With this Award, Soa Aids Nederland and Rutgers put secondary (special) education and secondary vocational schools that excel in their attention to relationships, sexuality, sexual diversity and sexual resilience in the spotlight. The election contributes to improving the quality of relationship and sexual education at schools and to the Healthy School approach.

Winners

The Long Live Love Award will be presented to the four winning schools on the following days:

  • 10 February 2020 Kolom Praktijkcollege Noord in Amsterdam
  • 11 February 2020 VSO De Hoge Brug in Rotterdam
  • 12 February 2020 Rudolf Steiner College in Haarlem
  • 14 February 2020 Aventus in Apeldoorn

Encouragement award

There are schools that applied for the Long Live Love Award and that do not yet meet all the criteria, but that already excel in various aspects when it comes to promoting the sexual health of their students. The jury therefore awards these schools an encouragement award:

• Twents Carmel College (De Thij location, Oldenzaal)

• Praktijkschool de Pijler (Den Helder)

• Emaus College (Ermelo)

Honourable mention

The jury gives an honourable mention to:

• Clusius College Schagen

The jury on the winners

Secondary Education (practical education):

Kolom Praktijkcollege Noord in Amsterdam is a secondary school with 200 students aged between 12 and 19, from all kinds of nationalities. The students have difficulty learning and have a learning delay. These students learn best when they ‘learn by doing’. In addition to practical subjects, considerable attention is paid to social skills, commitment and independence. The theme of ‘Relationships and Sexuality’ has a permanent place in all school years through a continuous learning pathway. The theme is addressed in every school year (1 through 5). The effective Long Live Love method is used primarily for this purpose. Students learn that they have a choice of their own and that they should respect one another. One of the Golden School Rules, displayed throughout the school, is therefore ‘Everyone is equally beautifully different’. The jury is enthusiastic about the fruitful cooperation between the municipal public health service (GGD) and the school. The GGD provides training for teachers and advises and informs the school about Healthy School policy. The jury considers it commendable that the Care team attaches great importance to professional development.

The jury: “With this award, we want to express that Kolom Praktijkcollege Noord is a school where students can learn to make healthy choices in their relational and sexual behaviour because the theme of sexuality and sexual health is structurally embedded in education, anchored in policy, there is adequate identification and support, and the school works closely with the GGD.”

Watch here how Kolom Praktijkcollega Noord in Amsterdam provides sexual education!

Secondary Special Education:

VSO De Hoge Brug in Rotterdam is a secondary special education school for young people with severe learning difficulties. The school has 120 students. At De Hoge Brug, there is a strong emphasis on practical work, ‘learning by doing’. This is put into practice through a wide range of practical activities and the creation of learning-and-working situations inside and outside the school. In all school years, attention is paid to ‘healthy and self-reliant behaviour’, including in the subjects personal care, relationship and sexual education, social self-reliance and social conduct. Because of their disability, these children face a number of specific obstacles: they often have difficulty assessing risks, are sensitive to social pressure, lack sufficient resilience and are at risk of sexual boundary violations.

The jury praises the fact that the theme of Relationships and Sexuality has a permanent place in all school years through a continuous learning pathway. In the sexual education pathway, the legally required core objectives (CED) have been translated into lesson objectives for students in (secondary) special education. The sexual education pathway provides targeted, development-oriented sexual education. The theme of Relationships and Sexuality is addressed in every school year (1 through 5). The effective Long Live Love method is used primarily for this purpose.

In addition to education, the policy plan also includes rules of conduct and social conduct for students and teachers, as well as how to comply with them. There is close contact with parents regarding the relationship and sexual education lessons and the progress students make in this area. “It is commendable that the school has two (female) specialist teachers for relationship and sexual education. Both have specialised in the sexual health of people with intellectual disabilities, in addition to their teacher training. They teach the lessons in all classes at the school. The plan is also to train two male teachers as specialist teachers for relationship and sexual education.” The jury further states: “With this award, we want to emphasise that De Hoge Brug works through lessons, policy, identification and care to ensure that young people become sexually and relationally resilient and learn to make healthy choices in their relational and sexual behaviour. The theme of relationships, sexuality and sexual health is structurally embedded in education and anchored in policy, including adequate identification and support.”

