The relationships and sexuality curriculum, and schools

• Give parents and caregivers full disclosure of what is taught in the relationships and sexuality curriculum
• Dispose of resources that conflate “sex” and “gender”, or confuse sexual orientation with gender
• Stop outside agencies such as Inside Out and Qtopia providing resources or instruction, especially without a teacher present
• Guarantee all children privacy from the opposite sex in single-sex spaces such as toilets and changing rooms
• Support children who do not conform to sex-based stereotypes, or who could grow up attracted to the same sex
• Refer distress about sex to appropriate professionals, with parents involved in those discussions

The document supports the Ministry of Education’s Relationships and Sexuality Education Framework, which replaced the previous guidelines, on the grounds that it recognises the reality of biological sex and removes references to what the document calls the imprecise concept of gender. It records reservations about the Framework but does not say what they are.

Support for age-appropriate and scientifically accurate education about sexuality, relationships and consent, with one stated requirement: that any discussion of consent in a sexual context must stress that young people under 16 cannot legally consent.

Schools would give parents and caregivers full disclosure of what is being taught, and dispose of resources that conflate sex with gender or confuse sexual orientation with gender. Outside agencies are named — Inside Out and Qtopia — and would not provide resources or instruction in schools, with the document placing particular weight on cases where the teacher is not present.

The document defines social transition as changing appearance to align with stereotypes of the opposite sex or no sex, using different pronouns, and using opposite-sex toilets and changing facilities. Its position is that teachers should not support it, on the stated basis that doing so is a clinical intervention which often leads to medical transition and affects all students, and that it has been happening without parents’ knowledge.

Teachers would refer concerns about children showing signs of distress about their sex to appropriate professionals, which the document attributes to the recommendations of the Cass Report, and all such discussions would involve parents. The document also states that children who do not conform to sex-based stereotypes, or who could grow up same-sex attracted, should be supported.