Relationships & Sex Education (RSE)

As a maintained school we have an obligation to teach children about aspects of RSE and I feel it is important that we are clear about what that entails. The mention of the words, ‘Sex education’ can create unnecessary anxiety for parents and carers and I want to reassure you that the focus of much RSE in primary school (especially in Lower Schools) is broader than you might think.  The curriculum covers issues such as:

• Recognising feelings and emotions
• Roles of families and friends in caring for each other
• Self-esteem, confidence and valuing ourselves and others
• Differences and similarities between girls and boys and challenging stereotypes
• Making good choices and resisting pressure
• Growing and changing

In parts of the year we cover different aspects of the curriculum and to help you understand this more clearly I have provided below a concise overview by year group and topic. As far as possible we try to ensure the topics are woven naturally into other aspects of learning, including PSHE and science, and 'Relationships' and 'Changing me' are the school wide PSHE themes explored in the Summer term each year. 

As a parent or carer you do have the right to request your child is removed from parts of the programme. If there is an aspect of the curriculum overview that you would like to know more about please feel free to contact Mr Hewitt to discuss your concerns. It is important to clarify that withdrawal of your child can be considered only for content that is not part of the statutory science curriculum.