RSE Policy

Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) Policy

Aims and Objectives

Relationships and Sex Education programme at Brompton Hall School incorporates the statutory guidance of both the Keeping Children Safe in Education (2019) and the Equality Act 2010, underpinned by the North Yorkshire County Council guidance.

Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) is learning about the emotional, social and physical aspects of growing up, relationships, sex, sexuality and sexual health. It should support pupils gain accurate information, develop skills and form positive beliefs, values and attitudes.  It also gives pupils essential skills for building positive, enjoyable, respectful, loving and non- exploitative friendships and relationships, staying safe both on and offline. This enables them to take responsibility for their body, relationships, reproduction, sexual health and wellbeing.

At Brompton Hall School, the Governors and Staff strive to create an atmosphere where every member of the school community feels respected and valued, where self-esteem is nurtured and where principles of tolerance and equal opportunities are seen in action, that the teaching of how to build good relationships is a natural part of every day school life. We wish to help our pupils develop an understanding of how they can protect themselves, and to give them the confidence to seek help and support when they need it.

At Brompton Hall School:

• RSE an identifiable part of our personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education curriculum, which has planned, timetabled lessons across all the Key Stages
• Is taught by staff regularly trained in RSE and PSHE (with expert visitors invited in to enhance and supplement the programme where appropriate, not be the sole providers)
• Works in partnership with parents and carers, informing them about what their children will be learning and about how they can contribute at home
• Delivers lessons where pupils feel safe and encourages participation by using a variety of teaching approaches with opportunities to develop critical thinking and relationship skills
• Is based on reliable sources of information, including about the law and legal rights, and distinguishes between fact and opinion
• Promotes safe, equal, caring and enjoyable relationships and discusses real-life issues appropriate to the age and stage of pupils, including friendships, families, consent, relationship abuse, sexual exploitation and safe relationships online
• Gives a positive view of human sexuality, with honest and medically accurate information, so that pupils can learn about their bodies and sexual and reproductive health in ways that are appropriate to their age and maturity
• Gives pupils opportunities to reflect on values and influences (such as from peers, media, faith and culture) that may shape their attitudes to relationships and sex, and nurtures respect for different views
• Includes learning about how to get help and treatment from sources such as the school nurse and other health and advice services, including reliable information online
• Fosters gender equality and LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans) equality and challenges all forms of discrimination in RSE lessons and in every-day school life
• Meets the needs of all pupils with their diverse experiences - including those with special educational needs and disabilities
• Seeks pupils’ views about RSE so that teaching can be made relevant to their real lives and assessed and adapted as their needs change

Delivery of RSE and the Curriculum

RSE is part of the planned PSHE programme delivered by the Key Stage 2 class teachers and the PSHE co-ordinator in Key Stages 3 and 4. This is delivered in line with the National Curriculum for Science, the national framework for PSHE, and guidance from North Yorkshire.