Watch here how VSO De Hoge Brug in Rotterdam provides sexual education!

Secondary Education (pre-vocational education/general secondary education/pre-university education):

Rudolf Steiner College is a Waldorf school for pre-university, general secondary and pre-vocational education, with approximately 930 students, and provides education based on the principles of the anthroposophical philosophy. The development of the individual is central. Waldorf education is based on the developmental and age phases of the students, including in relation to the theme of relationships and sexuality. The themes of relationships, sexuality, sexual diversity, wishes and boundaries have had a permanent place for many years in a continuous learning pathway (years 1 through 4) and are anchored in the curriculum through biology lessons as well as mentor sessions. In addition to the structural attention paid to preventing sexually risky behaviour, there is also ample attention to the pleasurable aspects of sexuality. “Students develop positively in relational and sexual terms so that they can enter into enjoyable, desired, safe and equal sexual relationships. The school-wide policy is clearly described in the document ‘Policy on relationships and sexuality’,” the jury states. The Healthy School coordinator plays an important role in implementing the policy on Relationships and Sexuality.
The jury praises the fruitful internal cooperation between the teachers and mentors who provide the educational lessons: there is a strong willingness to learn from one another.
The jury compliments the GSA group, which, together with the student council, works to ensure that everyone, including LGBTQ students, can be themselves at school, for example by organising Purple Friday and activities to combat the use of ‘gay’ as a term of abuse.

Secondary Vocational Education:

Aventus is a regional training centre and offers secondary vocational programmes, entry-level programmes, adult education and vavo (general secondary adult education). Its main location is in Apeldoorn and has 5,500 students. Aventus has placed the theme of Relationships and Sexuality high on its agenda for many years. The theme is embedded in the peer-education project ‘Love and Sense’, in which students provide education to other students. On Love Day, the highlight of the project, second-year students from the Educational Work programme spend an entire day providing first-year students with education they have designed themselves. The central themes are those addressed in the Long Live Love method: relationships, healthy sex (STI and pregnancy prevention), sexual resilience (wishes and boundaries) and sexual diversity.

“We are enthusiastic about the fact that Aventus has embedded ‘Love & Sense’ in the curriculum: it is a compulsory part of Citizenship. We are impressed by the fact that the second-year students receive intensive content-based preparation and coaching from their own teachers and GGD professionals in providing education on these themes. Both the students who provide the education and those who receive it are enthusiastic about this approach. The fruitful, structural cooperation between Aventus and GGD Noord- en Oost-Gelderland makes Love & Sense such a successful project,” the jury explains in its report.

Composition of the jury

The entries were assessed by a jury consisting of professionals working in prevention, research and education relating to sexual health and sexual and relationship education, diversity and the Healthy School, and working across various education sectors. Young people are represented by the Youth Ambassador for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.

• Jos Poelman, Long Live Love Ambassador, chair of the jury

• Natascha Ponsioen, Healthy MBO Policy Adviser at the MBO Council

• Boukje van Vlokhoven, Healthy School Project Manager at the VO Council

• Marinus Schouten, Adviser and programme coordinator for Sexual Integrity at Stichting School & Veiligheid

• Marc Cantrijn, formerly a policy adviser at LECSO and the PO Council

• Eduard Boer, university of applied sciences lecturer and teacher educator at Windesheim University of Applied Sciences in Zwolle

• Justine van de Beek, Youth Ambassador for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

• Sanna Maris, Programme Manager for Sexual Education at Rutgers

• Suzanne Meijer, Programme Leader for the Youth Programme at Soa Aids Nederland

• Lisette Schutte, Policy Officer for the Youth Programme at Soa Aids Nederland