RSHE
RSHE Curriculum
RSHE is Relationships, Sex and Health Education and was formerly known as Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education. This change had been made in line with the Department for Education guidance which we have followed since September 2020.
Our RSHE curriculum provides a balanced and broadly-based programme which:
- Promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of students at the school and of society
- Prepares students at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.
This will be delivered through RSHE lessons for all of our students across the academy. Every student has a 55-minute lesson every Tuesday morning. We will also have additional RSHE opportunities throughout the year.
The main aim of our RSHE curriculum is to ensure our students are ‘Prepared for Life’ when they leave TGAS. To do this we aim to foster a safe school community where students can learn, grow and develop positive, healthy behaviour for life. We want to nurture a secure learning environment where students can be inquisitive and curious, develop tolerance, empathy and self-esteem, and show respect and consideration for others.
The purpose of relationship and sex education (RSE) is to provide knowledge and understanding of how the human body changes during puberty and the processes of human reproduction, within the context of relationships based on love and respect. It should develop understanding and attitudes which will help students to form relationships in a responsible and healthy manner and to appreciate the value of stable family life, including the responsibilities of a healthy relationship.
There is a vast amount of, sometimes confusing, information about relationships and sex on the internet, on TV and in magazines, which young people may have access to, and this can sometimes make an already confusing time seem even more complicated! Therefore, at times, throughout your child’s education at Tudor Grange Academy, staff, and occasionally outside speakers will deliver sessions focusing on relationship and sex education.
If young people can start their transition into adulthood with factual information and the confidence and knowledge to understand what is happening to them, they will hopefully grow into confident and healthy adults able to make positive choices. This can start with learning the basics about growing up and these sessions at the Academy may reinforce what you are already doing at home.
From September 2020 RSHE has been statutory for all schools across the country. Our curriculum has been fully designed for students at Tudor Grange Academy following the Department of Education statutory guidance to ensure we are providing the most appropriate and factual provisions for our students.
The Sex education part of this curriculum can cause some anxiety for parents. We have planned our curriculum to ensure that only suitable, factual age-appropriate content is delivered to support a safe and healthy understanding of this part of life. Content does not promote sexual exploration but informs about making mature and safe decisions in life.
If parents do not wish their child to attend Sex Education they can choose to withdraw them, and students will receive extra RSHE lessons on other aspects of the curriculum at this time. Students are not able to be withdrawn from RSHE lessons which cover the same content that is delivered in Key Stage 3 Science lessons such as puberty or any other aspect of the RSHE curriculum.
The Department for Education advise that if a parent removes their child from Sex education that this content should be delivered at home.
Since September 2020 parents can only opt to withdraw their child from sex education elements of RSHE (not relationship elements), up to and until three terms before the child turns 16. After that point, if the child wishes to receive sex education rather than be withdrawn, the school must make arrangements to provide the child with sex education during one of those terms.
RSHE Curriculum Plan:
| Theme | Year 7 | Year 8 | Year 9 | Year 10 | Year 11 |
| Relationships | The different types of stable relationships and their effect on our wellbeing, including marriage, cohabitation and other family types, the issues of divorce and bereavement | Talking about emotions, the indicators of a positive relationship, being trustworthy, friendships, negative relationships, domestic violence and sexual harassment | The role of respect in Team TG and the wider community, the issues that can arise in relationships including bullying, peer pressure etc., Sex and gender, realistic relationship and emotional maturity, respectful communication, banter, body language, managing your emotions, British Sign Language | Peer pressure and the role peers play in supporting each other, improving relationships, managing changes in relationships, why do we hurt those we love? | |
| Health and Wellbeing | Personal hygiene, the issues of HPV and its role in preventing cancer, vaccination, puberty, the menstrual cycle, body image, mental health and the importance of sleep | Recognising the early signs of mental wellbeing concerns, depression, how to improve mental health | NHS Health Questionnaire, managing stress, Healthy eating | Cosmetic procedures, Drugs and the law, dangers of prescribed drugs | Recognising mental wellbeing concerns, the effect we have on the wellbeing of others, testicular and breast cancers, prostate and cervical cancers |
| Personal Safety | Road safety including the local routes around school and an introduction to first aid and knife crime | Issues of gangs, offensive weapons, cyberbullying, social media, upskirting, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Exploitation and abuse, county lines, | Effects of alcohol and the law, habit, dependence and addiction, online gambling, disordered eating | Extremism and intolerance, honour based violence, cults, preventing extremism, sexting | |
| Sex Education | The biological aspects of sex | Consent, the health impacts of sexual choices, fertility and reproductive health | Managing sexual pressure, intimacy without sex, risks of unprotected sex, contraceptive choices, drugs, alcohol and sexual choices | STIs, HIV and AIDS and their prevention | STIs and STDs and their prevention, contraceptive choices, pregnancy, miscarriage and other choices |
| Careers | Identifying and accessing dream jobs, possible career paths and gender stereotypes | Personal strengths and weaknesses, Unifrog as a platform for career mapping, long-term goals and aspirations | GCSE Options and careers, skills and qualities, labour market information | Aspirations, Unifrog and Q&A preparation, interviews, preparation for work experience | Post-16 options, Job applications, creating effective revision resources |
| Additional Content | Citizenship – money management (saving and borrowing), Global Politics, US and UK Politics | Citizenship – Universal Human Rights and International Law, The UK’s global role, dealing with global issues, should the media be censored?Core computing – online reputation, right to access, the filter bubble, protecting ourselves online, account security | Citizenship – understanding and managing debt, money and work, financial risk and security, consumer rightsCore computing – the role of the media and media manipulation, portrayal and fact checking |