From September 2020 the Department for Education has made Relationships and Health Education (Primary) and Relationships, Sex Education and Health Education (Secondary) compulsory in all schools. The statutory guidance can be found here:
Relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education – Department for Education
PSHE and RSE at Shotton Hall Primary School
What is PSHE?
PSHE Education (Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education) is a planned programme of learning through which children and young people acquire the knowledge, understanding and skills they need to successfully manage their lives – now and in the future. As part of a whole-school approach, PSHE Education develops the qualities and attributes pupils need to thrive as individuals, family members and members of society. At Shotton Hall Primary School, we teach Personal, Social, Health Education as a whole-school approach to underpin children’s development as people and because we believe that this also supports their learning capacity.
Context
All schools must provide a curriculum that is broadly based, balanced and meets the needs of all pupils. Under section 78 of the Education Act 2002 and the Academies Act 2010, a PSHE curriculum:
- Promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society, and
- Prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.
The Happy-Centred School Programme
We have chosen The Happy-Centred School (HCS) programme for our school. The programme is a scientifically-researched, evidence-based primary PSHE programme. It enhances the personal, social, emotional and economic wellbeing and happiness of our whole school community and supports children’s mental health.
There are five core themes to be taught over five half terms. They are:
- Self confidence
- Achievement and success
- Positive relationships
- Coping skills
- Support
What is RSE?
RSE is lifelong learning about physical, moral and emotional development. Through RSE children learn about healthy relationships, different families, respect, love and care, reproduction, puberty, hygiene, the body, sex, sexuality and sexual health.
Statutory Relationships and Sex Education
“The Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education (England) Regulations 2019, made under sections 34 and 35 of the Children and Social Work Act 2017, make Relationships Education compulsory for all pupils receiving primary education. They also make Health Education compulsory in all schools except independent schools.’
Why we deliver RSE
At Shotton Hall Primary we are building the foundations of skills and knowledge that will be developed further at secondary level. Our key aim in providing RSE throughout the school is to safeguard our pupils. During their time at this school, children will learn key knowledge and skills to help keep them safe and prepare them for adult life.
Aims
The aims of relationships and sex education (RSE) at our school are to:
- Provide a framework in which sensitive discussions can take place
- Prepare children for puberty, and give them an understanding of sexual development and the importance of health and hygiene
- Help children develop feelings of self-respect, confidence and empathy
- Create a positive culture around issues of sexuality and relationships
- Teach children the correct vocabulary to describe themselves and their bodies
Our RSE Curriculum
The Christopher Winter Project
We have RSE lessons from EYFS up to year 6 and follow the Christopher Winter Project (CWP) resource ‘Teaching RSE with Confidence in Primary Schools’. This programme reflects the recent developments in RSE and the Science National Curriculum and has been quality assured by the PSHE Association.
The resources in this scheme are age and developmentally appropriate, for example, in EYFS the focus is on daily routines. Keeping clean and families. From year 1, children will learn the names of the body parts, the differences between males and females and the ways in which they will develop and grow. Importantly, they will recognise unsafe and risky situations and know who to ask for help.
The curriculum continues to develop our pupil’s knowledge and skills as they learn about the physical and emotional changes of puberty and about reproduction.
By the end of Key Stage 2, we ensure that both boys and girls know how their bodies change during puberty, what menstruation is and how it affects women. We always teach this with due regard for the emotional development of the children.
If children ask questions outside the scope of this policy, teachers will respond in an appropriate manner so pupils are fully informed and do not seek answers online. Children will be encouraged to discuss any unanswered questions at home with parents/carers.
Shotton Hall Primary Sex Education will focus on:
- How a baby is conceived and born.
These lessons will be taught to Year 6 children and are non-statutory.
Parents’ right to request their child be excused from Sex Education
“Parents have the right to request that their child be withdrawn from some or all of sex education delivered as part of statutory Relationships and Sex Education” DfE Guidance p.17
At Shotton Hall Primary School, puberty is taught as a statutory requirement of Health Education and covered by our CWP Programme. As sex education refers to Human Reproduction, we therefore inform parents of their right to request their child be withdrawn from the PSHE lessons that explicitly teach this. These lessons are;
Year 6
Lesson 2 (Puberty, Relationships and Reproduction)
Lesson 3 (Communication in relationships)
Lesson 4 (Families, Conception and Pregnancy)
The school will inform Year 6 parents of this right by a letter sent home during Summer Term 1, prior to the Puberty, Relationships and Reproduction unit being taught.
In year 6, there is an additional lesson on internet safety and communication in relationships which runs alongside our school’s computing curriculum.
