What does high-quality RSE look like?
What does high-quality Relationships and Sexual Health Education (RSE) look like in an international school? How do you build a curriculum that meets students’ needs, support teachers to feel confident tackling sensitive topics, and navigate the challenges of delivering RSE in different cultural and legal contexts?
These are some of the questions we’ll be tackling at the Choice & Consent RSE Conference, taking place on 27–28 May 2027 at Dulwich College Shanghai.
I’m delighted to be bringing the conference back for a third time, and I’m particularly excited about what we can achieve over these two days. My aim is simple: to give educators the knowledge, practical strategies and resources they need to strengthen RSE provision in their own schools.
This won’t be two days of sitting back and listening to presentations. Through practical workshops, structured activities, tried-and-tested frameworks and opportunities to apply learning to your own context, you’ll explore not just what high-quality RSE looks like, but how to make it happen.
Practical workshops, frameworks and resources you can take back to school
Over the past 12 years, I’ve worked in education across a range of international contexts, including working as RSE Coordinator at Dulwich College Shanghai Pudong. I’ve developed curriculum provision, delivered professional development, facilitated parent workshops and worked with teachers to address some of the questions and challenges that can make RSE feel daunting.
Through Choice & Consent, I now support international schools to deliver high-quality, evidence-informed relationships and sexual health education.
One of the most important things I’ve learned is that knowing RSE matters isn’t the same as knowing how to deliver it well. Teachers and leaders need practical guidance, opportunities to practise, and frameworks that help them make informed decisions in their own school context.
That’s what I’ve designed this conference to provide.
Building an effective RSE curriculum
Where do you start when reviewing or developing an RSE curriculum? How do you identify gaps, decide what should be taught at different ages and ensure that learning develops progressively across year groups?
We’ll explore the process of building an effective curriculum, from understanding local requirements and school context to mapping provision, reviewing policies and identifying professional development needs.
You’ll have opportunities to work through practical approaches to curriculum planning and consider how to apply them in your own school. We’ll also look beyond individual lessons to the bigger picture: who teaches RSE, when it is taught, how it connects with safeguarding and wellbeing, and whether the whole-school approach is consistent and effective.
The aim is to give you a clearer framework for reviewing your current provision and deciding what needs to happen next.
Developing confidence in the classroom
What happens when a student asks a question you weren’t expecting? How do you respond when a discussion takes an uncomfortable turn, a student expresses a strong opinion or a classmate makes a provocative comment?
These situations can leave even experienced teachers feeling uncertain, particularly when RSE isn’t their specialist subject.
We’ll explore practical techniques for managing unexpected questions, facilitating sensitive discussions and responding to strong opinions without imposing personal beliefs on students. Through activities and applied examples, you’ll have opportunities to consider how these approaches work in practice.
You’ll leave with strategies you can use in the classroom, alongside ideas for supporting colleagues who may lack confidence in this area.
Teaching sensitive topics in complex contexts
International schools operate within a wide range of cultural, legal and social contexts. Topics such as contraception, sexuality, abortion and pornography can raise difficult questions for teachers, school leaders and parents alike.
How do we remain evidence-informed while taking account of local laws, cultural expectations and the needs of our students? How can teachers facilitate respectful discussion without avoiding important content or turning lessons into debates about their own personal values?
We’ll examine these challenges and explore practical approaches to planning and facilitating lessons on sensitive topics. The emphasis will be on giving educators frameworks they can adapt to their own context, rather than expecting one approach to work in every school.
Engaging parents and building trust
Parent engagement is an important part of effective RSE provision, but it can be difficult to know where to begin, particularly when schools anticipate questions or concerns about curriculum content.
We’ll explore practical ways to communicate curriculum decisions, structure parent workshops, respond to concerns and build relationships before issues arise.
Rather than treating parent engagement as a single information evening, we’ll consider how schools can develop a more thoughtful process before, during and after curriculum delivery.
You’ll take away ideas for strengthening communication and creating opportunities for constructive conversations with parents and carers.
Expert input, fresh perspectives and practical ideas
Alongside the workshops I deliver, the programme will include contributions from other educators and practitioners with relevant experience to share. I’m inviting proposals for sessions that offer practical approaches, useful resources, thoughtful case studies and new perspectives on RSE in international schools.
Potential themes include curriculum development, policy writing, teacher confidence, parent engagement, sensitive topics in conservative societies, safeguarding and emerging research into RSE provision across Asia.
This combination of specialist-led learning and contributions from colleagues working in different contexts will give participants the opportunity to deepen their understanding, discover new approaches and consider how different ideas might work in their own schools.
There will also be time to connect with other professionals who understand the challenges of this work. Those conversations can be incredibly valuable, but the priority is that you leave with practical learning you can put to use.
Who should attend?
The conference is designed for educators who want to improve the quality and consistency of RSE in their schools, including:
- RSE, PSHE and wellbeing leads
- Teachers delivering relationships and sexual health education
- School leaders responsible for curriculum, pastoral provision or safeguarding
- Educators developing or reviewing whole-school RSE programmes
Whether you’re starting to develop your school’s provision, looking to address gaps in an existing curriculum or seeking fresh approaches to professional development, the conference will provide opportunities to build your knowledge and develop practical next steps.
Join us in Shanghai
The Choice & Consent RSE Conference takes place on 27–28 May 2027 at Dulwich College Shanghai.
I’m looking forward to bringing together educators who want to move beyond good intentions and make meaningful improvements to RSE in their schools.
If you’re looking for practical workshops, expert guidance, adaptable frameworks, useful resources and ideas you can take straight back to your team, I’d love you to join us.
Interested in attending? Register here: The Relationships and Sexual Health Education International Conference | 27-28 May 2027 – Fill out form
Have expertise or practical experience to share? I’m also inviting workshop proposals from educators and practitioners who would like to contribute to the programme: Choice & Consent Conference 2027: Call for Workshop Proposals – Fill out form
I can’t wait to share what I’ve been working on, learn from the expertise of others and help more international schools strengthen their RSE provision.