Relationships and Sex Education
The scheme of work for Relationships and Sex Education is divided into year groups due to the sensitive nature of the topics covered and the importance of making sure content is age appropriate. The skills and knowledge are divided into ‘body’ and ‘relationships’ and are taught in a range of ways, similar to those approaches used in PSHE. We use resources from ‘The Christopher Winter Project’ to support the teaching of RSE throughout the school. These resources have been commended by the PSHE Association and fully support the Science National Curriculum. In addition, Year 5 teachers use the ‘Girl Talk’ and ‘Boy Talk’ videos from the ‘Living and Growing’ resources to support the teaching of puberty. Teachers will ensure when planning their lessons that they will recognise the significance of factors including religious backgrounds, any special educational needs or disabilities of their pupils.
This scheme of work has been written in consultation with a range of stakeholders. Together, we decided that we needed to teach additional aspects of sex education which go beyond the national curriculum for science and PSHE in order to prepare our children for their transition to secondary school and later life. Our aim is that it will give children and young people essential skills for building and maintaining positive, enjoyable, respectful and non-exploitative relationships. Our Sex Education scheme of work document is progressive and tailored to the age and the physical and emotional maturity of our pupils. By following this scheme, we aim to ensure that our pupils are prepared for the changes that adolescence brings and by drawing on knowledge of the human life cycle set out in the national curriculum for science how a baby is conceived and born.
In the scheme of work document below, statements with (PSHE) or (science) next to them, are taught through those subjects and this content is statutory for all pupils. Under governmental guidance, children cannot be removed from PSHE or science lessons by parents and carers. As evidenced below, many aspects of our bespoke Sex Education scheme of work reflects the statutory guidance and enriches our PSHE curriculum but parents CAN remove children from Sex Education lessons as we understand that we must comply with a parent’s wish to withdraw their child from sex education beyond the national curriculum for science and PSHE. If a parent wishes to withdraw their child from any or all sex education lessons the head teacher will discuss the request with parents and, as appropriate, with the child to ensure that their wishes are understood and to clarify the nature and purpose of the curriculum. As a school we document this process to ensure a record is kept.