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Template for relationships educations policy

RSE Policy 2022-23

Date of issue: September 2022

Date of review: September 2023

Ratified by Academy Governing Council on: December 2022

Introduction

This policy was written using the Kapow RSE template policy.

Legal requirements

Curriculum requirements

As from September 2020, under The Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education

and Health Education (England) Regulations 2019:

• Relationships education is compulsory for all pupils receiving primary education.

• Health education is compulsory in all schools except independent schools. Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE) continues to be compulsory in independent schools.

Policy requirements

As from September 2020, under the Department for Education, Statutory Guidance for Relationships Education and Sex Edu cation (RSE) and Health Education 2019, every primary school in England must have in place a written policy for relationships education that meets the needs of pupils, parents and carers and reflects the community that the school serves.

In preparing the policy, schools must consult with parents and carers on the school’s proposed outline of its relationships education curriculum.

The draft relationships education policy must be approved by the school’s governing body (or other appropriate body such as a trustee board).

The relationships education policy must be made available on a school’s website and copies given free of charge on request to the school office.

The relationships education policy must be reviewed, the recommended review period being every three years.

The relationships education policy must:

• Define relationships education.

• Set out the relationships education subject content, how it is taught and who is responsible for teaching it.

• Describe how the relationships education subject is monitored and evaluated.

• Include information to clarify why parents/carers do not have a right to withdraw their child from what is compulsory in relationships education.

• Confirm the date by which the relationships education policy will be reviewed.

• Define any sex education the school chooses to teach other than that covered in the science curriculum.

• Include information about a parent’s/carer’s right to request that their child be excused from any sex education the school chooses to teach, other than that covered in the science curriculum.

Introduction

This is the policy of Co-op Academy Oakwood on the approach taken to Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE), to be approved by Co-op Academy Oakwood’s Academy Governing Council in January 2023 following a consultation with parents and carers.

Legal context

The law was changed with effect from September 2020 so that primary schools in England must teach relationships education and health education (The Children and Social Work Act 2017).

● The relationships education part of the new curriculum teaches what children need to learn to build positive and safe relationships with family and friends and online.

● The health education part of the new curriculum covers both physical health and mental wellbeing and teaches children how to make good decisions about their own health and wellbeing; how to recognise issues in themselves and in others; and how to seek support as early as possible when issues arise.

Sex education is not compulsory in primary schools, but:

● The new curriculum for relationships education and health education does include content on puberty.

● The national curriculum for science includes subject content in related areas, such as the main external body parts; the human body as it grows from birth to old age

(including puberty); and reproduction in some plants and animals.

Following this change in the law, the Department for Education published Statutory Guidance for Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education (2019). This guidance requires primary schools in England to have a written relationships education policy to cover the following:

● How relationships education is delivered

● What sex education (if any) a school chooses to cover that goes beyond the national curriculum for science and relationships education.

There is no equivalent requirement for a health education policy but, in line with best practice, this RSHE policy also covers health education.

This RSHE policy also supports legal requirements relating to the following:

● The Equality Act 2010.

● The Education Act 1996.

● Statutory guidance, Keeping Children Safe in Education 2020.

The following policies are also relevant to this Relationships and Health Education policy:

Anti-bullying

Behaviour for learning

Intimate care policy

PSHE policy

Safeguarding and child protection policy

SEND policy

Definition

RSHE supports children and young people’s personal development including their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Its aims are to help children and young people to deal with the real-life issues they face as they grow up and that they will encounter as adults. Their learning will support them both online and offline, to make informed choices about their safety, physical and mental health, enabling them to live positive and fulfilled lives.

RSHE is enhanced by a supportive school ethos where everyone is valued, positive relationships are promoted and there is a safe learning environment.

At Co-op Academy Oakwood the core aim of our curriculum is to provide insight, creativity and experience in all subjects. These three main themes dictate how our curriculum has been designed to provide all our children with a broad, exciting and ambitious curriculum that will develop their knowledge and cultural capital so that they are able to succeed in life. In each subject a logical sequence of lessons has been developed so that every child can gain a deep understanding and genuine interest through hands-on practical tasks and first-hand experiences. We know that our children, through no fault of their own, are at a disadvantage (48% have free school meals, 38% pupil premium) and need to be empowered so that they have the opportunity to make a positive contribution to society. Indeed, the children we teach come from an area of Leeds that has been historically and continues to be in the top 1% of deprivation nationally (https://observatory.leeds.gov.uk) and has all the associated aspects that this entails such as low life expectancy, childhood obesity and mental health issues. Deprivation Statistics Comparison for Gipton & Harehills, Leeds (ilivehere.co.uk).