LONGTERM PSHE / RSE OVERVIEW 

	Health, body and mind	Living in the Wider World	Relationships
Year 4	Managing difficult feelings Naming male and female body parts Changes as they grow Exercise Knowing how to say no	Fireworks safety Keeping myself safe Develop and maintaining a positive learning environment Taking responsibility Making sensible choices Managing money within a budget Saving money Benefits of spending and saving money	Understanding feelings (what it feels like to be unwelcome) Working with others Problem solving in relationships Taking responsibility Making sensible choices Dealing with changes
	Health, body and mind	Living in the Wider World	Relationships
Year 5	Strategies to cope with embarrassment Understanding alcohol is a drug  Eat Well plate (balanced diet) Healthy mind and body	Rules Personal safety Stereotyping and its affects Skills and attributes of a successful learner Knowing their own mind Taking responsibility for their own safety Responding to difficult changes	Knowing their own value Identifying strengths Contribute to a group Appropriate behaviour in different relationships Managing difficult feelings to do with loss
	Health, body and mind	Living in the Wider World	Relationships
Year 6	Exercise Understanding addiction Understanding and managing feelings Making mistakes Physical changes of puberty Feelings during puberty	E-safety Keeping safe Taking responsibility Taking first steps Recognising stereotyping and discrimination  media influence Accepting changes Looking for positives Peer pressure Enterprise activity Managing money	Working in a group Showing respect Learning together Resolving conflict and problem solving in relationships Dealing with loss Peer pressure
	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Year 7	Health and Wellbeing	Living in the Wider World	Relationships
	Transition to Year 7  Resilience  Mental Health  Managing Emotions  Puberty  Healthy Lifestyles  Energy drinks  Smoking  Illegal Substances	Aspiration  Self Esteem  Money Management  Being an Ethical Consumer  Wants and Needs  Social Media  Prejudice and Discrimination	Friendships  Families  Relationships  Bullying  Identity and Diversity  Online Radicalisation
Year 8	Living in the Wider World	Relationships	Health and Wellbeing
	Internet Safety: Online grooming  Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination   Teenage prejudice  Homophobia  Our Changing Environment  Communication Skills  Teamwork Skills  Money Management	Contraception and sexual health  Consent  Sexting  Pornography  Radicalisation  Extremism  British Values  Religious Prejudice  Domestic Conflict  Body Image	Self Confidence  Setting Goals  Teenage Pregnancy  Personal safety and First Aid  Vaping and Smoking  Mindfulness  Self Awareness
Year 9	Living in the Wider World	Health and Wellbeing	Relationships
	Community Cohesion  Knife Crime  Acid Attacks  County Lines  Personal Development  Self Discipline  Money, Savings and Loans  Sustainability	Rules to Success  Growth Mindset  Stress and Mental Health  Self Harm  Eating Disorders  Selfie Safety  Alcohol Awareness  Drugs and the Law	Sexuality  Diversity:Immigration  Domestic Violence  Body Image and the media  British Values  Peer Pressure
Year 10	Health and Wellbeing	Living in the Wider World	Relationships
	Binge Drinking  Online Gambling  Privilege  Risk Taking  Screen time  Social Media and Self Esteem	Anti Social Behaviour  Criminal Justice System  Digital Footprint  Hate Crimes  Homelessness  Money Laundering	Body Shaming  Relationship types  Role Models  Managing Conflict
Year 11	Health and Wellbeing	Living in the Wider World	Relationships
	Body Positivity  Grief and Bereavement  Personal Safety  Social Anxiety	Fake News  Dark Web  Racism  Terrorism  Harassment and Stalking	Positivity and Happiness  Healthy Relationships  Gender  Consent  Break Ups

 

Assessing, monitoring, evaluating and reviewing RSE

Assessment of RSE should:

• Be planned from the beginning as an integral part of teaching and learning
• Provide regular opportunities for pupils to give and receive feedback on their progress and achievements, helping them to identify what they should do next
• Involve pupils in discussion about learning objectives and desired outcomes
• Include pupils as partners in the assessment process e.g. through self-assessment and peer-assessment
• Enable pupils to identify and gather evidence of their progress in developing knowledge, skills, understanding and attitudes
• Reflect the principles of inclusion and the range of pupils learning styles enabling all pupils to demonstrate their achievement.

The school’s PSHE co-ordinator will be responsible for monitoring the provision of SRE in school and for reporting the results to the Senior Leadership Team, and via the Headteacher to the Governors. The PSHE co-ordinator is responsible for evaluating the programme of work, reporting the findings on an annual basis, and for making recommendations for changes to the programme.

Monitoring and Evaluation

The RSE programme is regularly monitored and evaluated. The views of pupils, parents/carers and teachers are used to make changes and improvements to the programme on an ongoing basis. The policy will be formally reviewed every two years for the following purposes:

• To review and plan the content and delivery of the programme of study for relationships and sex education
• To review resources and renew as appropriate
• To update training in line with current guidance and staff identified needs

To ensure consistency and continuity throughout the school, RSE education will be monitored by the PSHE Subject Leader as well as the class teachers and care staff. There will be opportunities for discussion with the staff who are delivering the curriculum, lesson observations, samples of pupils work, evaluations from external agencies and the pupils themselves, who will be given the opportunity to share their feelings and opinions in class, through questionnaires and school council meetings

Safeguarding and Confidentiality

RSE can be a sensitive issue. To protect privacy and engender respect for all, teachers will be expected to develop ground rules with pupils at the onset of work. Pupils should be informed about the remit of confidentiality and that teachers cannot offer or guarantee pupils unconditional confidentiality.

If pupils ask particularly sensitive questions that appear to be inappropriate in the circumstances, teachers will deal with this outside the classroom on a one-to one basis. If the teacher judges it necessary the pupil could be advised to speak to the school nurse/outside agency, provided with information about where to get further help or, if the matter is considered a potential Child Protection issue, the designated safeguarding lead should be notified.

