Free eLearning courses to support teachers this Sexual Health Week

Published: 1 September 2017

This sexual health week (11-17 September) trailblazing sexual health charity, Brook, has launched new, free-to-access e-learning courses on the topics of Consent and Pleasure, to support professionals delivering sex and relationships education (SRE) in secondary schools.

The new Brook courses are designed to ‘teach-the-teacher’ before providing all the required materials for delivering tried-and-tested activities with young people. The aim is to leave educators with the knowledge, confidence and skills to deliver high-quality SRE on vital topics.

This complements the findings of new research released this week by sexual health charity FPA, which highlights a need for schools to teach the subjects that young people need to know in order to develop healthy relationships. 

The courses are the newest additions to Brook’s e-learning platform Brook Learn and are based on original doctoral research. They have been developed as part of a joint project with the University of Sussex.

• Consent aims to equip professionals to confidently deliver sessions on consent and the law, gender norms and stereotypes and the factors which may affect young people’s ability to negotiate consent in their relationships.  
• Pleasure goes beyond biology to cover why it is important to talk about pleasure, first sex and the anatomy of pleasure. Crucially, it helps professionals to confidently support young people in distinguishing between ‘good’ (pleasurable) sex and ‘bad’ (non-consensual) sex.

Brook Chief Executive Helen Marshall said: “We’re delighted to be launching these materials for educators during Sexual Health Week, where the focus is around improving education. We know that teaching young people about topics such as consent and pleasure can be challenging for teachers, but it is vital that we equip young people with the skills they need to make informed decisions.”

Professor Rachel Thomson, Professor of Childhood and Youth Studies at the University of Sussex, said: “A lot of sex education taught in schools is so pre-occupied with the extreme threat of child sexual exploitation that it is failing to prepare a generation of teenagers for more everyday experiences of sex.

“Hopefully, thanks to the great work of our PhD researchers and Brook, these new programmes will mean teenagers will be better prepared for their first sexual experiences and have a greater appreciation of why and how they should seek consent from their partners.”

The courses join a suite of courses that already includes How to deliver SRE, Relationships and Contraception. Brook Learn is an invaluable resource for professionals, especially with the approach of September 2019 when SRE will become mandatory in all secondary schools in England. 

To register for Brook Learn visit learn.brook.org.uk

For more information please email press@brook.org.uk 

With special thanks to Onclick.

For media enquiries please contact Brook's press office on 07789 682831 or email press@brook.org.uk

Notes to editors

Brook believes that young people should have access to great sexual health services and wellbeing support.

Brook provides free and confidential sexual health information, contraception, pregnancy testing, advice and counselling, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections and education programmes, reaching nearly 235,000 young people nationwide every year.
 
Read our Strategic Plan 2017-2020 and learn more about the difference we make in our latest Success Report.