SEX education teaching materials being used at a Herefordshire secondary school are of 'serious concern', a government minister has said.

Hereford and South Herefordshire MP Jesse Norman said he had written to the Department of Education to express his concerns about the 'Fertile Heart' sex and relationship resource used at St Mary's School in Lugwardine.

The teaching materials came to prominence earlier this year, with protesters gathering outside the school's gates to share their concerns over its content.

"These included teaching on supposed gender roles in sexual relationships and inaccurate information on contraception and other matters," Mr Norman said.

"These materials seemed especially problematic given the present levels of violence against women.

In response, Minister of State for School Standards Nick Gibb MP said he had serious concerns over the gender stereotypes labelling women as receivers and inaccurate information about the effect of contraceptives on girls which "appears to be included to alarm pupils."

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Mr Gibb said he would be writing to the publishers of 'A Fertile Heart' and to the Archbishop of Cardiff to set out his serious concerns over the material, which was previously mandated by the Archdiocese of Cardiff for use in its schools.

"We understand that is no longer the case and schools in the Archdiocese now have a choice of resources, including A Fertile Heart," he said.

"I have asked officials to continue to work with the Catholic Education Service and the Welsh Office to monitor the situation. So far, we believe that the only secondary school in England to have used “A Fertile Heart” is St Mary’s Roman Catholic High School.

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Mr Gibb pointed out that Ofsted had carried out an inspection of the school after similar complaints and found that the school uses and adapts a variety of resources to suit pupil needs as part of their RSE programme.

"Ofsted found that the way leaders intend to implement the RSE programme will not promote misogynistic or discriminatory attitudes, nor will it endorse messages that are contrary to the Equality Act 2010," he said.