Becontree Primary School
Respecting One Another
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PSHE and RHE
In September 2020, the Department for Education (DfE) made some changes to Relationships, Health and Sex Education (RHSE). Relationships and Health Education has become statutory (law), and now forms part of the National Curriculum in primary schools. In addition to this, primary schools can choose to teach sex education through a programme tailored to the age, the physical and emotional maturity of the pupils.
The information that follows details the content and approach we take to Relationships and Health Education (RHE) and Sex Education at Becontree Primary School.
What do we want for our children?
One part of our core values is for children at Becontree Primary School to become healthy, responsible and independent members of society. We have a responsibility to prepare our pupils for life in 21st Century Britain, to ensure they are able to:
- recognise and form healthy relationships;
- develop the skills to keep themselves safe.
How will we achieve this?
We aim to achieve this through the delivery of our Relationships and Health Education (RHE) aspect of our Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education curriculum throughout the school.
Our RHE curriculum:
- reflects our school motto and values;
- links with our statutory duties to actively promote British Values and comply with the Equality Act;
- helps to keep our children safe;
- meets the changing needs of all children and adults in our school community.
What exactly do we teach children?
All primary schools are required by law to cover these topics:
Relationships and Health Education
- Families and people who care for the pupil
- Caring Friendships
-Respectful Relationships
-Online Relationships
-Being Safe
Heath Education
-Mental Wellbeing
-Internet Safety and Harms
-Physical Health and fitness
-Drugs Alcohol and Tobacco
-Health and Disease Prevention
-Basic First Aid
-Changing Adolescent Bodies (puberty)
When are these topics taught?
We have reviewed our RHSE Curriculum and Policy to be sure that our RHSE provision is appropriate for our pupils based on their:
- Age;
- Physical and emotional maturity;
- Religious and cultural backgrounds;
- Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
A copy of our draft policy and curriculum overview for each year group can be found at the bottom of this page.
There are only two lessons that cover the Sex element of Relationships, Health and Sex Education. These lessons are taught in Year 6, in the context of healthy, adult relationships and focus on:
- puberty and reproduction;
- families, conception and pregnancy.
We feel that these lessons are important as they address many of the questions that children have. As the sex education aspect of RHSE is not compulsory in primary school, parents have the right to withdraw their child from these 2 Year 6 lessons.
How are topics taught?
The majority of the topics covered are taught as part of the Science Curriculum and the Relationships and Health Education (RHE) curriculum.
To teach the RHE curriculum, we use a resource called the Christopher Winter Project. This is a resource that is used widely in schools nationally and is recommended by the Local Authority.
Copies of these can be found at the bottom of this page.