Sexuality Education

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Student Development

Sexuality Education

Moe's Sexuality Education in Schools

Sexuality education (SEd) aims to help our young understand the physiological, social and emotional changes they experience as they mature, develop healthy relationships with the opposite sex and to teach them how to make responsible choices. It is premised on the importance of the heterosexual married family as the basic unit of society, and respect for the values and beliefs of the different ethnic and religious communities on sexuality issues.

The goals of SEd are to:

i.	provide accurate and adequate knowledge on human sexuality and the consequences of sexual activity so that students are able to make informed decisions;
ii.	impart intra- and inter-personal skills of problem-solving, decision-making and effective communication so that students are able to build responsible and rewarding relationships; and
iii.	inculcate positive values and attitudes of sexuality so that students develop a respect for themselves and others as sexual beings, in line with the national value of the family as the basic unit of society.

The key messages of SEd are:

i.	Build healthy futures for yourself, family and society.
ii.	Healthy relationships based on love and respect are the foundation for strong families.
iii.	Casual sex can lead to unwanted pregnancies, STIs/HIV and AIDS which can harm and hurt your loved ones.

You may click here for more information on MOE's Sexuality Education.

4.	Sexuality education in schools is taught in both the formal curriculum and co-curricular programmes. These are covered under four main themes: Human Development, Interpersonal Relationships, Sexual Health and Behaviour, and, Societal Influences.

Formal Curriculum

The curricular subjects in which topics on sexuality are incorporated include:

Science
Under the Year 2 Science syllabuses, topics on the puberty changes (its psychological and emotional impact), male and female reproductive systems, menstrual cycle, birth control, sexually transmitted infections (STI) (e.g. gonorrhea, syphilis and AIDS/HIV), and the consequences of abortion and pre-marital sex are covered. Year 3 and 4 Biology syllabuses include topics like male and female reproductive systems, menstrual cycle, fertilization and development of the zygote and HIV infection: Its spread and methods of control.

ii.

Pastoral Care and Career Guidance/ Civics and Moral Education
Pastoral Care and Career Guidance (PCCG) / Civics Programme is one of the platforms in school which facilitates Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). The PCCG / Civics programme enable the acquisition of skills needed to recognize and manage emotions, develop care and concern for others, make responsible decisions, establish positive relationships, and handle challenging situations effectively. For topics related to sexuality education, lessons are designed around Social & Emotional competencies (self-awareness, self-management, Social Awareness, Relationship Management and Responsible Decision Making) and School values for healthy relationships with members of the opposite sex.

Cyberwellness "Planet Crush" is a series of 4 lessons ( 2 computing lessons and 2 PCCG lessons) conducted by TOUCH Services with the following objectives:

show students the benefits of the Net
help students identify possible cyberspace risks
help students surf safely by taking personal responsibility

The 6 topics covered in these 4 lessons are:

astuteness in revealing information
cyber crap
cyber gaming
cyber relationships (for girls) and pornography (for boys)
cyberwellness community
cyber bullying

These lessons are structured into 2 computing lessons (1.5 hours each) and 2 PCCG lessons (1 hour each)

Romance Without Regrets is a lesson that is conducted by teacher with the aid of a DVD titled "Romance without regrets" which is a presentation by Jason Evert and Crystalina Padilla. This presentation offers straight answers to teenagers' toughest questions on dating, relationships, and how to have romance without regret. The lesson allows students to examine the facts, attitudes and values relevant to sexuality. Topics covered include building rewarding and responsible relationships, dating, going steady and marriage, issues in sexual health and behaviours, consequences of teenage sexual activity and pregnancies and influence of the media. Abstinence is presented and promoted as providing teenagers with the highest level of protection against unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infection.

CME is a compulsory subject from the primary to the secondary levels. The focus of CME is on nurturing people of good character and useful citizens. The CME syllabus is founded on six core values; namely, Respect, Responsibility, Resilience, Integrity, Care and Harmony (R3ICH). Through the use of stories, case-studies and real life situations, the CME programme focuses on teaching students these values and guiding them to put the values into practice in the domains of self, family, community, nation and the world. For sexuality education, CME builds the foundation for respectful, responsible and caring relationships through fostering positive attitudes towards self and others.

You may click here to see the table of content of the specific topics for each level in CME.

