Information for parents: cohort 2023

Information for parents / carers about the evaluation of the ‘Send Me a Pic?’ education resource

We are writing to inform you of some important research your child’s class will take part in later this year. This is being carried out by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), an independent, not-for-profit social research agency.

The research is a randomised control trial (RCT) to evaluate the effectiveness of ‘Send Me a Pic?’ (SMaP), an education resource for young people aged 11-14 provided to schools by the National Crime Agency (NCA). Via four age-appropriate lessons, SMaP aims to develop young people’s knowledge and awareness of what nude image based abuse is (such as non-consensual nude image sharing), its impacts on victims / survivors, and appropriate strategies to respond to these situations. 

The evaluation will explore how SMaP is delivered in schools and will compare key outcomes for young people who receive the lessons with those of young people receiving standard Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) lessons. The findings of the evaluation will help the NCA to ensure that the teaching materials it provides to schools are as useful as possible for young people. 

Please read the rest of this letter for more information about the research. If you are happy for your child to take part, no further action is needed. If you have any questions, however, or would like to opt your child out of the research, information about how to do so is provided below.

Why is my child’s class being contacted?

• Eligible secondary schools across England have been invited to take part in the evaluation.
• Your child’s school responded to this invitation and has chosen to be involved in this important research. 
• At each participating school, up to two Year 8 and Year 9 classes have been randomly selected by NatCen to be involved, including your child’s class. 

What would taking part in the research involve for my child?

Participating schools will be randomly allocated to one of two groups, so that the evaluation can draw robust comparisons before and after the SMaP lessons are delivered. Schools in Group 1 will deliver four SMaP lessons in spring 2024. Schools in Group 2 will deliver RSE lessons as normal and will receive the SMaP resources in summer 2024 instead.

At each school, up to two classes in Year 8 and Year 9 have been randomly selected for inclusion in the RCT.

Children who participate in the research will be involved in the following ways:

• Their name, date of birth, gender, and unique pupil number (UPN) will be securely shared with the research team by the school.
  • This information will be provided in the autumn term of 2023 and used to link pupils’ survey responses later in the evaluation. It will not be shared beyond the research team or used for any purposes other than the evaluation.
• Children will complete a short (10 minute) online survey in the autumn term of 2023. The survey will explore their existing knowledge and understanding related to nude image sharing (such as knowledge of appropriate strategies to respond to nude image based abuse situations).
• They will complete a second short (10 minute) online survey after the relevant lessons have been delivered. The questions will be similar to those of the first survey, so that any changes in key outcomes can be measured. 

Some schools in Group 1 will also be invited to participate in some face-to-face data collection:

• Researchers will visit a small number of the SMaP lessons in the spring term 2024, to see how they are delivered in practice. The visits will focus on the classes as a whole, rather than on individual contributions. Identifiable data about pupils will not be recorded as part of the visit. 
• A small number of pupils will be invited to take part in a focus group discussion with up to five other pupils from their class. This will take place in either spring or summer 2024. Discussions will be facilitated by two members of the NatCen research team and will focus on pupils’ views and experiences of the SMaP lessons. Children will not be asked to share any direct experiences of nude image based abuse.
• If your child’s school is participating in these additional evaluation activities, further information will be provided nearer the time.

All evaluation activities will take place on school premises and during school hours but at a convenient time so as not to affect the school’s teaching and learning programme. If any support to complete the evaluation activities is required, this will be provided by the school as necessary.

Does my child have to take part?

Your child’s participation in any of the evaluation activities (i.e. surveys, lesson visits, or focus groups) is voluntary. You can opt your child out of the evaluation by completing and returning the form at the end of this letter. Your child can also opt out of any of the evaluation activities at any point. Your child does not have to give a reason for opting out and they will not be penalised for withdrawing from the research.

Will the information collected be confidential?

Yes. The identities of the pupils who take part in this research will be known only to their school and the NatCen research team. Answers to survey questions will be submitted online and will not be shared with others outside of the research team. If your child participates in a focus group discussion, they and all other participants will be asked to keep the details of the discussion confidential.

The only exception to confidentiality for pupils is if a researcher becomes aware of a risk of serious harm to them or somebody else they identify (including harm that has already been caused). In this case, NatCen may have to disclose this information to other agencies, which might include the school, the local authority, and the police. If it is decided that information needs to be disclosed, details about the individual(s) involved and nature of the concern would be shared even if they withdraw from the study.

How will my child’s information be used?

The information that we collect will be used for evaluation purposes only. A report of the findings from the evaluation will be provided to the NCA and will be published. No individual pupil or school will be identifiable in this report. We may quote individual participants in research outputs, such as the final report, but we will not use names or include any details that could identify anybody who has taken part, or their school, in any way. All details will be fully anonymised. 

All confidential information relating to this research will be kept securely in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Personal information and any other data held on the project will be stored securely for research purposes and then securely deleted once the evaluation is complete. Further information of how we will use and store personal information is provided in the privacy notice at https://natcen.ac.uk/evaluation-send-me-pic-privacy-notice.

Next steps

If you do not want your child to participate in the evaluation, please complete and return the opt out form provided to you by your child’s school. The form will have details of who to return the form to and the date by which you should return the form. The name, birth date, gender, and UPN of all children who have not been opted out will be securely shared with the research team after this date.

Please note that this will opt them out of the evaluation only – your child may still be taught the SMaP lessons. If you have any questions or concerns about the lessons themselves, please discuss these with your child’s school. 

If you would like more information about the research before making your decision, please visit natcen.ac.uk/sendmeapic. You can also get in touch directly with the research team to discuss the research via the details below – we’d be very happy to answer any questions you may have. You can email smap-evaluation@natcen.ac.uk or call us on Freephone 0808 168 8519.

If you are happy for your child to take part in the evaluation, you do not have to do anything else. 

If you do not opt your child out of the evaluation, a separate letter containing more information about the programme and how your child’s data will be processed will be sent to your child. You might want to read that too.