Wirral Youth For Christ’s DARA Project runs Romance Academies in Secondary Schools on Wirral.

The Romance Academy in Secondary Schools is a 10 week holistic sex and relationship education course with the aim of giving young people the tools to make intelligent choices around this subject that largely affects their emotional and physical well being. Courses have been run in Oldershaw High School and Hilbre High School on Wirral, both with positive feedback from staff and pupils.

Each course consists of 12 young people and addresses the causes of risky youth behaviour. The romance academy is seeking to help young people explore a life of respect, value and integrity through enhancing sexual delay and looking at the emotional aspects of relationships and sexuality as well as the physical.

The topics looked at over the 10 week course in 1 hour sessions/lessons are;

• Week 1 – What is the Romance Academy all about?
• Week 2 – Attraction and Healthy Relationships
• Week 3 – Love
• Week 4 – Understanding Sexuality
• Week 5 – Drugs and Alcohol
• Week 6 – Separate Boy and Girl Sessions
• Week 7 – STI’s and Contraception
• Week 8 - Pregnancy, Parenting and Family
• Week 9 – Media Influence and Violence
• Week 10 – Evaluation Session