This knowledge underpins our drive to provide high-quality learning experiences in all areas of the curriculum, especially PSHE which allows us to confront these challenging issues head on. For example, at the beginning of each half-term we deliver a MINDMATE lesson to support the children’s social, emotional & mental health skills https://mindmatechampions.org.uk/

Wherever possible our curriculum is designed to raise aspirations as the local area has a very high rate of people seeking jobseekers allowance (https://observatory.leeds.gov.uk) so for example, in science we use a scheme of work designed in cooperation with other Co-op schools that serve similarly deprived areas of the country. There are regular opportunities in every year group and subject area, including visits by people working in the scientific field, so that children get to learn about potential future careers and employability.

Our PSHE curriculum is central to our school ethos which places our children and families at the centre of its work. We help our children to understand and value themselves; to be optimistic about the future and life’s possibilities; to develop the positive self-esteem and confidence to take increasing control of, and responsibility for, their lives as well as playing an active part in their community. We teach our children how to keep themselves safe and healthy, considering issues such as online safety, healthy relationships and mental health and wellbeing. We also promote tolerance of others and a willingness to listen and appreciate the views and lifestyles that others may follow.

Aims

The aims of our RSHE programme are:

Co-op Academy Oakwood will:

● Provide accurate and age-appropriate information.

● Include all children.

● Help children make informed choices.

● Develop knowledge, skills and attitudes.

● Build confidence and self-esteem.

● Develop personal attributes.

● Prepare children for the next stage of education and adulthood.

● Develop positive and inclusive attitudes to everyone, particularly to those with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.

Roles and responsibilities

An effective programme of RSHE requires support from the whole school community and the following people have specific roles and responsibilities:

Academy Governing Council

Co-op Academy Oakwood has an Academy Governing Council. They approve policies and hold leaders to account for the statutory responsibilities that must be completed.

The Academy Governing Council is supported by the Chief Education Officer who reports on the quality of education to the council.

Headteacher

The headteacher is responsible for:

● Overseeing the development and delivery of RSHE.

● Providing staff with the opportunity to contribute to the development of RSHE.

● Providing information to the trustees/governors.

● Providing training for the subject leader and staff, as required.

● Supporting the subject leader to liaise with parents and carers.

● Dealing with parents and carers who wish to withdraw a child from sex education.

Subject leader

The RSHE subject leader is responsible for:

● Leading the development and delivery of effective RSHE.

● Keeping up-to-date with the development of RSHE.

● Supporting colleagues as required.

● Monitoring and evaluating RSHE and providing necessary reports.

● Liaising with parents and carers.

● Keeping subject information up-to-date, including on the school website.

● Overseeing external visitors and resources used in RSHE.

All staff

All staff are responsible for:

● To understand and implement the policy of RSHE.

● To teach RSHE in line with the agreed curriculum.

● To assess and monitor the progress of children.

● To respond to the needs of individual children.

Curriculum organisation

The academy adopts the following approaches to organise the curriculum to ensure high quality delivery of RSHE:

Explain how your school RSHE curriculum is organised, to cover the following points:

RSHE is covered as part of a wider programme of PSHE education using Kapow Primary to inform long and medium term planning. .

PSHE lessons are taught weekly to pupils and RSHE is taught within these lessons taking account of the long and medium term plans from Kapow.

RSHE lesson sare of sufficient length to allow children to explore topics and reflect on their learning.

Focus days, visits and visitors are used in conjunction with taught lessons to enhance learning outcomes.

Links to other areas of the curriculum will be recognised in long and medium term planning.

Teachers and HLTAs will deliver the RSHE curriculum who are confident and skilled. Staff who know the pupils will deliver the content particularly for sensitive and controversial topics. The academy may use specialist staff for some topics.

Teaching and learning

RSHE is delivered in line with the curriculum policy. However, as the subject deals with real-life experiences, it is important to establish a safe and positive learning environment using the following approaches:

● Establishing clear ground rules in consultation with children. Ground rules should include confidentiality, respect for others, privacy and boundaries.

● Using distancing techniques including de-personalised discussions and role play.

● Using clear language to avoid misunderstandings.

● Avoiding prejudice and assumptions about children’s abilities, desires, background and experiences.

