HEALTH workers have voiced their frustration at several faith schools which have refused to host their sex education workshops – fearing pupils are not getting the information they need.

The NHS Community Education Sexual Health Team (CESH) said it had not been given access to any of the Catholic and Muslim secondary schools in Blackburn, while some in other parts of East Lancashire also appear to have declined the sessions.

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The team believes its information about contraception is the main reason, and fears pupils will be more at risk of teenage pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease.

They would not name individual schools, but the state-funded Catholic and Muslim schools in Blackburn are St Bede’s, Our Lady and St John, Tauheedul Islam Girls’ High School and Tauheedul Islam Boys’ High School.

Meanwhile, St Augustine’s in Billington and Mount Carmel in Accrington do not appear to run the sessions, while St John Fisher and Thomas More, in Colne, has not hosted the team for about two years.

There is no suggestion that any of the schools are failing to adhere to the national curriculum, which requires contraception and some sex and relationship education (SRE) to be covered under the science agenda. However, several leading charities and sexual health experts have described this as inadequate, and called for comprehensive SRE to be taught within compulsory Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) classes.

And the CESH team's work goes far beyond the national curriculum by offering specialist support and advice on contraception and other issues, as well as sessions about the impact of pornography, digital technology and the risk of sexual exploitation.

East Lancashire is one of just a few areas in the country to benefit from this dedicated outreach service, due to its historically high rates of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease.

But the team are worried that thousands of Catholic and Muslim teenagers are not seeing the benefits, and called for every school to recognise the 'big cultural shift' needed to communicate effectively with youngsters.

Sue Roscow, a senior member of the sexual health team, said: "The thing about the faith schools is the misunderstanding about what we deliver and it's often the governors.

"It's been extremely frustrating over ten or 12 years of working in this post. At one school a parent didn’t like what we were doing and went to the governors. I then had a phone call from the school saying, I’m sorry, we have to take it out because you’re talking about contraception.”

There are no problems with accessing pupils at non-faith and Church of England schools, the team said.

Although all the faith schools said they teach pupils about contraception, Harry Walker, policy manager at the Family Planning Association, said: “Thinking of Catholic schools in particular, some might say; 'here are the 15 methods of contraception, and by the way the Catholic church teaches this’, whereas others might just say; ‘the Catholic church teaches this’ and nothing else.

“Unfortunately ignorance doesn’t protect young people, and international evidence has shown clearly that if you don’t give young people good information, especially on contraception, they are more – not less – likely to become pregnant or get a sexually transmitted infection.

“The average age of first sexual activity is 16, with obviously a minority before that, so it’s irresponsible for us not to teach young people about methods of contraception before they need to know about and use them."

When asked why they had not hosted sessions from the CESH team, the schools said they had designed their own sessions within the PSHE programme. Meanwhile, their formal Sex Education Policies, obtained by the Lancashire Telegraph through Freedom of Information laws, suggest varying approaches are taken.

St Bede's formal policy makes no mention of contraception, but head teacher Des Callaghan said: "In addition to PSHE, the RE curriculum requires a study of contraception from the point of view of the Catholic Church, other faiths and those of no faith. Pupils are required to evaluate the arguments proposed and form a view about the merits of each, reaching a personal conclusion."

St John Fisher and Thomas More's policy does not mention contraception either, but the school said this is being reviewed and they are planning to run sessions with the CESH team. It added in a statement: "As a faith school we obviously are guided by the teachings of the Catholic Church so we provide information around aspects of contraception in line with the Church’s teaching."

Mount Carmel said it has 'a very extensive SRE programme that is approved by the Diocese of Salford', but its formal policy does not mention contraception.

At Our Lady and St John, in Shadsworth, teachers are told to raise the subject 'within the framework of the Catholic teaching on married life and contraception'.

But the school said in response to questions from the LT: "The RE curriculum requires the study of contraception based on faith teachings and non-faith attitudes. Pupils are encouraged to consider all viewpoints to formulate personal opinions."

St Augustine’s policy says contraception is covered in RE and PSHE and head teacher Michael Wright said: "I am sure that the people employed within this service feel it is valuable but they are not be in a position to make a judgement that our pupils are not getting the same quality of sex education as others without experiencing our programme, which external agencies have described as outstanding.

"The delivery of the curriculum is done by teaching staff with support from health service professionals. It fulfils all statutory requirements."

All Saints' policy said its GCSE syllabus covers the 'church's teachings' on contraception, but a spokesman referred the LT to the Diocese of Salford.

Teaching guidance published by the Diocese states: "It needs to be recognised that the promotion of 'safe sex' is not helpful as a sufficient pedagogical approach.

"The secular view about sex outside of marriage, contraception, sexually transmitted disease, including HIV and AIDs, and abortion should not be presented as neutral information.

"Only those authorities or agencies that are qualified to speak on behalf of the Catholic Church should be permitted to speak to pupils or individuals on sexual or any other matter involving faith and morals. Any outside authority or agency should be authorised by the head teacher before giving any input in this field."

Tauheedul's policy said contraception is covered at Key Stage 3, and a spokesman added: “We do not work with this specific Community Education Sexual Health Team although we are sure they do great work. We don’t have a record of being contacted by them, but we would be happy to consider their offering.

“Our absolute priority is always delivering the very best education to our pupils and we are confident our current programme achieves that.

They said they also work with NHS professionals and school nurses 'who deliver outstanding sessions and provide confidential sexual health guidance for pupils'.

Sue Capstick, manager of the CESH team, said: “We would recommend that every school recognises the need for big cultural shift in the way we talk with, and listen to, young people about sex and relationships.

“Where in the past it may have been sufficient for staff in school to be the ones who do the condom demonstration or teach about body changes, we would highly recommend that schools ensure staff are up to date with the current themes around contraception and sexual health and have the confidence and skills needed to hold meaningful dialogue."

Private schools Jamiatul Ilm Wal Huda, Al Islah Girls High School, both in Blackburn, and Mohiuddin International Girls College in Burnley did not respond.

Blessed Trinity, in Burnley, whose policy states that 'contraception will be fully discussed and the teaching of the Catholic Church clearly explained', has invited the CESH team to be involved with its enhancement day.

The policy at St Christopher's in Accrington says pupils should 'know and understand the different contraceptive choices available', and the school has hosted workshops with the CESH team.