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"6 Nations" RSE Symposium

"6 Nations" Relationship & Sexuality Education (RSE) Symposium

Queen's University welcomed colleagues from Uruguay, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland to the first "6 Nations" Relationship and Sexuality Education event with an exchange with Rutgers International (Netherlands) and the World Health Organisation. This event aimed to establish a policy actors’ network sharing knowledge and experience to build capacity to implement high quality, comprehensive relationship and sexuality education.

This event was supported by funding received from Eurosocial and the QUB Research Policy Engaged Research Fund.

6 Nations Riddel Hall

"The aim is to create a collegiate learning network between senior RSE policy makers here in the room today but also a resource for you in the future. There is no one recipe that works for all countries at all times, but we can still share and adapt"

- Prof Maria Lohan

What the delegates said...   ↑↓

"I was delighted to have the opportunity to participate in the day. I genuinely believe that for a lot of us there, that we now have the opportunity to work together to influence the change in culture that is still needed in this field of work."

 

Elaine McCormack, Senior Health Improvement Officer, NHS Glasgow

Scotland

“It was a very inspiring and fruitful meeting”

Ineke van der Vlugt, Program manager: Contraception & Abortion, Rutgers International

Netherlands

"Gracias de Belfast,
Accompanied and oriented in this Beautiful city of Belfast, the seminar with representatives of such a high level, allowed us to know the best practices and also that our challenges are despite the very similar geographical and cultural distances. The possibility for our delegation was not only enriching, but it also allowed us to improve our relationship by giving a sincere and bustling discussion!!!"

Dr Silvia Graña Baéz, Technical Advisor Responsible for the Program Area of ​​Adolescence and Youth Health: General Directorate of Health Ministry of Health

Uruguay

"It was an incredibly rare opportunity for myself and colleagues to meet and compare our work and experiences. I’ve been working as a leader in this field for several years and this was my first chance to compare RSE work with several peers. I really appreciate your leadership in making this happen."

Lucy Emmerson, Director, Sex Education Forum, National Children’s Bureau

England

"The whole learning experience was excellent and uplifting, with great speakers and a lovely balance of learning and friendship. It has certainly given me a lot of ideas, areas to look at and useful contacts in the early stages of my work on RSE (2nd phase)."

Deidre Coffey, RSE Project Manager, Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA)

Northern Ireland

 

"It was a wonderful day of collaborative learning and we were delighted to be a part of it. It was reassuring to hear how we are all dealing with similar challenges and can help each other along the journey to positive and comprehensive RSE."

Annette Honan & Paul Knox, National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) - Department of Education and Skills

Ireland

 

 

The 6 Nations Symposium Organising Committee

(L-R) Dr Aisling Gough, Dr Theresa McShane, Mr Miguel Ferro Lopez, Prof Maria Lohan

View the Presentations

The 6 Nations RSE presentations from October 3rd showcased current work from each of the participant countries, sharing knowledge and best practices from each.

Each presenter discusses the current practices in their nation, how these have changed in the past 10 years, the link between health services and RSE, and how they see RSE practice progressing in the next 5 years.

You can view the presentations here >

Click here to download the presentation slides from the day >

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6 Nations Symposium Agenda

You can view the agenda and download the presentations from the "6 Nations" RSE symposium by clicking each nation/organisation below.

“6 Nations” Relationship & Sexuality Education (RSE) in the context of National Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategies

10.30am

WELCOME & ROUND TABLE DISCUSSIONS
Welcome (Prof Maria Lohan, QUB and Dr Aisling Gough, QUB)

10.40-11.30am

AM SESSION LEARNING FORM URUGUAY

1. An overview of the Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy combining Health and Education in Uruguay with a special focus on the role of RSE and its impact on adolescent pregnancy (25 minutes)

2. Discussion and reflection (25 mintues) over coffee/tea

11.30-12.30pm

LEARNING FROM 6 NATIONS

Keynote speakers from 6 nations

  1. Scotland
  2. Wales
  3. England
  4. Northern Ireland

To address four key questions

1. What is the current state of play of Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in your Nation?;

2. What have been the key changes in the past 10 years that have led to the current state of RSE and what have been the key challenges?;

3. What are the links between RSE & Health Services?;

4. How do you see RSE progressing in the next 5 years?;

12.30-1.30pm LUNCH
 1.30-2.30pm

AFTERNOON SESSION (addressing same questions as above)

  1. Ireland
  2. Netherlands
  3. Uruguay (specifically on challenges to RSE)
  4. World Health Organisation
  5. An update from Queen’s on INNOVATIONS TO ENGAGE BOYS AND MEN in RSE

(Prof Maria Lohan and Dr Theresa McShane)

- The Jack Trial: UK-wide, school-based RCT
- If I Were a Dad: Future Fatherhood Programme for Young Incarcerated Men
- World Health Organisation: A global review on the evidence of engagement of boys and men in sexual and reproductive health and rights.

