THE head teacher of a primary school where children were encouraged to
discuss sexual acts of unusual sophistication during a sex education
lesson admitted yesterday there had been ''an error of judgment''.
Parents complained after the 10 and 11-year-old boys and girls told
them how they had discussed oral sex and acted out the roles of people
involved in an extra-marital love triangle during an explicit
role-playing session.
Mrs Sylvia Snowdon, head of Highfield Primary School, in Shadwell,
near Leeds, West Yorkshire, conceded yesterday: ''In hindsight, I feel
that some inappropriate topics were covered and in this context an error
of judgment has been made.''
The lesson at the school, when the children discussed the use of Mars
bars in oral sex with a nurse who tours schools talking about sex and
hygiene, was condemned by the education authority.
Deputy chairman of education Tom Murray said after a meeting with
councillors and officials yesterday that the school's governors were
being asked to review the methods used in sex education.
Every school in the city is also to be contacted to be made aware of
sex education guidelines for young children.
''If true, then I condemn this wholeheartedly,'' he said. ''It is not
appropriate for 10 and 11-year-olds to discuss oral sex in a classroom
situation.''
The children were said to have acted out of the roles of ''Mummy'',
''Daddy'' and ''Mummy's lover'' during the lesson last week with nurse
Sue Brady, employed by the health authority.
They were told they could use whatever language they liked. The child
playing ''daddy'' had shouted: ''You've been shagging my wife,''
according to a parent.
One parent said: ''We are not prudes. My son knows how babies are made
and where they come from. But he doesn't need to know about perverted
sex acts. The children's minds are being abused.''
Mrs Snowdon said in a statement yesterday that parents had been
invited to a consultation evening to explain the content of her
workshops.
''At the time, Mrs Brady said she would answer children's questions as
honestly as she could. Parents were given the opportunity to withdraw
their children from the workshops if they so wished,'' she said.
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