Relationships and sex education in special schools: highlighting the need for safeguarding for children with learning disabilities

Sex education is a key aspect of safeguarding, particularly for children with learning disabilities who are significantly more at risk of sexual abuse. To contribute to research in the field of sex education of children with learning disabilities, we examined teachers’ perceptions of how Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education programmes are taught in Special Schools and to what extent children can be supported through these programmes. This small-scale study involved in-depth interviews with five special school teachers in England. Thematic analysis identified two main themes: the first theme covered key aspects of sex education and included the subtopics of delivering sex education; the age for receiving sex education; the place of receiving sex education; and the person who delivers sex education. The second theme was that of protection and prevention, with the subtopics of age for receiving sexual abuse prevention programmes; programmes, and how to better protect children with learning disabilities from sexual abuse. Study findings highlight ways in which schools can strengthen their practices, with the goal of supporting children with learning disabilities to protect themselves from abuse as well as offering a foundation for further research and resource development.