You may wish to let parents and guardians know that you will be covering organ donation and
transplantation within your lessons. Most encourage and welcome schools providing
opportunities for students to talk about sensitive issues.
Below is a letter that can be amended or adapted for your particular school, to reassure
parents and guardians that the subject will be delivered appropriately and not as a means of
recruiting students to join the NHS Organ Donor Register. It also includes a link to the NHS
Blood and Transplant website so that parents can find out more about organ donation.
Dear
We are writing to inform you that your child/children will be learning about organ donation and
transplantation during their next few PSHE lessons.
NHS Blood and Transplant, working together with experienced secondary school teachers,
has developed this unit of lessons. NHS Blood and Transplant is the Special Health Authority
dedicated to saving and improving lives through organ, blood and bone marrow donation
services provided to the NHS.
The lessons aim to encourage the development of personal skills including formulating
questions, discussing moral issues, evaluating information and articulating an argument for
and against organ donation and transplantation.
The lessons are not designed to recruit students to join the NHS Organ Donor Register and
will be taught in a way that ensures that the beliefs and values of students are respected.
Your child/children may have questions about some of the topics and themes that will be
explored in class. For more information we would recommend visiting the NHS Blood and
Transplant website at organdonation.nhs.uk or calling 0300 123 23 23.
Yours sincerely