PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education)
To navigate our ever-changing world successfully and safely, pupils require the skills and knowledge necessary to flourish and succeed in their personal and academic lives both now and in the future. This is where PSHE is vital.
PSHE education equips students with the knowledge, understanding, skills and strategies required to live healthy, safe, productive, capable, responsible and balanced lives. It encourages them to be enterprising and supports them in making effective transitions, positive learning and career choices and in achieving economic well-being.
A critical component of PSHE education is providing opportunities for students to reflect on and clarify their own values and attitudes and explore the complex and sometimes conflicting range of values and attitudes they encounter now and in the future.
The PSHE curriculum is split into 3 main themes:
- health and well-being
- relationships (including sex education)
- living in the wider world.
RSE (Relationships and Sex Education)
Relationships and Sex Education is compulsory for all pupils receiving secondary education.
The intent of Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) is to give students the information they need to help them develop healthy, nurturing relationships of all kinds. RSE enables them to know what a healthy relationship looks like and what makes a good friend, a good colleague and a successful committed relationship.
RSE includes what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour in relationships to help students to understand the positive effects that good relationships can have on their mental wellbeing, identify when relationships are not right and understand how such situations can be managed.
RSE supports students in developing resilience, to know how and when to ask for help, and where to access support.
The five main topics covered in the RSE curriculum are:
- Families.
- Respectful relationships, including friendships.
- Online and media.
- Being safe.
- Intimate and sexual relationships, including sexual health.
RSE Policy
Relationships and Sex Education Update: Autumn Term 2024-2025
You can find the current RSE policy here.
Year 9 RSE Sessions
Wayne Stevenson will be delivering a series of RSE workshops to our Year 9 students as part of wraparound support on Tuesday 22nd and Wednesday 23rd October 2024. The sessions will focus on the law concerning consent, contraceptives and STI's. The session links to the current statutory guidance for RSHE which you can find at this link.
By the end of secondary school:
Schools should continue to develop knowledge on topics specified for primary as required and in addition cover the following content by the end of secondary:
Intimate and sexual relationships, including sexual health.
Pupils should know:
- the facts about the full range of contraceptive choices, efficacy and options available.
- how the different sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDs, are transmitted, how risk can be reduced through safer sex (including through condom use) and the importance of and facts about testing.
- about the prevalence of some STIs, the impact they can have on those who contract them and key facts about treatment.
- how to get further advice, including how and where to access confidential sexual and reproductive health advice and treatment.
The materials used in the session can be found here.
You can find out more about Wayne here.
New RSHE guidance: What it means for sex education lessons in schools
Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) is a subject taught at both primary and secondary school. In 2020, Relationships and Sex Education was made compulsory for all secondary school pupils in England and Health Education compulsory for all pupils in state-funded schools. Last year, the Prime Minister and Education Secretary brought forward the first review of the curriculum following reports of pupils being taught inappropriate content in RSHE in some schools. The review was informed by the advice of an independent panel of experts. The results of the review and updated guidance for consultation has now been published. The government is now asking for views from parents, schools and others before the guidance is finalised. You can find the consultation here.
