Planning your RSHE Curriculum

The Department for Education (DfE) provides guidance on teaching relationships, sex and health education (RSHE).  This guidance is statutory

applying to all pupils and all schools. 

There are also other general introductions to RSHE (Brook Learn).

There is strong evidence, that when taught well RSHE contributes towards keeping children and young people safe, healthy and prepared for life (PSHE Association).

Schools are required to have an RSHE policy to define their approach to teaching sex, relationships and health education. 

The DfE and  PSHE Association also provide guidance on the requirement of managing requests to remove a child / young person from the sex part of RSE lessons (sometimes called the right to withdraw).

In October 2023 the Secretary of State sent a letter to schools outlining their responsibilities to share RSE materials with parents.

Schools are required to teach RSHE to comply with the Equality Act (2010), this includes protected characteristics including making RSHE accessible to children and young people with SEND.

Stonewall provides guidance on developing an LGBTQI+ curriculum in their Putting it into Practice guide.

The Children’s Commissioner for England provided evidence of the child and young person’s voice for shaping RSHE in The Big Ask - 2023.

It is essential that education that young people require to thrive in the digital environment is planned across the entire curriculum and as part of a whole school approach to digital learning and online safety.  This guidance 
supports schools to teach their pupils how to stay safe online. Education for a Connected World

There are several organisations who support delivery of the RSHE curriculum. This can be through:

• General planning guidance (PSHE Association)
• Good practice examples of teaching (DfE)
• Programmes of study (PSHE Association)
• Tips on delivering a safe curriculum (PSHE Association)
• Resources targeting specific areas of the curriculum e.g. sex education (Sex Education Forum), mental health (Better Health: Every Mind Matters)
• Free or low cost training (Brook Learn and the NSPCC elearning )
• How to evaluate the effectiveness of RSHE teaching (PSHE Association).

The overall aim of this organisational offer is to improve the quality of provision of RSHE education to meet the needs of children and young people. 

NB: DfE guidance advises using external organisations to enhance delivery rather than replace teaching.

 Mental wellbeing and psychical health are interlinked, its important that learners understand how they both contribute.

Resources are available on the Lifestyles Toolkit (teaching about body image and the Mental Health Toolkit (understanding body image, eating problems and disorders) to support teaching in these areas.

The SOMERSET HEALTH & WELLBEING FRAMEWORK is an evidenced based tool that can be used by all schools to create the conditions needed to foster positive health and wellbeing in their school community, it takes a whole school approach which includes the curriculum and a training offer.