It is the responsibility of the school to support its pupils and to carry out its functions with a view to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of pupils. In fulfilling this duty they must have regard to guidance around safeguarding. Whilst pupils have the same rights to confidentiality as adults no pupil should be guaranteed absolute confidentiality. Staff will report any information or disclosure which raises concern that a child or children may be at risk of significant harm to the school’s senior member of staff, with designated responsibility for Child Protection. The Designated person will then, in line with the School’s Child Protection policy and the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board guidance and procedures, take action as appropriate. Pupils will be made aware of the law relating to sexual offences and of those circumstances where confidentiality cannot be maintained.

Roles and Responsibilities

The PSHE lead teacher

The school has a lead teacher for PSHE who is responsible for all aspects of the subject including RSE. In respect of RSE, responsibilities are to:

• Ensure the implementation and quality of long term and medium term RSE schemes of work
• Ensure that all staff are confident in the skills to teach and discuss RSE issues
• Consider the needs of all pupils, and to achieve this recognise that the school might need to address some specific issues
• Consult with pupils to inform RSE provision
• Access appropriate training
• Monitor and advise on RSE organisation, planning and resource issues across the school
• Ensure procedures for assessment, monitoring and evaluation are included.
• Liaise with the named governor for RSE
• Liaise with any service provision to support aspects of sexual health
• Review / update the policy on a two year cycle or sooner if necessary.

The Headteacher

The Headteacher has responsibility for the day-to-day management of all aspects of the school’s work, including teaching and learning. The Headteacher’s responsibilities in respect of RSE are to:

• Liaise with the PSHE Teachers
• Keep the governing body fully informed of provision, issues and progress in RSE
• Act upon any concerns which may arise from pupil disclosure during RSE sessions.

The Governing Body

The governing body has responsibility to ensure a school has an up-to-date RSE policy that describes the content and organisation of RSE outside of the national curriculum science. The policy should also clearly reference any on site sexual health services. The governing body, in co-operation with the Headteacher, is expected to involve families, pupils, health and other professionals to ensure that RSE addresses the needs of pupils, local issues and trends. The governing body need to ensure pupils are protected from teaching and materials which are inappropriate, having regard to the age, religious and cultural background of the pupils. It is good practice to identify a link governor for RSE. The governing body will continue their involvement through regular evaluation of provision and policy.

Parents / Carers

The school aims to work in active partnership with families, value their views and keep them informed of the RSE provision. If a parent/carer has any concerns about the RSE provision then time will be taken to address their concerns. Families are invited to review the resources and can contact the Headteacher with any queries or concerns.

The Parental Right to withdraw their child from RSE lessons

Parents have the right to withdraw their children from sex education

Parents cannot withdraw from Relationships and Health education (which includes puberty learning outcomes) from September 2020.

Parents wanting to exercise this right are invited to see the Headteacher or PSHE teacher who will explore their concerns. If a child is withdrawn they will be provided with alternative work for the duration of the lessons.

External agencies

Whilst the responsibility for organising and delivering most, if not all, of the RSE programme rests with the school, there may be times when an external contributor can add value and bring to the classroom additional experience, skills or knowledge that teachers may not always have. Occasionally, appropriate and suitably-experienced and/or knowledgeable visitors from outside the school may be invited to contribute to the delivery of RSE in our school. Our school has a code of practice for using visitors to support the delivery of PSHE:

Visitors are invited into school because of the particular expertise or contribution they are able to make.

All visitors are familiar with and understand the school’s RSE policy and work within it.

All input into PSHE lessons is part of a planned programme and negotiated and agreed with staff in advance.

All visitors are supervised/supported by a member of staff at all times.

The input of visitors is monitored and evaluated by staff and pupils. This evaluation informs future planning.

Support Services

For further advice or information with regard to the topics covered and the teaching of RSE, or pupils’ safety and wellbeing, links are available on the school website and social media pages.

At Brompton Hall we offer the following support services:

• School Nurse ‘Student Drop-ins’ on a regular basis;
• Parent & Carer ‘Health Drop ins’ with the School Nurse;
• NYAS (National Youth Advocacy Service)
• Sexual Health Awareness Support delivered by BHS trained staff;
• Mental Health & Wellbeing support programmes;
• Specialised Counselling Support programmes;
• Communication & Interaction intervention groups;
• Smoking Cessation support group;
• Compass Buzz trained staff team (up to Level 3);
• Strong community links with local PCSO team;
• Nominated Wellbeing Champions;
• Strong links with Early Help Support Service;
• Specialist Careers Advisor, supporting our young people during their transition to post-16 pathways;

This policy is linked to:

• Safeguarding
• PSHE
• Teaching & Learning
• Equalities
• Anti-bullying