Where, this week, to find Stella Creasy MP for Walthamstow

• Monday 12th December- in parliament to support legislation to help credit unions in the Savings (Government Contributions) Bill. 
• Tuesday 13th December- starting work as a member of the Children and Social Work Bill Committee. The time this committee will take means I will be in Westminster for most of the week until mid January. Please see below for the details of the legislation I am tabling as part of this process for child refugees and sex and relationship education.
• Thursday 15th December- in parliament for the Children and Social Work Bill Committee.
• Friday 16th December- in parliament to support private members legislation on ratifying the Istanbul Convention and then holding a party to introduce the residents of Butterfields to their new Landlord Dolphin Living. 
• Saturday 17th December- attending the bazaar to raise donations for child refugees.
• Sunday 18th December- helping to host a christmas party for Walthamstow Labour Party.

Putting Consent on the Curriculum: 

Providing Sex and Relationship Education to Safeguard Children 

This week I tabled legislation in parliament to make the provision of sex and relationship education part of safeguarding all children in schools in England. This follows on from the work I have done for many years with residents in Walthamstow about how to support all young people to make positive choices about their relationships with each other. 

Currently composting and recycling are part of our national curriculum. However, whilst children are taught about the mechanics of reproduction, concepts such as consent and equality are not required learning. It’s time to change this- One in three young girls say they have been sexually harassed in school. There have been 5,500 assaults reported in schools in the last three years alone. Sex and relationship education which covers consent, sexual violence, healthy relationships and domestic violence is a crucial part of preventing harm.

The proposal I have put forward would ensure all pupils were given lessons not just in the biology of sex, but healthy relationships and consent. It would also require these lessons to be age appropriate, balanced, inclusive and religiously diverse - and give young people themselves the right to say if they want to take part in these sessions. 

Teaching these skills isn't about replacing the role of families in guiding young people - it is about ensuring the peers of every child share the same respect for other students any parent would wish for their child. If you would like updates on this proposal which is for the Children and Social Work Bill or to discuss it please do get in touch. You can also watch my speech on this, and the child refugees campaign here.