● Dealing sensitively with unexpected questions and comments.

● Assessing and building on existing knowledge and experiences.

● Ensuring that learning is engaging, using a range of activities, including structured discussion and problem-solving.

● Providing a range of opportunities to learn, practise and demonstrate knowledge, skills and attitudes.

● Allowing time for reflection.

● Providing differentiated learning.

● Using a variety of groupings to enhance learning.

Curriculum content

Long term planning

The school has chosen to use the Kapow Primary RSE scheme of work, which provides full curriculum coverage, including all the statutory content, for each year group.

Follow this link to view the Kapow Primary RSE curriculum overview.

Resources

Teachers will select any additional resources carefully, and the subject leader will oversee the selection.

Additional resources will be:

● Up-to-date.

● Relevant to children.

● Consistent with the aims and values of the school.

Visitors

Visitors can enhance children’s learning. Teachers will select visitors in liaison with the subject leader. The following will be used to guide the use of visitors:

● The academy will use visitors to enhance the lessons delivered by the class teacher; and information on where a visitor fits into the long-term plan will be shared with the visitor.

● The academy will make visitors aware of the school policy for RSHE.

● The academy will check the content of sessions delivered by visitors to make sure that it fits with the school’s ethos and meets legal requirements.

● A member of staff will be present in sessions delivered by visitors.

● The academy will make sure visitors undergo the necessary checks as required by the school safeguarding policies.

Equality

Under the Equality Act 2010, the school is under a legal duty to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relationships between those with protected characteristics and those without. The protected characteristics are:

● Age.

● Marriage and Civil partnership.

● Disability.

● Race.

● Religion and belief.

● Sexual orientation.

● Sex.

● Pregnancy and maternity.

● Gender reassignment.

In addition, the school must consider the needs of those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

The RSHE programme will meet the needs of all children. Lessons will include content that will tackle discrimination and foster good relationships.

Right to withdraw from sex education*

A parent or carer cannot legally withdraw their child from any aspect of the statutory relationships education or health education.

A parent or carer does have the right to withdraw their child from sex education unless what is being taught is part of the science national curriculum.

Following a consultation with the whole school community, the following content is deemed to be sex education:

The Kapow Primary lessons that are deemed to be sex education are:

● Year 6: Safety and the changing body, Lesson 5: Conception

● Year 6: Safety and the changing body, Lesson 6: Pregnancy and birth

The following process must be followed if a parent or carer wishes to withdraw their child from sex education:

Outline the process in your school, covering the following:

● Families will be informed of Sex Education lessons through a letter sent home to them.

● Families should contact the academy by letter or phone or in person to discuss Sex Educaiton.

● Families should contact their class teacher, PSHE/RSHE leader or a member of SLT.

● Families will be invited in for a meeting. Meetings give an opportunity for the school and the family to discuss concerns and to outline the impact on the children of missing sex education lessons.

● The decision on the withdrawal request will be recorded in writing via a letter from the family.

● Pupils not attending Sex Education lessons will complete learning in another classroom in the academy not associated with the subject.

Safeguarding

RSHE includes sensitive topics. It is, therefore, possible that discussions will prompt safeguarding disclosures. Reference should be made to safeguarding policies and procedures to deal with these appropriately.

The subject leader/teacher should discuss with the designated safeguarding lead any potentially sensitive topics. Appropriate steps must be taken to provide additional support for children if required.

Staff should consider the timing of lessons to ensure that children have the opportunity to report any concerns they may have either that day or the following day.

Support

RSHE should not be a time for children to make disclosures. It is important, however, to inform

children of the support that is available to them if they are worried about anything raised in a lesson. The following support will be highlighted to children as appropriate:

Outline the support available for children.

In school:

● Class teacher.

● Class TAs

● DSL and DDSLs

● Pastoral team

External:

● Childline 0800 1111

Monitoring and evaluating*

The headteacher and subject leader will be responsible for monitoring and evaluating RSHE in line with other subjects.

Monitoring and evaluating will take place through:

● Scrutiny of planning.

● Lesson observations.

● Learning walks.

● Evidence of learning.

● Feedback from staff.

● Feedback from families.

● Feedback from children.

Professional development

The headteacher and subject leader will assess the professional development needs of staff regularly. Appropriate development will be provided using internal or external expertise.

Communication of policy

This RSHE policy will be available to read on and downloaded from the school website and copies can be requested free of charge from the school office.

Review*

This policy will be reviewed annually.