Sexuality and sexual health teaching and learning resources
Teaching strategies, units of work and support resources, planning and programming advice and school-based considerations for teaching sexuality and sexual health education.
Introduction
Find:
- teaching strategies
- units of work
- support resources
- planning and programming advice
- school-based considerations for teaching sexuality and sexual health education.
Effective pedagogy in PDHPE applies the basic principles of teaching, learning and assessment.
Effective pedagogy
Effective pedagogy in PDHPE applies the basic principles of teaching, learning and assessment.
The principles for sexuality and sexual health education should guide the planning, delivery and evaluation of sexuality education lessons and learning experiences.
Some aspects of PDHPE may be viewed as sensitive or controversial, such as learning about abuse, child protection, drugs, respectful relationships, sexual health, sexuality, and violence.
As stated in the department’s Controversial Issues in Schools Policy, in accordance with the Controversial Issues in Schools Policy - procedures – Parents and carers should be informed before delivering content that may be considered controversial.
Materials should be reviewed in full and endorsed by the school principal before use.
A range of interactive teaching strategies can be used to promote learning.
Teaching strategies
Due to the sensitive nature of sexuality and sexual health education, some students may find it difficult to contribute to class discussions. It is important to provide an inclusive learning environment where diversity is valued and all students are able to succeed.
To ensure an inclusive and culturally sensitive learning environment schools may consider a range of options when structuring classroom delivery of sexuality and sexual health education. Some options may include:
- All students participate in learning activities within the same classroom.
- Single-sex delivery. Male and female students are separated into different classrooms while they learn the same content about both genders.
- A combination of both approaches. Students are introduced to content in single-sex groups. Students are then combined to further discuss and reinforce knowledge and skills.
A range of interactive teaching strategies can be used to promote learning.
Explore the Digital learning selector to access ideas for integrating ICT in your teaching practice.
Teachers can actively discourage disclosures of personal or sensitive information, to protect all students.
Strategies for preventing public disclosures
There are a number of strategies that can be used to create a supportive learning environment that enables students to feel safe to learn and ask questions. These include the use of strategies to reduce public disclosures.
Links to resources to plan and deliver PDHPE aligned to the PDHPE K-10 Syllabus (2018).
Teaching and learning sequences
These resources:
- can be adapted by teachers from Early Stage 1 to Stage 5 to suit the individual needs of their students
- contains sample units for Early Stage 1 to Stage 3 and sample sequences for Stages 4 and 5.
Keeping myself safe
Students explore:
- different parts of the body, including those which are private
- rights and responsibilities
- appropriate touch
- how to respond to inappropriate touch.
Students will:
- recognise reactions and body signals to safe and unsafe situations
- develop their help-seeking and interpersonal skills, including how to express ways to show respect to others, and use No-Go-Tell.
Resource
What are the changes happening in my world and how can I manage them?
Students identify and describe how their body grows and changes. They identify personal strengths and qualities and explain which activities they enjoy and why. Students recognise that people have different thoughts, feelings and responses to various situations and identify emotional responses people may experience.
Resource
What are the changes happening in my world and how can I manage them? (DOCX 15.8 MB) (Staff only)
Staying safe
Students:
- practise a range of protective strategies for responding to various situations
- build their understanding of connection and belonging by identifying groups they belong to and recognising behaviours which include and exclude others
- develop and apply interpersonal and self-management skills to build relationships, demonstrate cooperation and communicate respectfully in the class and small groups.
Resource
Strengths and strategies for safety
Students explore:
- positive ways of interacting with others
- how strengths can be used to demonstrate respectful behaviour
- differences between themselves and their classmates and the benefits of diversity.
They will:
- consider how body signals, inappropriate touch and unsafe secrets are warning signs and how they can recognise and make safe choices
- examine bullying behaviours and ways to respond to bullying from different perspectives.
Resource
Strengths and strategies for safety
What are the changes happening in my world and how can I manage them?
Students:
- explore the social, emotional and physical changes that may happen as they grow and develop
- identify strategies that will support them to manage change.
Resource
What are the changes happening in my world and how can I manage them? (DOCX 7.3 MB) (staff only)
My right to be safe
Students:
- identify the rights of themselves and others
- explore emotional and behavioural warning signs associated with safe and unsafe situations
- identify sources of support to assist them to learn about change and to seek help and advice to manage the changes associated with puberty.
Resource
Standing up for the rights of myself and others
Students will:
- investigate whether the rights of others are being respected in given scenarios and use this information to identify behaviours that constitute various types of abuse
- recognise that everyone has the right to be safe
- recognise that they can use their personal power and strengths to stand up for their own and others’ rights in a safe and positive way.
Resource
Standing up for the rights of myself and others
What are the changes happening in my world and how can I manage them?
Students explore the social, emotional and physical changes that may happen as they grow and develop. They describe changes related to puberty and discuss how this can impact how they think and feel about themselves and different situations. Students identify strategies that will support them in managing change.
Resource
What are the changes happening in my world and how can I manage them? (DOCX 3.8 MB) (Staff only)
Safe and unsafe relationships
Students:
- explore the diversity of relationships and reasons why relationships change
- develop skills to recognise characteristics of respectful relationships
- identify safe and unsafe online behaviour, types of violence, coercion and how power might be abused
- develop and apply interpersonal and self-management skills to plan for safety online and offline, protect themselves and promote supportive upstander behaviour.