 2.30-4pm

ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION arising, topics might be;

  • How might we build RSE taking into account Gender and socio-cultural dimensions?
  • How do we translate research evidence into RSE policy?
  • How to engage best with Parents?
  • How to engage best with faith-based schools and with immigrant populations
  • What are Future policy directions?
   

SOCIAL ACTIVITIES

  • 4.30pm Belfast City Bus Tour
  • 6.30pm Dinner at Deane’s at Queen’s Restaurant

 

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6 Nations Symposium Delegate List

Click below to view the of senior policy delegates at the "6 Nations" symposium event.

United Kingdom

England

Alison Hadley

 

Teenage Pregnancy Advisor to Public Health England and Director of Teenage Pregnancy Knowledge Exchange

Sex Education Forum (NGO)

Lucy Emerson

Director, Sex Education Forum

National Children’s Bureau

Jonathan Baggaley

Chief Executive of Personal Social and Health Education Association

Emily Warren

England If I Were Jack Trial Co-ordinator

 

Scotland

Suzanne Hargreaves

National Lead Responsibility for Health and Wellbeing, Education Scotland

Felicity Sung

 

National Co-ordinator for Sexual Health and HIV, Scottish Government

Elaine McCormack

Senior Health Improvement Officer, NHS Glasgow

 

Wales

Sarah Andrews

Head of Programme Healthy Settings, Public Health Wales

Gemma Cox

Team Lead for RSE education

Kelly Buckley

Wales If I Were Jack Trial Co-ordinator

 

Northern Ireland

Roisin Radcliff

 

Programme Manager, Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA)

Deirdre Coffey

RSE Project Manager, Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA)

Barbara Porter

Lead for Sexual Health Strategy Public Health Agency Northern Ireland

Joe Harris

Sexual Health Co-ordinator, Sexual Health Training Team, Belfast Health & Social Care Trust

Adrian Nugent

Head of Education Welfare Service, Education Authority

Yury Fleming

School Aged Mother Co-ordinator (SAM Northern Area)

Jill McClelland

Suzanne Kingon

Gavin Hamilton

Curriculum & Assessment Team - Department of Education

Bryan Dooley

 

Health Improvement Policy Branch, Department of Health

Michael Kelly

Deputy Chief Education Welfare Officer, Northern Area

Janice Stewart

School Age Mothers Coordinator for the Education Authority

(NI)

 

Republic of Ireland

Annette Honan

National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) - Department of Education and Skills

Paul Knox

National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) - Department of Education and Skills

Moira Germaine

Education and Training Manager, Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme

 

World Health Organisation

Dr Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli

 

Lead for RSE at Dept of Human Reproduction, WHO

Netherlands

Ineke van der Vlugt

Programme Manager for Contraception and Abortion, Rutgers International

 

Uruguay Ministry for Health Delegation

 

Leticia Benedet

Alejandra Lopez

Andrea Fabbiani

Veronica Massa

Lorena Quintana

Nora dOliveira

Silvia Grana

Yolanda Aguirre

Maria Lema

Doris Plummer

 

Uruguayan  Agency for International Cooperation

Professor - University of the Republic

Ministry of Health

National Administration of Public Education

Ministry of Health

Ministry of Health

Ministry of Health

Eurosocial AL Expert

Interpreter

Interpreter

EUROsociAL + Programme For Social Cohesion in South America

 

Jackeline Rojas

Alfonso Martinez Saenz

 

 

 

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Resources from the 6 Nations Partners
RSE Resources

Resources used for RSE in Scotland, Engalnd, Wales, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, and Uruguay.

An index of resources provided by the 6 Nations RSE Symposium collaborators can be downloaded here.

Papers and Reports
RSE Papers and Reports from 6 Nations Collaborators

Scientific reports and publications were suggested by the members and partners of the 6 Nations collaboration.

You can download a copy of this list here.

Pictures from the day (and evening)
RSE Research at QUB
RSE Research at QUB
If I Were a Dad