Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure children are educated about online safety in PSHE lessons.

As part of statutory relationships and health education in primary schools and relationships, sex and health education in secondary schools, pupils are taught about online safety and harms. This includes being taught about the implications of sharing private or personal data (including images) online, harmful content and contact, cyberbullying and the risks associated with over-reliance on social media. The full statutory guidance for primary schools can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education/relationships-education-primary.

The full statutory guidance for secondary schools can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education/relationships-and-sex-education-rse-secondary.

The department is currently reviewing the statutory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum. We are looking carefully at the consultation responses, considering the evidence and talking to key stakeholders before issuing revised guidance.