“Sexuality education in school” is a new project of Hospital da Luz Póvoa de Varzim destined to educational establishments in its geographical area, in particular for students of the 3 rd cycle (7 th , 8 th and 9 th grade), aged between 12 and 14. The project started last November 6, at Colégio do Forte, in Vila do Conde, and will gradually be taken to other schools interested in the initiative. Sexuality influences thoughts and feelings, actions and interactions – therefore, also physical and mental health. The school being a place inhabited by children and youth in ages of important physical and psychological transformation, inseparable from growth, it is in school that are lived some of the initial and most defining feelings and emotions arising from sexual development. Thus, for Hospital da Luz Póvoa de Varzim, this initiative falls within the scope of its responsibilities of collaboration and support to the community. The “Sexuality education in school” project: Meets the goals defined by the Framework of Education for Health (RES – Referencial de Educação para a Saúde), in 2017, for the 3 rd Cycle of Basic Education, resulting from a partnership between the General-Directorate for Education and the General-Directorate for Health, concerning the topic of Affection and Education for Sexuality; It is put into practice in collaboration with schools and in the context of the discipline of Citizenship and Development; It is developed along four weeks. The Hospital da Luz Póvoa de Varzim nursing team provides weekly sessions in the school on predefined topics, in the area of sexuality, namely: Hygiene; Physical alterations of the body; Sexuality in adolescence; Diseases. The school sessions are interactive: the presentations by our nurses combine the health topics concerned with issues considered pertinent, and which are presented by students, parents and teachers. In that sense, boxes are previously placed at the school entrance, where such questions can be anonymously deposited. Teachers and students simply have to fill out a form available next to the boxes. Students may fill the form alone or at home, with the help of parents / caretakers. The Hospital da Luz Póvoa de Varzim team responsible for the development of the project comprises nurses Sofia Peliteiro and Sónia Cancela (both in the photo, bellow), who are in charge of the planning, structuring and conducting of the sessions near the students in schools. This work is done under the supervision of nurse Marlene Neto (specialized in maternal health) and the director of nursing of Hospital da Luz Póvoa de Varzim, Maria José Reis .
