The Real Project: Relationship education and the Law

On the afternoon of Wednesday 17th April and Friday 19th April we welcomed alumna Ciara back to Croydon High. Ciara is the co-founder of ‘The Real Project’, a company providing schools and young people with education, information and guidance on the law surrounding relationships and sex. Ciara is a trained teacher and former Detective Constable in the Metropolitan Police, where she worked within the specialist domestic abuse units in South London.

Ciara delivered a one-hour presentation to pupils in Year 10 and Lower Sixth covering the topics:

• Sexual offences, sexual harassment and consent;
• Controlling and coercive behaviour (emotional abuse);
• Harassment and stalking;
• Physical assaults;
• Digital offences including malicious communications (covering trolling) and image based abuse (covering disclosing sexual photos);
• Clare’s Law.

After the session we asked for feedback from the pupils; so far, 100% of pupils were glad they were given access to the presentation and believed it would be beneficial for other year groups. 66% of pupils would like to learn more about the topic of ‘Relationships and the Law’ with 93% believing that parents should also be offered this information to some level. The pupils seemed to really enjoy the real-life case studies and examples Ciara talked about, with many pupils also citing Ciara’s engaging approach and honesty about her own experiences as a key positive of the presentation.

In the feedback, pupils were also able to let staff know if they were affected by any of the topics that were raised in the session and/or if they would like to speak to a member of staff about any issues raised.

If you would like to learn more about Ciara and her business please have a look at her website for The Real Project. You can also find helpful support links to external agencies via the support page on website.

Ms Nerys James
Head of Psychology & Sociology, Director of Pupil Wellbeing & Head of Lower Sixth