Manor Wood Primary School
Manor Wood Primary School
FGM Information for Parents and Carers
FGM- Female Genital Mutilation
As part of this year’s PSHE and Science Units, our Y6 pupils will have a series of lessons which teach about female genital mutilation (FGM). This is following advice from the Leeds Safeguarding Team, who have advised all schools in the authority that FGM should be taught to protect all pupils from any form of abuse or exploitation.
The Safeguarding Team are working with teachers and schools to raise awareness around FGM with pupils across the city, to change attitudes and to correct any misinformation. Currently, under UK Law, all practitioners who work in health, education and social care have a statutory duty to report all cases of FGM in under 18 year olds to the police.
In the academic year 2016-2017, there were 5,391 new cases of FGM in the UK and we have been advised that the teaching of FGM is likely to become a legal requirement of the National Curriculum in the next few years. In some schools in the UK, the decision has been made to teach FGM to children from Year 4 upwards, but we will only be teaching it to our Year 6 children at present.
The FGM unit will be taught in an age-appropriate and sensitive way, through the use of a picture book called 'Oh Lila'. The unit has been carefully planned by experts at the Local Authority, and the staff delivering the lessons to the children have been trained to do. The unit compromises of 3 lessons, in which FGM is only taught in the final lesson, after in-depth discussions about keeping secretes, breaking rules and UK Laws.
Our FGM teaching covers the key themes that are in our PSHE scheme:
• keeping safe
• trusted adults
• knowing who and where to go for help
• rules, laws and children’s rights
• feeling confident to ask questions and discuss thoughts in a mature and appropriate way
FGM is taught within the Autumn Term, after the children have completed their Sex Education lessons within their PSHE 'Living and Growing' unit. We purposefully choose to teach FGM early in the year so that the children have plenty of time to discuss any questions or concerns with their trusted adults. We feel passionate about equipping our children to keep themselves and others safe.
This will be an important addition to the Year 6 curriculum. If you have any concerns or would like to discuss this, matter further, please make an appointment to meet with us.
Support and Advice around FGM
Worried about FGM?
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FGM Video Resources
FGM- Information Workshop
In the Autumn Term, all parents and carers of children in Year 6 are invited to a twilight workshop, in which we share the reasons why we teach our children about FGM. We explain how this teaching is delivered to the children and ways in which you can support your child at home. The powerpoint below forms the basis of the workshop.
The story of 'Oh Lila' is taught throughout school. The story talks about keeping secrets.