As the number of testimonies on Everyone’s Invited continues to climb, sex education in schools in the UK is increasingly coming under the spotlight. Amelia Jenkins set up The School of Sexuality Education in 2017 to help tackle the absence of a formal space in the curriculum for relationship and sex education (RSE has since been made compulsory in all schools). Her team of ‘unembarrassable facilitators’ deliver training to teachers and workshops for pupils in schools across the UK. She looks back on her own school days, giving Scholato an insight into her drive and determination to create a blueprint for delivering RSE the right way.
Truant or treat?
Treat! A terrible teacher’s pet.
A teacher you want to thank and why?
My English teacher, Mrs Walder. She was a complete inspiration – her passion for literature, her belief in us as students, the fact that everything she had to say was so interesting and insightful. I find it hard to sum up how much I admire her, and how much I learned from her.
Headmistress for the day?
A whole school approach to tackling sexual harassment.
Top marks?
English 🙂
Bottom of the class?
Maths 🙁
State or independent?
State – Ringwood School
School secret?
A C or a D (I don’t know if I’ve made it better or worse in my memory?!) in my ICT GCSE…
School of life: how did school not prepare you for life? Are there subjects you wish you had studied?
Relationships and sex education has only just been made compulsory. So, like people everywhere I didn’t get a comprehensive and inclusive RSE. I’ve now founded an RSE charity – schoolofsexed.org – which aims to support schools to provide this through workshops for students and training for staff.
Did your school help you to become an independent thinker?
Yes. It’s hard to explain how and why because there is invariably also an influence from home but definitely yes!
Do you think you are well educated?
There’s always more to learn – it’s a lifelong process!
If you enjoyed this you might like to read our Back to School interview with Josie Naughton, founder of Choose Love.
