Emergency public meeting called as parents fear schools are manipulating sex ed curriculum London, : An emergency public meeting has been called in Tower Hamlets on 29 June in response to parents' fears that local primary schools are manipulating sex education classes, resulting in parents being deprived of their legal right to withdraw their children from the classes.

Parents from at least one local school are concerned that sexually-explicit DVDs are being shown in statutory science lessons.

It is illegal for parents to take their children out of national curriculum subjects, whereas they are permitted to withdraw their children from sex and relationships education (SRE).

An open letter ( ) has been sent to all state-maintained primary schools in Tower Hamlets, setting out concerns both about the content of the materials used to teach young children about sex and the manner in which schools are sidelining parents.

The letter is from four organisations who state that they are "committed to defending the rights of parents and opposing the premature sexualisation of young children through explicit SRE." Antonia Tully of the Safe at School campaign, one of the letters signatories, said: "We are hoping that parents with primary-age children will come to the meeting to find out what their children are being taught, their rights as parents, schools' responsibilities and the local authority's role."

Antonia Tully of Safe at School can be contacted on (020) 8407 3463 or safeatschool@spuc.org.uk

Notes for editors: When: Wednesday , 7pm - 9pm. Where: London Muslim Centre, 82-92 Whitechapel Road, London E1 1 JQ. Speakers: Antonia Tully of Safe at School and Yusuf Patel of SRE Islamic Organised by: Safe at School (a campaign on behalf of parents by the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC)) http://www.spuc.org.uk/campaigns/safeatschool/ in conjunction with East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre. Open letter to headteachers, school governors and local authorities