discuss difficult topics without having to disclose personal experiences.

3. Use anonymous questions

Anonymous questions can be a helpful tool to address misconceptions and myths and help students feel relaxed and supported. You can do this by giving out paper or sticky notes to the class, collecting them and then shuffling them. You could then answer these at the end of the lesson or at the start of the next lesson, so you have time to look over them first. This could be an ongoing strategy in every RSE lesson, or just for certain topics.

It gives you an insight into the things that are going on for the young people in the room and makes you better able to support them with the knowledge to navigate these challenges. Even if you don’t know who’s written them, it’s still better to know of any issues they are having than to not know. If you have any safeguarding concerns and you aren’t sure who wrote it, then try to make yourself accessible and available so they can come forward. At the end of all Brook lessons, we provide signposting to relevant organisations that allow young people another source of support if they’re uncomfortable talking to their teacher.

4. Challenge the statement not the person

You might be familiar with challenging the statement not the person, particularly if you teach subjects where there might be strong views. By focusing on the idea being put forward, not on the young person who said it, you can provide an opportunity for learning, critical thinking and reasoning. Provide students with sentence starters such as “I disagree with that point because…” or “I can see why you think that but I think this view is wrong because…” This can help avoid conversations getting heated and encourages students to not feel afraid to speak up.

5. Don’t take it too seriously

When our Education and Wellbeing Specialists go into schools to deliver an RSE lesson, we are sometimes introduced by the teacher in the following way: “This is a very serious lesson and a very important topic. You must treat the lesson as such.” While that can be true – especially when talking about certain topics such as healthy relationships or sexual harassment – it can have the negative impact of making students scared to speak up and be less engaged for fear that it’s not an appropriate question.

The best RSE lessons that have the most impact are the lessons where young people are curious, engaged, and ask questions.

Remind students that it’s ok to have a giggle – some of the words we say in RSE we don’t really say in other classes, and if students are allowed to have fun in a lesson, they’re bound to learn more than sitting in silence.

6. Be honest

It breaks students’ trust when we don’t give them straight answers. It may not always be appropriate to answer a question, but if it isn’t, you could let them know that. For example, if a Year 8 student asked me how two women have sex, I might say that it’s something we’ll cover in lessons when they are older, or that they can do a lot of the things a different-sex couple can do. If a Year 10 student asked me, I would be honest without going into vivid detail.

Similarly, if you are asked something where you’re not too sure of the answer, you could say “I’m going to read about this and get back to you next lesson.” The most important thing is to consider whether the question is age and stage appropriate and adapting your answer according to this.

7. Include everyone

Sometimes we can make assumptions as to whether a young person is likely to need sexual health information based on their disability, learning needs, presentation or social background. But everyone should have access to high-quality RSE that makes sense to them.

Adapting your lessons to meet the needs of your class will help make sure your lessons are engaging for everyone. Brook lessons have extension and differentiation options that make it easier to alter lessons and offer alternatives for those that need it.

Teaching about relationships and sexual health helps prevent unintended harm for those who may struggle to pick up on the ‘hidden curriculum’.

Another way to make your lessons inclusive is to make sure they include a range of different relationships and people so that different identities and sexual orientations are represented.

8. Give students the right to pass

This is a distinct difference from other lessons. In RSE, especially the topics that are more sexually explicit, we need to give children and young people the right to pass on contributing to the class discussion. If they are uncomfortable and embarrassed, forcing them to speak in front of the class can do more harm than good. That’s not to say they opt out of the lesson entirely: they can still be a part of the lesson by listening to the discussion, working in pairs or groups with people they feel comfortable with or working individually.

You can also encourage them, in the same way as you’d encourage a shy student normally, for example by saying, “that’s a great point, could you explain it to the class in a few minutes?” However, they should have the right to not make comments in front of the whole class.  

With these techniques, and through exploring what resonates best with your classes, you can make sure your students feel included and safe to engage in meaningful discussions and practice skills for real life.