Relationships and Health Education (RHE)

Lingfield Primary School considers that Relationships and Health Education (RHE) is an integral part of the Personal, Social and Health and Economic Education (PSHE) and is linked to that for Science. We aim to offer pupils a carefully planned programme on human development, relationships, personal identity and family life within a safe, comfortable atmosphere and in a clearly defined relationship between teacher and pupil. The programme is set within a moral framework and matched to the pupils’ level of maturity.

RHE is part of lifelong learning about the emotional, social and physical aspects of growing up, relationships and positive health. RHE, within PSHE, aims to give children and young people essential skills for building positive, enjoyable, respectful and non-exploitive relationships and the skills to stay safe both on and off line. It enables pupils to explore their own and other’s attitudes and values and builds their self-esteem and confidence to view their own sexuality positively.

As part of RHE, pupils will be taught about the nature and importance of secure family units for family life and bringing up children. They also need to understand that there are strong and mutually supportive relationships outside of marriage. We ensure that no stigma is placed on children based on their home circumstances.

We aim to provide accurate information and to help to develop skills to enable them to understand differences and diversity and respect themselves and others. We aim  to prevent and remove prejudice. RHE contributes to promoting the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at school and within society, thus preparing them for the responsibilities and experiences of adult life. We will work towards this aim in partnership with parents/carers and to be understanding of cultural differences.

RHE is about the emotional, social and cultural development of pupils, and involves learning about relationships, positive health, healthy lifestyles, diversity and personal identity.

RHE involves a combination of sharing information, and exploring issues and values.

RHE is not about the promotion of sexual activity. We draw upon the comprehensive research published by the Sex Education Forum in 2022 to support the teaching of RHE.

We have developed the curriculum taking into account the age, needs and feelings of pupils. If pupils ask questions outside the scope of this policy, teachers will respond in an appropriate manner so they are fully informed and don’t seek answers online or elsewhere.

The curriculum at Lingfield Primary School uses some Medway Primary PSHE Education resources and the latest curricular updates from the PSHE Association. PSHE lessons do not have written outcomes and the children do not have a PSHE book.

Relationships Education focuses on teaching the fundamental building blocks and characteristics of positive relationships including:

• Families and people who care for me

• Caring friendships

• Respectful relationships

• Online relationships

• Being safe

These areas of learning are taught within the context of family life, taking care to ensure that there is no stigmatisation of children based on their home circumstances (families can include single parent families, LGBT parents, families headed by grandparents, adoptive parents, foster parents/carers amongst other structures) along with reflecting sensitively that some children may have a different structure of support around them (for example: looked after children or young carers).

We believe that RHE should meet the needs of all pupils, whatever their developing sexuality or identity – this should include age-appropriate teaching about different types of relationships in the context of the law and with regard to our Public Sector Equality Duty. Pupils should receive teaching on LGBT relationships, which is delivered at Lingfield, for example, through teaching about different types of family, including those with same-sex parents because the school community includes these families. The school does not directly teach FGM: the community is identified as low-risk in this matter. Staff are, however, aware of FGM and warning indicators through safeguarding training.

Where RHE lessons fall in the curriculum - an overview

All aspects of the science curriculum, and both Relationships and Health Education within PSHE, are statutory. It is unlawful to remove your child from these lessons.

Parents and carers have the right to withdraw their child from Sex Education, which constitutes a single lesson in Y6. To do this, please request a meeting with the school.