Co-Curricular Programmes

Growing Years (GY) Series:

i.	"The Teenage Years" (Lower Sec) package
ii.	"Sense & Sexuality" (Upper Sec) package
iii.	Love Matters (Post Sec) package

The values and attitudes of our youth towards sexuality are increasingly being shaped by their peers, exposure to the media, popular culture and the internet. Adolescence is a complex stage in life as the adolescent attempts to find his/her own identity and often struggles with new social relationships. The period of middle adolescence (generally from 15 – 17 years old) can be a turbulent period for adolescents. The gap between physical and emotional/cognitive maturity may result in a tendency to act on impulse, experiment with various activities (including sexual activities), sometimes without understanding the unpleasant consequences that may arise from such experimentation. The need for peer acceptance can be overwhelmingly strong, and hinder one's ability to act responsibly. Given the pressures faced by the middle adolescent from within themselves and from peers, it is important to build a strong sense of self-worth, personal convictions and an understanding of the possible consequences of sexual behaviour.

Through "The Teenage Years" and "Sense & Sexuality", secondary students will have opportunity to develop a positive self esteem, build their character, expand their understanding and repertoire of skills to deal with various issues related to sexuality, which are of prime concern at this age. The focus for "Love Matters" is on issues in relationships. Relating with peers is a major component in the lives of JC/CI students, who spend an average of half to two-thirds of their waking hours with their peers. The focus of the Post-Secondary package is on Interpersonal Relationships, with themes of Human Development, Sexual Health and Behaviour, and Societal Influences woven into the main focus on relationships.

At Dunman High School, the following lessons from the GY series are covered in 2011:

Target Levels	Topics/Lessons	What pupils will learn:	Time Period
Year 1	Managing Change	To accept the physical self by understanding the factors that promote it.	0.5 hour
Year 2	Crush / puppy love (manage, how to respond)	To differentiate between love, crushes/ infatuation.	1 hour
Year 2	Body Talk	To recognise sensible dressing and choose the appropriate dressing for the occasion. To identify and discuss about factors that promote it.	1 hour
Year 3	Am I ready for BGR?	Identify the differences between males and females and how they view relationships Suggest strategies for building healthy relationships from elements summarised from REACH (Respect, Empathy, Acceptance, Care and Honesty) Recognise the harmful effects of unhealthy relationships and the need to end these relationships Understand what it means to go steady and the consequences of rushing into BGR	1 hour
Year 3 and 4	Use of MOE VCDs to supplement lessons in CME	See the Table on CME lesson outline	See the Table on CME lesson outline
Year 4	Friends First, Friends forever	Identify the differences between males and females and how they view relationships Recognise that making good friends is the basis of healthy relationships Suggest strategies for building healthy relationships from elements summarised from REACH (Respect, Empathy, Acceptance, Care and Honesty) Recognise the harmful effects of unhealthy relationships and the need to end these relationships Differentiate between love and lust	1 hour
	Am I saying ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to sex?	Recognise that there are different ways of inviting sexual intimacy, namely, through dressing, speech, actions and choice of dating venue Manage social pressures to be involved in sexual activities	1 hour
	How to manage break-ups and rejection?	Explain the process of loss that people experience when relationships break down and unrequited love Suggest healthy ways of dealing with break-ups and unrequited love Recognise that they can actually emerge stronger after a break-up	1 hour
Year 5	Relationship Issues / Jealousy	Distinguish between healthy and unhealthy levels of jealousy in a relationship. Know how to respond in a healthy way to jealousy in their relationship.	1 hour
	Dating and Courtship	Understand the roles and expectations in a relationship. Understand the different ways in which intimacy can be expressed that do not involve sexual engagement. Set the limits on their behaviour in a relationship that would maintain their self-respect and dignity.	1hour
	Chastity and Virginity	Understand the needs that drive people to engage in promiscuous behaviour. Understand and consider the losses not just in physical dimension, but also losses in emotional, social, intellectual and moral dimensions that may result from their decision to engage in premarital sex. Understand that chastity/ virginity is a virtue that they might want to cherish and concur on the need for self-control.	1 hour
Year 6	Marriage	Understand that marriage is for life and can be a fulfilling experience. Know the roles in a marriage. Understand how a marriage might break down. Realise the possible psychological impact on children experiencing parental separation or divorce on children.	1 hour

Breaking Down Barriers (BDB) Programme

Breaking Down Barriers is a programme developed by Health Promotion Board, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education for Secondary 3 students and JC/ CI students. The programme was introduced to secondary schools and junior colleges/ centralised institute in 2007 and 2009 respectively to give students accurate information on STIs, HIV and contraception from a health perspective. BDB is conducted in two segments—a mass talk segment and a class-based programme

9.	Students are taught skills such as decision-making, assertiveness and negotiation to say no to sex and negative peer pressure. They also learn that the impact of STI/HIV extends beyond themselves and involves their family. Abstinence and upholding family values are the key messages.

