Relationships Education, Sex Education & Health Education (RHSE / PSHE) Statement

Intent

At Stanhope Primary School, our primary objective is to equip pupils with the knowledge, skills, and emotional resilience needed to lead happy, healthy, and successful lives. We empower children to make informed decisions regarding their wellbeing, relationships, physical health, and safety, preparing them to navigate risks and challenges with confidence from childhood into adulthood.

Core Objectives

Relationships, Inclusivity & Diversity

  • Healthy Relationships: Teach the characteristics of positive, safe families and friendships, cultivating respectful peer communication across all age groups and genders.

  • Inclusivity & Culture: Maintain an environment that values diversity, challenges stereotypes based on protected characteristics, and builds self-respect, confidence, and empathy.

  • Online & Offline Safety: Provide comfortable spaces for sensitive discussions and guide pupils on managing online safety, personal boundaries, and safe choices.

Resilience & Mental Wellbeing

  • Emotional Toolkit: Teach pupils that mental wellbeing is a normal part of daily life, giving them strategies to understand and manage their emotions.

  • Seeking Help: Ensure children know how, when, and where to access support when facing personal or social difficulties.

Physical Health & Personal Development

  • Body Awareness & Hygiene: Prepare pupils for puberty, basic first aid, hygiene practices, and correct anatomical vocabulary.

  • Healthy Choices: Promote physical fitness, healthy eating, and awareness of the risks associated with alcohol, tobacco, and drugs.

Active Citizenship & Life Skills

  • British Values & Community: Prepare pupils to be responsible, independent, and active members of a democratic society who respect shared community values.

  • Environmental Responsibility: Foster a sense of shared stewardship for protecting the environment.

  • Financial Literacy: Build practical knowledge on where money comes from, how to store it safely, and how to manage it effectively.

Implementation

Curriculum Delivery & Whole-School Approach

Personal and social development occurs across all areas of school life. We deliver a comprehensive PSHE and RSE curriculum through four primary channels:

  • Timetabled PSHE/RSE Lessons

  • Cross-Curricular Links (e.g., E-Safety in Computing; puberty, exercise, and hygiene in Science; active lifestyles in PE)

  • Pastoral Care & Guidance

  • Enrichment Activities & Events

Curriculum Schemes of Work

Our curriculum aligns with DfE guidance and is delivered using the Jigsaw and MUSE schemes of work (supplemented by TES materials from EC Publishing):

  • Spiral & Progressive Structure: Builds age-appropriate knowledge sequentially across Key Stages 1 and 2.

  • Mindfulness Integration: Incorporates mindfulness techniques to build emotional self-awareness, focus, and self-regulation.

Teaching Styles, Enrichment & Support

  • Active Learning: Emphasizes discussion, debate, problem-solving, literature, and collaborative class charters.

  • Thematic Events: Reinforces key values through targeted campaigns (e.g., Diversity Week, Friendship Week, Odd Socks Day, Bee Healthy Week).

  • Community Engagement: Connects learning to real-world context through charity support (e.g., Children in Need, local food banks) and visits from external professionals (Police, RNLI, NHS, Northumbrian Water).

  • Targeted Pastoral Support: Our Emotional Wellbeing Lead provides 1-1, small-group, whole-class, and family interventions to build emotional resilience.

Inclusion & Accessibility (SEND / EAL)

All pupils—including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) or English as an Additional Language (EAL)—fully participate in the PSHE/RSE curriculum. Content and delivery are adapted to ensure every child builds core personal and social skills alongside academic progress.

Relationships and Sex Education

This is the lifelong learning about physical, moral and emotional development. It is about the understanding of the importance of marriage for family, stable and loving relationships, respect, love and care. It is also about the teaching of sex, sexuality and sexual health. It is not about the promotion of sexual orientation or sexual activity. In primary schools, the Department for Education recommends that all primary schools should have a sex and relationship education programme tailored to the age and the physical and emotional maturity of the children and for us as a school, the needs of our school community. It should ensure that both boys and girls know about puberty and how a baby is born – as set out in Key Stages 1 and 2 of the National Curriculum. 

Emotional and Well-being Lead

Our dedicated lead works with many children throughout the school, on a 1-1 basis, small groups and classes and in addition works and supports family members. 

At Stanhope Primary we use a variety of teaching and learning styles to deliver this curriculum. There is an emphasis on active learning, so staff include children in discussions, investigations, debates and problem solving. Books are also used as a starting point to a topic or to deal with a topic. Children are encouraged to take part in a range of practical activities that promote active citizenship, charity fundraising, e.g. Children in Need, planning events or involvement in an activity to help others who are less fortunate than themselves, e.g. donations to our local foodbank. Our children are involved in agreeing and producing their class charters and rules regarding how to treat others and behaviour around the school community. We offer children the opportunity to hear visiting speakers, such as the police, doctors, nurses, Northumbrian Water and RNLI, they all make a valuable contribution to the curriculum. Other planned events in school address the emotional well-being and resilience that our children need support with e.g., Diversity Week, Friendship Week, Odd Sock Day and Bee Healthy Week are some of our themes in school.

As far as appropriate, SEND or EAL pupils should follow the same PSHE and Relationships education curriculum as other students. Careful consideration is given concerning the level of differentiation needed, and in some cases the content or delivery will have to be adapted. Teachers and/or teaching assistants will work with individual pupils where required and if appropriate. It is not the school’s policy to withdraw pupils with special educational needs for PSHE and Relationships education, as these aspects of personal and social development are as important to all pupils as their academic achievement.

Impact

By the end of Year 6, Stanhope Primary School pupils will demonstrate confidence, resilience, and actionable understanding across key life domains:

Key Focus Area Knowledge & Application
Families & Friendships Understands diverse family structures, caring friendships, and respectful relationships both offline and online.
Personal Safety Knows how to assess risk, stay safe online, handle peer pressure, and contact emergency services using basic first aid.
Physical & Mental Health Recognizes the importance of fitness, healthy eating, sleep, and emotional regulation, alongside awareness of substance risks.
Puberty & Body Awareness Uses correct scientific vocabulary to describe their bodies, physical changes, and personal hygiene.
Financial & Social Responsibility Demonstrates understanding of money management, active citizenship, and environmental stewardship.

Monitoring & Assessment

  • Informal Assessment: Formative assessment is recorded through teacher planning, class discussions, self-reflections, group critiques, and bookwork.

  • Quality Assurance: Senior Leadership and the PSHE Lead monitor curriculum delivery through learning walks, pupil discussions, display reviews, and feedback from staff, pupils, and parents.

  • Teachers and staff will use key questions to assess the progress of their classes and also the suggested key vocabulary.