As a part of your child’s educational experience at St Wilfrid's CE Primary School, 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, under-standing, attitudes and practical skills to live healthy, safe, productive and fulfilled lives, both now and in the future.
The Department for Education has made changes to relationships and sex education following nationwide consultation which came into effect from September 2020 (Summer 2021 following COVID) 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 Summer 2021, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE), along with Health Education, will be statutory, and form part of the National Curriculum.

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

• Age
• Physical and emotional maturity
• Religious and cultural backgrounds
• Special educational needs and disabilities

As part of this process, we are consulting with parents, staff and governors to help inform our schools’ decisions on when and how certain content is covered.

To help you understand the curriculum requirements, please look at the information below which provides more detail.

Please find below:

• a summary of what all pupils are expected to know by the end of primary school, following our SCARF Curriculum.
• A powerpoint presentation for parents to provide an overview of RSHE and the rationale behind the curriculum changes, with audio and without).
• Our  Policy for Relationships, Sex and Health Education.
• Results from our Parent Survey in March 2020 on RSHE.
• DfE guidance that outlines statutory requirements.
• The link above to the statutory guidance.

Parental Rights of Withdrawal of RSHE

We recognise that there may be a variety of responses from parents to the teaching of the RSE curriculum. Some parents may not wish the school to give their child any information about the changes that take place during puberty. These parents have the ‘right to withdraw’ their child from the puberty lessons however we do not encourage this; research shows sex education is best taught by trained educators through a safe and positive learning environment. Parents need to be aware that misconceptions can arise from natural conversations outside of these lessons therefore we advise all children to be present during these lessons.

All parents have the ‘right to withdraw’ their children from the sex education part of the school’s RSE programme except the formal RSE elements found in the statutory National Curriculum Science (see section 8 of RSE Policy for further details). If a parent(s) wish to withdraw their child from these lessons, it must be made in writing to the Head of School.

Recommended reads:

Help Your Kids with Growing Up: A No-Nonsense Guide to Puberty and Adolescence by Robert Winston

What's Happening to Me? (Girls Edition) (Facts of Life) by Susan Meredith

What's Happening to Me?: Boy (Facts Of Life) by Alex Frith

Below you will find information about what each year group will cover in RSHE. If you would like to discuss any of the information further, please speak with your child's class teacher.

Relationship and Sex Education coverage per year group

Reception – My body and growing up
In this unit, your child will learn how to value and appreciate their own and other people’s bodies. They will learn to recognise and name different external parts of the body including using agreed names for the external sexual parts of the body. (See your school’s SRE policy for agreed guidance for naming the external sexual parts.) They will learn to recognise and appreciate similarities and differences between different bodies including girls and boys. They will learn to appreciate all the different things that they can do with their bodies, considering how they have changed physically since they were very small and how they will continue to grow and change all their lives. They will learn some basic hygiene routines, including washing, toileting and cleaning teeth and develop an understanding of the importance of good hygiene and cleanliness for preventing the spread of germs. The children will examine what they currently do to look after themselves, including dressing and undressing and will learn that as they grow they will become more independent and will take more responsibility for looking after themselves. They will learn to recognise areas where they still need support from others to ensure their personal needs are met and will become more aware of the adults who provide this care

Year 1
In this unit your child will learn about the external parts of the body in Science. They will think about their body’s capabilities and show appreciation of how amazing their body is. They will consider ways they are in charge of their bodies and will think about how their body belongs to them. They will explore ways they can keep their body clean and how simple hygiene practices can prevent the spread of diseases like colds and tummy bugs.

Year 2
In this unit your child will learn about life cycles, including that humans produce babies who grow into children and then into adults. They will think about the ways they have changed physically since they were babies and how their responsibilities have changed during this time. They continue to build upon their learning about personal hygiene and develop their understanding of relationships.

Year 3
In this unit your child will think more about their bodies’ capabilities and uniqueness as we hope to develop the children’s positive body image. They will also look at personal hygiene and consider their growing responsibilities for this area, now they are getting older. They will learn more about illnesses which can be spread from one person to another e.g. colds, chickenpox, verrucas and will learn more about how to prevent this.

Year 4
In this unit your child will learn about the main stages of the human lifecycle e.g. birth, baby, child, adolescent, adult, middle age, old age, death. They will think about their perceptions of being grown up and the responsibilities this entails. They will think about how their own responsibilities have changed since they were small and they might even think about a new responsibility they can take up at home or at school now they are older. They will develop their knowledge of male and female bodies. They will learn about external body parts and learn the scientific words for these external parts. 

Year 5
In this unit your child will review and extend their understanding of the external sexual parts of males and females. They will learn about the internal sexual parts relating to puberty. Wherever possible they will learn the scientific words for these parts. They will learn about the physical changes that take place at puberty, why they happen and how to manage them (including girls starting their periods). They will also learn that puberty affects people at different rates and that although some changes happen to everyone, some just affect girls and some just affect boys.  They will start to consider the concept of body image and how this is linked to a healthy lifestyle and healthy self-esteem. They will learn about the new routines that they will need to follow to keep up their personal hygiene as puberty begins. 

Year 6
In this unit your child will revisit some learning about the body, puberty and periods.  They will explore how their emotions might change as they enter puberty and discuss how to deal with this positively. They will consider ways they can behave responsibly and kindly when starting and ending relationships. They will think about the need for trust and love in marriage and established relationships. They will broaden their awareness of the different family structures in which children are brought up.

Manchester Healthy Schools have produced a video on FAQs for Parents/Carers:

 

Manchester Healthy Schools have produced a video for parents of primary school aged children on RSHE:

Please see the video below regarding teaching your child about gender.