Personal, Social & Health Education

Relationship & Health Education

As a primary free school, we must provide relationship and health education to all pupils in line with statutory Relationship, Sex & Health Education (RSHE) guidance from the Department for Education.

RSHE, as well as Personal, Social, Health & Economic Education (PSHE) are an important part of our curriculum as they enable children to gain the knowledge that is needed to make informed decisions about their wellbeing, health, relationships, and prepare them for a successful adult life.

RSHE is about the emotional, social and cultural development of children. It enables pupils to learn about relationships, sexual health, sexuality, healthy lifestyles, diversity and personal identity. It involves a combination of sharing information and exploring issues and values. It is important to clarify that RSHE is not about the promotion of sexual activity or any specific sexual orientation, but it is all about learning and celebrating differences as this reflects the world in which we live.

Sex education is a non-statutory requirement, and primary schools can choose whether they teach sex education to meet the needs of their pupils. After careful consideration and consultation with our school community, we have decided that we will only be teaching Relationship and Health Education (RHE) and will not be teaching sex education.

1Decision & Early Years curriculum

We use the 1Decision scheme of work to teach and deliver RHE and PSHE education, as well as other resources that are carefully inspected when and if they are needed. The 1Decision scheme is aligned with the statutory guidance and covers all the relevant elements that are required to be taught. 1Decision brings together RHE and PSHE in a comprehensive scheme of learning and takes into account the age, needs and feelings of pupils. The curriculum also offers a robust understanding of safeguarding through the comprehensive PSHE, RHE and e-safety programmes. The scheme of work has been awarded the PSHE Association Quality Mark.

As Reception is part of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), reception children will follow the Early Years curriculum, including the characteristics of effective learning. In EYFS, teaching of PSHE is incorporated into the learning of Personal, Social, Emotional and Development - one of the prime areas of the EYFS curriculum. We have also recently linked this with the 1Decision scheme of learning and are using it to strengthen these areas for EYFS.

The half-termly curriculum information provides further details about what will be taught in PSHE and RHE each half-term.

Generosity & Responsibility

Every half-term, major key festivals, events and memorable dates are identified and planned for during assemblies and collective workshops. We also identify key charities so that children can take part in charitable events in order to learn about responsibility, generosity, helping others and making positive change in society.

Documents

To find out more about PSHE and RHE, see our related policies (Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education Policy) on our policy page. Also, this overview (2023-2024 academic year) includes information on the units of work pupils learn each term.

You can find out more information about RSHE, including leaflets translated into other languages (including Arabic and Somali).

When educating the minds of our youth, we must not forget to educate their hearts. – Dalai Lama