At Dunman High School, the BDB programme will be implemented as follows in 2011:

Topics/Lessons	What pupils will learn:	Time Period
Mass Talk by HPB appointed vendor	Awareness of the different STIs and HIV/AIDS. Modes of transmission. Modes of protection, specifically on how the condom is used.	Year 3 Term 3
Class-based 1	Consequences in any decision they make regarding sexual intercourse. Decision-making is a process that can be learnt. It is important to have correct and accurate information to make the right decisions regarding one’s sexual health. How to make decisions that will reduce the risk to their sexual health. What is assertive behaviour? How can one respond to persuasion assertively. How to negotiate one’s way out of a negative situation. Assessing situations to aid the control of impulses in sexual behaviour. Revision of risk reduction for STIs/HIV (learnt earlier in mass lecture).	Year 3 Term 3
Class based 2	Explain the process of abortion. Recognise the effects of abortion (physical and psychological).	Year 3 Term 3
Mass Talk by HPB appointed vendor	Awareness of the different STIs and HIV/AIDS. Modes of transmission. Modes of protection, specifically the use of condom.	Year 5 Term 3
Class based	What are the various possible impacts of contracting STI/HIV. Ways of managing the challenges of the impact. Be aware of support structures that people with STI/HIV may need.	Year 5 Term 3

A Feminine Journey

10.

A Feminine Journey is a workshop conduct by Adam Khoo Learning Technologies Group developed especially for female students going through changes in their body due to puberty. In this female-only programme conducted by MOE-approved female trainers, girls learn more about their bodies during their transformation from a girl to a lady, such as menstruation, hair and breasts growth, pimples etc. Students will learn about:

i) Self Responsibility

Students are able to identify the changes happening to their body.
Know basic grooming habits to deal with changes due to puberty

ii) Self Respect

Develop a healthy self esteem
Love and accept the changes happening to them

iii) Rejoice

Show their acceptance of their transition to becoming a woman
Enjoy growing up

The details of the programme are downloadable here.

Birds and Bees, Flowers and Trees

11.

Birds and Bees, Flowers and Trees is a stage performance by Players Theatre during the Post Exam Activities. Through this performance, students will learn about STI / HIV prevention. The audience will feel as if they are channel-surfing on television, experiencing different genres and styles of entertainment that will tackle different aspects of STI / HIV prevention. This performance aims to provide information about STI / HIV, specifically in the following aspects:

i.	Modes of transmission (the performance will also touch on the misconceptions about HIV transmissions such as mosquito bites, sharing of food with an infected person, etc).
ii.	How to prevent STI / HIV transmission with abstinence as the key message.

Information for Parents

12.	Parents can opt their children out of the school's entire sexuality education programme or for individual topics, talks or workshops.

13.

Parents who wish to opt their children out of the whole or part of the Growing Years (GY) Series need to complete an opt-out form. This form will be distributed to parents at the start of the year and is also downloadable here in English and Chinese. A hardcopy of the form, duly completed and signed, is to be submitted to the school office.

14.

Parents who wish to opt their children out of the Breaking Down Barriers (BDB) programme need to complete an opt-out form. This form will be distributed to parents at the start of the year and is also downloadable here. A hardcopy of the form, duly completed and signed, is to be submitted to the school office.

15.

Parents who wish to opt their children out of the Year 2 Post Examination Activity – A Feminine Journey or Birds and Bees, Flowers and Trees stage performance need to complete an opt-out form. The forms are downloadable here. A hardcopy of the form, duly completed and signed, is to be submitted to the school office.

16.	Parents can attend the sexuality education programmes by external providers with their children if they wish to. Parents should contact the school to make the necessary arrangements.

17.

Parents can contact the school for discussion or seek clarifications about the school's sexuality education programme. The following are the contacts:

Mrs Dayna Chia
HOD/Student Development
Email: chia.minn.dayna@dhs.sg
Office: + 65 65936765

Ms Yeo Kim Neo Michelle
Level Head/Student Development
Email: yeo.kimneo.michelle@dhs.sg
Office: +65 65936786

Ms Ngau Shu Mei Candice
Level Head/Student Development
Sexuality Education Coordinator
Email: ngau.shumei.candice@dhs.sg
Office: +65 65936843

Mr Chia Guo Hao
Level Head/Student Development
Email: chia.guohao@dhs.sg
Office: +65 65936851