As a part of your child’s educational experience, we aim to promote personal wellbeing and development through a comprehensive taught programme of Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education that gives children and young people the knowledge,               understanding, attitudes and practical skills to live healthy, safe, productive and fulfilled lives, both now and in the future.

As you may already be aware, the Department for Education has announced changes to Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) following nationwide consultation. These changes came into effect from September 2020 and all schools are required to comply with the updated requirements. The statutory guidance can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education  

The guidance focuses on healthy relationships and keeping children safe in the modern world. It also covers a wide range of topics relating to physical and mental health, wellbeing, safeguarding and healthy relationships.

Learning about the emotional, social and physical aspects of growing up will give children and young people the information, skills and positive values to have safe, fulfilling relationships and help them take responsibility for their own well-being.

Consequently, from September 2020, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE), along with Health Education, is statutory and forms part of the National Curriculum.

We have reviewed our RSE and health curriculum and policy so we can be sure our RSE and health provision is appropriate for our pupils based on their:

• Age

• Physical and emotional maturity

• Religious and cultural backgrounds

• Special educational needs and disabilities

Whilst we understand there will be differences of opinion about this, we hope that consulting with you will help to inform our schools’ decisions on when and how certain content is covered, and enable us to reach a general consensus. Consequently, as part of our curriculum review we have asked parents and carers for their views on our draft policy for Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education and our proposed curriculum.

What is taught, and how, is ultimately a decision for the school and consultation does not provide a parental veto on curriculum content as schools are legally required to teach the National Curriculum. The right to withdraw children from some lessons is explained within the policy and FAQs document at the bottom of this page.

To help you understand the curriculum requirements, we have uploaded the following information documents below, for you to read (this includes a Presentation for Parents which we would ordinarily have shared with you in person, and another sheet which aims to respond to the questions that we anticipated might be asked):

• DfE RSE End of Year Expectations

• An overview of the Jigsaw RSE programme of study

• DfE RSE primary schools guide for parents

• A PowerPoint presentation for parents/carers

• FAQ document

• A copy of the letter sent out to parents/carers regarding this consultation