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Kirkcaldy High School wins top award for controversial teenage pregnancy project

With the award are, from left, back, Helen Houston, Mark Moseley, Owen Bonner, John Skirving, Morgan Stupart and Derek Allan. Front: Heather Hoptin, Erin Sandilands, Hannah Thomson and Victoria McKewan.
With the award are, from left, back, Helen Houston, Mark Moseley, Owen Bonner, John Skirving, Morgan Stupart and Derek Allan. Front: Heather Hoptin, Erin Sandilands, Hannah Thomson and Victoria McKewan.

A controversial high school initiative that handed out thousands of condoms to pupils in a bold move to cut high rates of teenage pregnancies has won a prestigious national award.

Kirkcaldy High School’s innovative teenage pregnancy scheme, which includes a ground-breaking, school-based sexual health clinic, has dramatically reduced unwanted teenage pregnancies in an area that once had one of the highest rates in western Europe.

The programme has won the coveted Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) Chairman’s Award and could now be rolled out to other parts of Fife and Scotland.

Councillor Bryan Poole, Fife Council spokesman for children, young people and families, congratulated the school on their success. He said: “There are many sensitivities around this and similar projects and it might have been easier and/or less risky not to have engaged with this kind of initiative.

“It is to the credit of head teacher Derek Allan, Kirkcaldy High School, Fife education service and NHS Fife that they not only engaged with the challenges around this area of work, but engaged wholeheartedly.

“I think the award is also important in recognising this kind of work as part of the mainstream of education. There is a very clear connection between this area of work and the work around reducing inequalities and deprivation, closing the gap and increasing the learning opportunities of our most vulnerable groups of youngsters.”

Three years ago, in response to some of the highest recorded rates of teenage pregnancy in western Europe linked with cyclical poverty issues and a growing “cycle of despair” Kirkcaldy High School, with Fife Council and NHS Fife, pioneered a programme to tackle this issue.

As an immediate response, and despite the potential for negative feedback, the school introduced a regular sexual health drop-in service, delivered by the school nurse team, which also proactively engages with specialist services to provide counselling, and emergency and long-lasting contraceptive support.

Young people’s longer-term attitudes to sexual health have also been addressed through a hard-hitting and intensive sex and relationships education programme, delivered in small, single-gender groups by teaching staff and health service partners.

Developed after a detailed consultation with young people, and with parents and carers kept fully informed, partnership working and a strong focus on outcomes has resulted in a 40% reduction in the under-16 pregnancy rate across the school’s catchment area since the programme’s inception. The pregnancy rate for under-16s in the Kirkcaldy High School catchment has fallen from 14.2 per thousand in 2010 to 8.6 per thousand in 2013.

A key part of the success has been the training of pupils as peer educator “canvassers”.

Mr Allan said: “The programme starts from a basis of talking to young people openly about the negative impact of underage sex, relationships, lack of respect for self and respect for others but continues with a sensible, mature dialogue about the realities of what’s happening in their lives.

“I’d like to pay special tribute to the young people themselves who have taken such a mature, responsible approach to the programme and who have engaged with us to make sure that the programme is delivering the right advice and support at the right time.”

malexander@thecourier.co.uk