RSHE
Implementation
RSHE is taught in discrete, weekly lessons but it is also embedded in other areas of the curriculum and day to day life of the school. The scheme of work used comes from the PSHE Association Question based model. This was chosen as it provides a flexible, comprehensive curriculum for our school. The topics are all based around questions and are mapped out clearly to ensure a progressive, spiral curriculum where all the statutory elements are covered by the end of KS2. The content is delivered through 3 core themes: health and wellbeing, relationships and living in the wider world. This is then tailored to our pupil’s needs and supplemented with additional theme days, assemblies and lessons.
RSHE is taught by adults who are familiar to the children, mostly class teachers. This helps to facilitate constructive and supportive discussions in a safe and open environment. All teaching staff have received in house CPD training to ensure subject knowledge is strong and staff know how to respond to children’s questions appropriately. Teachers provide a range of activities both practical and recorded to allow children to demonstrate their understanding. Misconceptions are addressed as they arise through discussions and real life examples as appropriate. The curriculum aims to be developmentally appropriate for all pupils and enable all pupils to access good quality PSHE teaching.
Impact
The impact of many areas of RSHE are difficult to measure however our RSHE curriculum plays a vital role in preparing children to become well-informed, resilient, and successful members of their community. Through our curriculum, we believe we can help them become confident individuals and prepare them for life in modern Britain. Baseline and endpoint assessments are carried out in each year group to show the skills and knowledge gained. These are used to assess the effectiveness of RSHE teaching and ensure children are acquiring the skills and knowledge they need from their RSHE lessons.
Pupil conversations are also used to assess understanding and to ask pupil’s what they think of their lessons and how they can be improved to meet the needs of our pupils. Lesson observations and staff conversations are also used to assess the effectiveness and impact of RSHE lessons.
Below you can find the whole school overview for the RSHE coverage per year group and the medium term plans for each unit.
PSHE, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE)
From the start of the Autumn Term 2021, it is a statutory requirement that all schools in England and Wales are teaching Relationship, Health (and Sex Education) as a fundamental part of the curriculum.
As part of implementing the RSHE curriculum, we have consulted with the children, parents, staff and governors to ensure there is a general consensus on our approaches to school policy and the curriculum content.
Parent Overview of RSHE Policy
Below is a brief parent's guide to the RSHE policy. It includes key details about the curriculum and how the statutory guidance is being implemented in school.
If you would like more information, the full policy and relating documents can be found below.
Relationships, Sex and Health Education Policy (RSHE) September 2022
This is the RSHE policy in full. The curriculum document mentioned is attached below if you would like more details.
PSHE Association Curriculum Document
Feedback from initial consultations (carried out in February 2021)
Feedback from parent survey
- Over 50 % of parents were unsure of the new statutory guidance on teaching relationships and health education.
- The majority of parents requested more information on the content of the curriculum, broken down into year groups.
- Over 50% of parents knew that although the government recommend teaching sex education in primary school, it is not statutory.
- There were lots of great questions around this, which we have answered in our parent guide. We have also ensured that our policy addresses any issues raised by parents, to give a clear overview of what will happen and when.
- We have lots of feedback around areas of the new curriculum that parents thought should be prioritised in school.
Overall, most subject headings were viewed as important but a few were highlighted beyond this:
- Mental well-being
- Online relationships and internet safety
- Respectful relationships
Feedback from child survey
KS1
- Year 1 and 2 said they enjoy RSHE/PSHE lessons and learning about staying safe and healthy.
- They said they would like to know more about caring for elderly people and how others are feeling (mental health of others).
LKS2
- Year 3 and 4 said they find the lessons fun and as it teaches them skills and life lessons for when they are older. It also helps them deal with negative things.
- They think lots of the new headings are important but especially being safe, mental wellbeing, healthy eating, first aid, caring relationships, changing adolescent bodies and families and people who care for them.
UKS2
- Year 5 and 6 like the activities and discussions in RSHE/PSHE lessons. They feel they are learning about important things that they can use in real life.
- They said they would like to do more on mental health and the mental health of others and also more about racism and LGBT topics.
- When asked about sex education, year 5 were less positive about this being included in the curriculum. Year 6 thought it should be included in their curriculum, they felt it should be taught but not in too much detail.
- They think a range of the new curriculum headings are important, but highlighted a few as their priority, drugs, alcohol and tobacco, being safe, relationships (online and respectful), internet safety and changing adolescent bodies.
Feedback from staff consultation
- Teachers commented on a range of areas they think we currently cover well; lots of discussion time, range of activities to engage children, we cover important national campaigns, we cover lots of relevant and real life topics, we teach a range of coping strategies, topics are built on year on year, all children feel included in lessons and lots of topics are taught very well.
- Areas staff thought need highlighting within RSHE/PSHE; supporting children to recognise mental health in others, mental health, time for children to talk, maintaining friendships, cyberbullying and how to act online, equality and diversity, applying what they learn in real life and the importance of sleep.
Parental Guide
The government have released a parental guide to understanding the new guidance, please see the link below:
Frequently asked questions
The government also have a FAQs page on their website which is very helpful for parents and carers to access.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education-faqs
Full RSE guidance
If you would like to read the guidance in full, please follow this link to the full government guidance:
To find further information relating to learning in individual year groups, please use the year group tabs on the website homepage.
