What does RSE mean in our school and for learners at SPS?
We use the scheme 'SCARF: Safety, Caring, Achievement, Resilience, Friendship', which covers topics including the body, feelings, relationships, family life and online safety. We use this scheme to deliver both PSHCE and RSE lessons.
This scheme helps us to teach children aged 5-11 all about the body, growing up, feelings, staying safe online and much more. SCARF's whole-school approach supports our school in promoting positive behaviour, mental health, wellbeing, resilience and achievement.
We believe it is important to teach RSE to this age group because children and young people want to learn about issues such as body confidence, love and sexual attraction, how to respond to peer pressure, and how to behave in a relationship.
In Key Stage 1 (Years 1&2) it will be laying the foundations of understanding about growth and respect for one another.
In Key Stage 2 (Years 3-6) it prepares learners for the changes experienced during puberty.
What is the role of parents?
Our school is conscious of the fact that the primary role in children’s sex and relationship education lies with parents and carers. We wish to build a positive and supporting relationship with the parents of children at our school through mutual understanding, trust and cooperation.
When is RSE taught?
We teach relationship and sex education through different aspects of the curriculum. While we carry out the main sex education teaching in our personal, social and health education (PSHCE) curriculum, we also teach some sex education through other subject areas (e.g. science ), where we feel that they contribute significantly to a child’s knowledge and understanding of his or her own body, and how it is changing and developing.
In science lessons in Year 5 and 6, teachers inform children about puberty and how a baby is born. For this aspect of the school’s teaching, we follow the guidance material in the national scheme of work for science.
In Foundation and Key Stage 1 (R, Yrs 1&2) we teach children that animals, including humans, move, feed, grow and reproduce, and we also teach them about the main parts of the body. Children learn to appreciate the differences between people and how to show respect for each other.
In Key Stage 2 (Yrs 3-6) we teach about life processes and the main stages of the human life cycle in greater depth.
By the end of Key Stage 2 (Yr 6), we ensure that both boys and girls know how babies are conceived, born, how their bodies change during puberty, what menstruation is, and how it affects women. We always teach this with due regard for the emotional development of the children.
Parents will continue to be informed when discrete puberty or sex education lessons will take place, and are given the option to view resources or discuss the content before their child participates in the lesson.
We have attached our updated policy statement for information alongside our long term planning document which clearly shows when each concept is taught.
As always, we hugely appreciate your continued support and are happy to answer any questions you may have.