Resource
Power to protect
Students will:
- develop skills to identify emotional abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and forms of harassment
- consider contextual factors that influence the safety of a situation and develop safety plans to lower their level of risk
- discuss and practise protective strategies that can be used to support and protect themselves and advocate for others.
Resource
What are the changes happening in my world and how can I manage them?
Students investigate the social, emotional and physical changes that occur during puberty and ways to positively respond. They evaluate reliable sources of information and investigate help-seeking strategies to deepen their understanding of change. Students examine ways to use their strengths to establish and manage supportive relationships as they navigate change.
Resource
What are the changes happening in my world and how can I manage them? (DOCX 7 MB) (Staff only)
Establishing and maintaining respectful relationships online and offline
Students :
- apply interpersonal skills to practise negotiating consent and consider the factors which influence an individual’s decisions to engage in sexual activity.
- compare the similarities and differences in the rights and responsibilities between online and offline environments and make links between personal decisions, contextual factors and personal values in relation to sexual behaviours.
Resources to support the sequence can be downloaded and adapted.
Resources
Establishing and maintaining respectful relationships online and offline unit (DOCX 723 KB)
Establishing and maintaining respectful relationships online and offline resources (DOCX 845 KB)
Using my personal power positively
Students:
- explores types of power and the influence of family, media, and peers on power in relationships
- devise a range of help-seeking strategies to respond to abuse of power in relationships, identify techniques to persuade people to seek appropriate help in a range of situations and apply and evaluate communication skills to ask for help.
Resources to support the sequence can be downloaded and adapted.
Resources
Using my personal power positively (DOCX 106 KB)
Using my personal power positively resources (DOCX 96 KB)
Speed dating STIs
Students research STIs and BBVs, and share what they know with others based on the concept of 'speed dating',
Resource
Speed dating STIs (DOCX 73 KB) (staff only)
True stories
Uses personal stories of young people who have been infected with a sexually transmissible infection and/or a blood-borne virus.
Students:
- analyse the implications of contracting a STI or BBV on a young person’s life
- propose ways to raise awareness about safe practices.
Resource
Developing relationship skills
Students extend their understanding of the influence of people and places on identity and practise skills to establish and manage relationships.
Resource
Developing relationship skills (DOCX 866 KB) (staff only)
Stairs to inclusivity
Students explore positive actions that can promote inclusivity, and encourage individuals to move beyond the notion of tolerance and acceptance by recognising behaviours that are inclusive.
Resource
Stairs to inclusivity (DOCX 407 KB) (staff only)
Upstander behaviour
Students will build on their knowledge and understanding of the Stairs to inclusivity to identify attitudes, behaviours or actions which promote inclusiveness and encourage others to move beyond tolerance and acceptance.
Resource
Upstander behaviour (DOCX 79 KB) (staff only)
Promoting diversity and inclusion through sport
Students explore positive actions and strategies implemented through sport and sports personalities to support, promote and advocate for inclusivity and encourage moving beyond the notion of tolerance and acceptance towards respecting, valuing and celebrating inclusivity and diversity.
Resource
Promoting diversity and inclusion through sport (DOCX 84 KB) (staff only)
Setting and respecting boundaries in relationships
Students:
- investigate the need for establishing boundaries in relationships
- recognise challenging behaviours in relationships and identify skills and strategies to manage unsafe, abusive and violent situations in relationships
- recognise and apply self-management and interpersonal skills required to maintain respectful intimate relationships throughout the unit, including ways to give and receive consent.
Resources to support the sequence can be downloaded and adapted.
Resources
Setting and respecting boundaries in relationships (DOCX 110 KB)
Resources to support the sequence (DOCX 84 KB)
The impact of power and identity on relationships
Students build their understanding of:
- the link between gender and violence and investigate the influence of gender on power and how power is used in positive and negative ways in relationships
- contextual factors that impact on a person’s health, safety and wellbeing.
Resources
The impact of power and identity on relationships (DOCX 101 KB)
Resources to support the sequence (DOCX 593 KB)
The language of sexting
Encourages students to recognise what strengths they have within them to be able to respond to requests, receive and respond appropriately to nudes.
Resource
The language of sexting (DOCX 440 KB)) (staff only)
Planning and managing sexual health
Develops student understanding and skills about planning for and managing their sexual health in the future. Students explore methods of contraception and evaluate safer sexual health practices.
Resource
Planning and managing sexual health (DOCX 89 KB) (staff only)
Accessing sexual health information and services
Students reflect on their own values and make judgements about myths and sexual health-related information. Students will explore the NSW Health Play Safe website to assess it as a reliable source of information for young people.
Resource
Accessing sexual health information and services (DOCX 106 KB) (staff only)
The influence of socio-cultural factors on relationships
Uses role-play to encourage students to work together to explore the various ways young people develop positive relationships. Students consider the socio-cultural factors that can influence the way young people interact and form relationships with others.
Resource
The influence of socio-cultural factors on relationships (DOCX 91 KB) (staff only)
Additional resources to support sexuality and sexual health education.
Additional resources
A range of resources are available to support sexuality and sexual health education. Review all resources in full before determining their suitability for use in the local school context and meeting students needs.
- Child protection education curriculum support materials K-10, NSW Department of Education – Teaching strategies (K-10)
- Victorian Department of Education Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships learning materials FUSE website, accessed 6 November 2021
Student resources are also available for use in your classroom