What is the difference between PSHE (Personal, Social, Health, and Economic) and RSHE (Relationships, Sex, and Health Education)?
RSHE (including Relationships, Sex, and Health Education) is statutory in England, covering compulsory content on relationships and health, while PSHE (Personal, Social, Health, and Economic) is a broader, non-statutory subject encompassing RSHE plus economic wellbeing, careers, and personal safety. RSHE focuses specifically on physical/mental health and relationships.
At Red Rose, we aim to deliver a comprehensive PSHE (including Relationships, Sex & Health Education) curriculum which is accessible to all and that will maximise the outcomes for every child. Our school values of:
Respect, Excellence, Determination, Responsibility, Opportunity, Support and Equality
underpin our school life and therefore are at the heart of our PSHE programme.
The values of the PSHE curriculum are developed through the everyday life of the school. The school values are shared, encouraged and celebrated through all aspects of our work in school. Our carefully tailored comprehensive PSHE curriculum covers all aspects of Personal Development alongside Relationships, Sex and Health Education. This curriculum has been recently updated by the DfE to include more comprehensive content on mental wellbeing, online safety and relationships to ensure it is relevant to today’s societal context. These changes help children to make wise decisions about their health and relationships.
Our aspiration is that our children will become healthy, independent and responsible members of a society who understand how they are developing personally, culturally and socially through making well informed choices.
As a Rights Respecting School (Gold) we provide our children with opportunities for them to learn about their rights and responsibilities and appreciate what it means to be a member of a diverse society. Our children are encouraged to develop their sense of self-worth by playing a positive role in contributing to school life and the wider community.
Relationships Education
The DfE’s statutory requirements means schools must teach Relationships Education. Relationships Education is the building blocks of healthy, respectful relationships, focusing on family and friendships, including online. Relationships Education may therefore include topics related to preventing sexual abuse, for example, or avoiding sharing inappropriate material online. This can be done without describing the detail of any sexual activity involved.
Statutory guidance primary relationships education topic areas are:
- Families and people that care about them
- Caring friendships
- Respectful kind relationships
- Online safety and awareness
- Being safe
Health Education – Health and Mental Wellbeing
The focus of Health and Mental Wellbeing in primary should be on teaching the characteristics of good physical health and mental wellbeing. It should enable pupils to see the strong links between physical and mental health, for them to make healthy choices and decisions and encourage openness around mental health, reducing stigma.
As part of the statutory programme pupils will learn:
- about growth and other ways, the body can change and develop, particularly during adolescence.
- the correct names of body parts, including the penis, vulva, vagina, testicles, scrotum, nipples will be taught. Pupils will gain understanding that all these parts of the body are private and learn the skills to express their own boundaries around these body parts.
- the facts about the menstrual cycle, including physical and emotional changes.
RSHE Consultation
We believe strongly in the role of parents in the development of their children’s understanding about relationships and health education. We engage with parents to help make certain they understand the RSHE provision taught. Prior to implementing our new RSHE curriculum, the following consultation process took place:
- Consultation of our school policy
- Pupil focus groups helped to tailor the curriculum to match the different needs of pupils.
- Consultation and engagement with parents / carers, via an online survey and in person meeting
- Review of RSHE curriculum content with staff and pupils
- Consultation, agreement, and implementation of policy by school governors.
Parents will continue to be consulted on our PSHE programme yearly.
We also ensure:
- Parents receive termly updates about the upcoming RSHE curriculum via our schoolcomms App.
- Parents are aware that, upon request, they can view all the school teaching resources and materials that you use to deliver the curriculum.
Our Curriculum
At Red Rose Primary we adopt a spiral approach to teaching PSHE (Including RSHE). A spiral curriculum is where a pupil revisits core themes throughout their education, with each encounter increasing in depth, complexity, and age-appropriateness.
A spiral approach is ideal for RSHE because it enables us to teach topics in an age-appropriate manner, progressively building upon earlier knowledge as pupils mature and gain a deeper understanding of relationships and personal boundaries. This is essential as children gradually mature into young people capable of making their own healthy choices about sex and relationships.
To support the comprehensive delivery of PSHE we use a range of resources which include the 1Decision modules. 1Decision is an award winning provider of engaging, child friendly resources offering videos, interactive activities, and decision making scenarios tailored to children. We follow the 1 Decision Comprehensive PSHE programme which includes RSHE and the Early Years material
We encourage parents to access sample materials using the following link: 1Decision Parent Zone. Parents can request to view the PSHE materials used in school at any time.
Curriculum Plans
Early Years
Our early Years resources can be viewed here
KS1 & KS2
The 1Decision Parent Zone page provides parents with a sample of resources to view alongside some helpful documents.
Each year group has been mapped out Long term PSHE plan. More specific information about the content taught can be found by clicking on the following links:
Sex Education.
As a school we cover some additional content which is defined as Sex Education. This is not compulsory but the DfE recommends that primary schools teach sex education in years 5 and/or 6.
At Red Rose Primary, we are choosing to teach the following non-statutory sex education within our Year 6 Conception unit:
- To know the terms conception and reproduction
- To know how a baby is made
- The function of the male and female reproductive systems
- The ways adults can have a child
- The different stages of pregnancy
- The laws around consent
A video explaining the content taught in our Sex Education lessons in Year 6 can be accessed by clicking on this link and scrolling to the bottom of the page. Here you will also see a video explaining Puberty.
Prior to teaching Sex Education in Year 6, parents are informed that the sessions will be taking place so they can support their child at home. Parents will be made aware that they have the right to withdraw their child from these sessions but would be encouraged to have a meeting to discuss this prior to any withdrawal.
We have a list of suggested books which may support parents in talking about this with their child at home.
Right to be excused from non-statutory Sex Education
Parents and carers will have an opportunity to discuss their withdrawal request with the headteacher, this may include discussing if their child is to be withdrawn from all parts or just some of the content.
We will discuss how withdrawing their child may impact their child’s understanding, and discuss the benefits and the possible detrimental effects of withdrawal, along with offering support or signposting to resources that aid parents to discuss some content with their child at home (if a parent wishes this).
Alternative arrangements and purposeful education will be arranged for a withdrawn pupil. Parents are encouraged to discuss their concerns and / or decisions with the headteacher at the earliest opportunity.
The head teacher/RSHE lead will document the process and outcome.
Link to Letter requesting withdrawal from Sex Education sessions