Relationship and Sex Education (RSE)
We have consulted with parents about our Relationship and Sex Education offer.
Please read the letter below which was sent to parents following this consultation.
Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) should always be taught as part of broader PSHE education. This way pupils can develop the necessary skills, knowledge and personal attributes as part of a planned programme of regular lessons that also addresses related factors such as media literacy, drugs and alcohol, equality and prejudice and health.
At primary age, Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) helps children to:
• Identify what areas of the body are private, how their bodies will change, how to say no and who they can talk to if they are worried.
• Later, it explores what a healthy relationship looks like, giving them the language to communicate and report when someone is making them feel uncomfortable or making them do things they don’t want to do.
• It promotes an awareness of where to turn for help, identifying trusted adults in their lives.
• RSE also provides an opportunity to integrate an awareness of resilience-building as part of effective Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE).
RSE Hub: Relationship and Sex Education ReportThe full RSE Policy can be found here: Lift Schools Relationship & Sex Education Policy
Links to Safeguarding:
Lack of appropriate sex and relationships education may leave young people vulnerable to inappropriate sexual behaviours and sexual exploitation, particularly if they are not taught the appropriate language, or have not developed the confidence to describe unwanted behaviour, or do not know who to go to for help.
“In just under half of schools pupils had received lessons about staying safe, but few had acquired the skills to effectively apply their understanding, such as assertiveness skills to stand up for themselves and negotiate through difficult situations”
Ofsted Report PSHE in English Schools 2013 released April 2013Our RSE curriculum, linked with the work we around PSHE and safeguarding education, is designed to ensure our children have the skills to make informed choices as they grow into adults and knowledge to access any advice, help and support they may need, as they need it.
For further guidance and information please see the links below:
Relationships education, relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education: FAQs
Below is a summary of our curriculum for both PSHE and RSE -
Coverage of Relationship Education
• Families and People who care about me
• Caring Friendships
• Respectful Relationships
• Online Relationships
• Being Safe
Coverage of Health Education
• Mental Well-being
• Internet Safety and Harm
• Physical Health and Fitness
• Healthy Eating
• Drugs/Alcohol and Tobacco
• Health Prevention
• Basic First Aid
• Changing Adolescent Body
Coverage by Key Stage
Key Stage 1:
• What helps keep bodies healthy, hygiene routines
• Know there are different types of families
• Know which people they can ask for help
• To understand what friendship is. Be aware that their feelings and actions have an impact on others
• To develop strategies to stay safe
• To recognise what they like and dislike and how to make informed choices
• To recognise that they have choices they can make – develop assertiveness skills
• To recognise similarities and differences between themselves and others
• Know the importance of valuing themselves
• Develop skills for dealing with unwanted physical contact
• Understand the difference between secrets and surprises
• About good and not so good feelings, a vocabulary to describe feelings to others and simple strategies for managing feelings
• To identify and respect the difference and similarities between people
• The importance of and how to maintain personal hygiene
• Describe the physical differences between male and females
• Name the male and female body parts including external genitalia
• Appropriate/inappropriate touch
• Understand that making a new life needs a male and female
• About people who look after them, their family networks, who to go to if they are worried and how to attract their attention, ways that pupils can help these people look after them
• About the process of growing from young to old and how people's needs change
Lower Key Stage 2:
• Revisit naming body parts using agreed words
• To consider what kind of physical contact is acceptable or unacceptable and how to respond
• Understand that families are different and have different family members
• Identify who to go to for help and support
• To recognise and challenge stereotypes
• To recognise that they share a responsibility for keeping themselves and others safe, when to say ‘yes’ ‘no’, I’ll ask and ‘I’ll tell’
• To recognise that images in the media do not always reflect reality and can affect how people feel about themselves
• That pressure to behave in an unacceptable, unhealthy or risky way can come from a variety of sources including people they know
• Describe the main stages of the human lifecycle
• Begin to learn about the physical changes that happen during puberty including the importance of personal hygiene
• Understand that children change into adults so that they are able to reproduce
• To deepen their understanding of good and not so good feelings
Upper Key Stage 2:
• Explain the main emotional and physical changes that happen during puberty
• How to keep clean during puberty
• Understand how puberty affects the reproductive organs
• To recognise that they may experience conflicting emotions and when they might need to listen to their emotions or overcome them
• To identify and respect differences and similarities in people
• That civil partnerships and marriage are examples of stable, loving relationships and a public demonstration of the commitment made between two people who love and care for each other
• To be aware that marriage is a commitment freely entered into by both people
• Different types of relationships
• Personal boundaries/acceptable touch
• Revise and further develop their understanding of puberty
• About human reproduction
• Understand how to keep safe using the internet and other technology – protecting personal information, including passwords, addresses and the distribution of images
• About taking care of their bodies, understanding they have autonomy and the right to protect their body from inappropriate and unwanted contact
• That bacteria and viruses can affect health and following simple routines can reduce their spread
• That differences and similarities between people arise from a number of factors, including family, cultural, ethnic, racial and religious diversity, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation and disability
Parental Rights -
• We have committed to a retain parents’ right to withdraw their child from sex education within RSE (other than sex education in the National Curriculum as part of science), but not from relationships education.
• This is because parents should have the right to teach sex education themselves in a way which is consistent with their values.