Relationship, Sex and Health Education

Why is Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) in schools Important?

High quality RSHE helps create safe school communities in which students can grow, learn, and develop positive, healthy behaviour for life, and for the following reasons:

RSHE plays a vital part in schools fulfilling their statutory duties to protect and safeguard their students. Ofsted is clear that schools must have a preventative programme that enables students to learn about safety and risks in relationships.
Schools maintain a statutory obligation under the Children Act (2004) to promote their students’ wellbeing and under the Education Act (2002) to prepare children and young people for the challenges, opportunities and responsibilities of adult life. A comprehensive RSHE programme can have a positive impact on students’ health and wellbeing and their ability to achieve, and can play a crucial part in meeting these obligations.
Technology is evolving at a tremendous pace. The need to protect children and young people from inappropriate online content, cyber- bullying and exploitation is a growing concern. A comprehensive RSHE programme can support in addressing these issues

RSHE Curriculum

Relationships Education is introduced at Primary and students explore the following areas:

Families and people who care for me
Caring Friendships
Respectful Relationships
Online Relationships
Being Safe
Sex education is not compulsory in primary schools. Primary schools that choose to teach sex education should tailor teaching to take account of the age and the physical maturity of their pupils and must allow parents to withdraw their children where requested.

Physical Health and Mental Well Being in Primary Schools:

The aim of teaching pupils about physical health and mental wellbeing is to give them information they need to make good decisions about their own health and wellbeing with a clear focus on reducing stigma attached to health issues.

In primary school the focus should be on teaching the characteristics of good physical health and mental wellbeing and the benefits of hobbies, interests and participation in their own communities. By embedding these principles teachers should be able to address issues such as isolation, loneliness, unhappiness, bullying and the negative impacts of poor health and wellbeing.
Physical Health and Mental Well Being Teaching in Primary include learning units around Mental Wellbeing, Internet Safety and Harms, Physical Health and Fitness, Drugs/Alcohol/Tobacco/Basic First Aid/Changing Adolescent Body)

Overview of Teaching Expectations for Primary schools

Relationships Education (Primary)	Physical Health and Mental Well Being (Primary)
Families and People who care for me	Mental Wellbeing
Caring Friendships	Internet Safety and Harms
Respectful Relationships	Physical Health and Fitness
Online Relationships	Healthy Eating
Being Safe	Drugs, alcohol and tobacco
	Health and Prevention
	Basic First Aid
	Changing Adolescent Body

RSHE Consultation for Parents/Carers

Please follow the link in the letter that was sent to families on 1st February 2021 to complete the RSHE Parent consultation survey.

RSHE Documents

Sex Education

Boys and girls are encouraged to work and play together to develop a healthy awareness of one another. The curriculum content for Sex and Relationships education is as follows.

Scheme of Work for Sex Education - Curriculum Content

At Bedonwell Junior School Sex Education is taught through the National Curriculum for Science and also using supplementary plans and resources for the children in Years 5 and 6. The programme is tailored to the age and physical and emotional maturity of the children and sessions relating to puberty, growth and the reproduction cycle are taught by the class teachers and the school nurses.
In years 5 and 6, Sex Education is taught mainly in whole class groups in a variety of ways including through:

The National Curriculum for Science
Links with other subjects, particularly RE & English (speaking & listening)
Circle time
Providing opportunities for children to listen to visiting speakers to ask relevant questions (e.g. ChildLine, Junior Citizen, etc)

When additional lessons are planned for Year 5 and 6, we always write to parents/carers before we start teaching and invite them in to an information meeting to have the opportunity to discuss the curriculum content.

By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils will know and understand:

that the life processes common to humans and other animals include growth and reproduction*;
about the main stages of human life;
about the physical changes that take place at puberty, why they happened and how to manage them;

* Part of the National Curriculum for science.

The school nurse and health visitor make occasional visits to school and are available for discussion with parents. For further information please refer to the RSHE Policy.