A HUGE thank you to the vast number of parents who responded to our RSHE Policy documentation which was sent out in September.

Firstly, there was an overwhelming amount of positivity in comments and the majority of parents are happy with what the policy outlined.

A few FAQ below to ensure transparency and to answer the queries parents had.

What is the ‘right to withdraw’?

The government guidelines say:

'Parents will continue to have a right to request to withdraw their child from sex education delivered as part of RSE in secondary schools which, unless there are exceptional circumstances, should be granted up to three terms before their child turns 16. At this point, if the child themselves wishes to receive sex education rather than be withdrawn, the school should make arrangements for this to happen in one of the three terms before the child turns 16 - the legal age of sexual consent.
There is no right to withdraw from Relationships Education at primary or secondary as we believe the contents of these subjects – such as family, friendship, safety (including online safety) – are important for all children to be taught.'

Basically, this means that parents can ask that the specific lessons about sex are not taught to their child, but the relationships lessons cannot be withdrawn from.

How do the school decide what is age ‘appropriate’ and is it down to age or maturity?

We have used the PSHE Association’s programme of study as the foundation for our schemes of work. Mrs Tweddell, who is leading RSHE has extensive teaching experience of PSHE/RSHE/Mental Health and Wellbeing Training and regularly attends professional development to ensure her knowledge is up to date. The staff delivering our programme in school have clear resources and are regularly feeding back about conversations which have come up that might need addressing. Students are asked for their feedback on content too, and we are reviewing the lessons continually.

How do we know exactly what is taught?

In the coming weeks we will be making our resources available for students and parents so you can see what the students are/will be learning. Before students are taught lessons on sex education, there will be a parent session so you can come to the school and see resources before-hand, should you wish.