Relationships & Sex Education Policy

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Contents

Section 1: Introduction and Overview Page 3 Section 2: Statutory requirements Page 3 Section 3: Policy development Page 4 Section 4: Definition Page 5 Section 5: Curriculum Page 5 Section 6: Delivery of RSE Page 5 Section 7: Roles and responsibilities Page 6 Section 8: Parents’ right to withdraw Page 6 Section 9: Training Page 6 Section 10: Monitoring arrangements Page 7 Appendices Page 8

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Section 1: Introduction and Overview

Aims

The aims of relationships and sex education (RSE) at our school are to:

● Help students develop feelings of self-respect, self-esteem, mutual respect, confidence, tolerance and empathy for themselves and others

● Prepare students to make informed, reasoned and responsible choices and develop a strong moral code

● Teach students the correct vocabulary to describe themselves and their bodies ● Promote a healthy lifestyle

● Provide a framework in which sensitive discussions can take place

● Create a positive culture around issues of sexuality and relationships, and to develop the skills to discuss these with sensitivity

● Prepare students for puberty, and give them an understanding of sexual development and the importance of mental, physical and emotional health, and high standards of hygiene

● Support the Co-op value of Equality: Everyone should be treated justly and fairly ● Encourage students to demonstrate the Ways of Being Co-op and to ‘Do What matters Most; We challenge when things aren’t right - we don’t look the other way’

RSE, as part of the PSHE curriculum, is vital to the development of the young people at Co-op Academy Stoke-on-Trent. The planned programmes are designed to help them deal with the difficult moral, social and health-related issues that arise in their lives and in society. They also help them to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to live confident, healthy, independent lives as individuals, parents, workers and members of society. Effective RSE is a key component in our approach to safeguarding our pupils through the curriculum.

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Section 2: Statutory requirements

As a secondary academy school we must provide RSE to all pupils as per section 34 of the Children and Social Work Act 2017.

In teaching RSE, we are required by our funding agreements to have regard to guidance issued by the secretary of state as outlined in section 403 of the Education Act 1996. 

At Co-op Academy Stoke-on-Trent we teach RSE as set out in this policy in order to encourage students to have due regard to moral considerations and to value family life. We deliver the majority of the RSE content through PSHE. Some elements of RSE statutory content are delivered through the science curriculum. We also teach health education under the same statutory guidance.

Policies and documents which inform our academy’s RSE policy include:

● Education Act (1996) 

● Learning and Skills Act (2000) 

● Education and Inspections Act (2006) 

● Equality Act (2010) 

● Supplementary Guidance SRE for the 21st century (2014) 

● Keeping children safe in education – Statutory safeguarding guidance (2022) ● Children and Social Work Act (2017) 

● Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education Statutory guidance for governing bodies, proprietors, head teachers, principals, senior leadership teams, teachers (2019) 

Section 3: Policy development

This policy has been developed in consultation with staff, pupils and parents. The consultation and policy development process involved the following steps:

1. Review – The PSHE lead and SLT link pulled together all relevant information including relevant national and local guidance both statutory and advisory.

2. Staff consultation – all school staff were given the opportunity to look at the policy and make recommendations

3. Parent/stakeholder consultation – parents and any interested parties were invited to attend a meeting about the policy

4. Pupil consultation – we investigated what exactly pupils want from their RSE

5. Ratification – once amendments were made, the policy was shared with governors and ratified

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Section 4: Definition

RSE is defined as the emotional, social and cultural development of students, and involves learning about relationships including sex education, sexual health, sexuality, healthy lifestyles, diversity and personal identity.

It involves a combination of sharing information and exploring issues and values. Whilst knowledge of biology and the reproductive system is important, RSE is concerned with attitudes and values, personal and social skills, respect for self and others, family, stable loving relationships, feelings, gender roles and decision-making.

At Co-op Academy Stoke-on-Trent, RSE is not about the promotion of sexual activity but a greater understanding of the ways to stay safe in this area. It is taught as part of the broader PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) curriculum.

Section 5: Curriculum

Our curriculum is set out as per Appendix 1 but we may need to adapt it as and when necessary. We have developed the curriculum in consultation with parents, pupils and staff, taking into account the age, needs and feelings of pupils. If pupils ask questions outside the scope of this policy, teachers will respond in an appropriate manner so they are fully informed and don’t seek answers online.

Section 6: Delivery of RSE

RSE is taught within the personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education curriculum. Biological aspects of RSE are taught within the science curriculum, and other aspects are included in religious education (RE) and IT (staying safe on-line). PSHE is taught once per fortnight in Years 7-11. Pupils in some year groups also receive stand-alone sex education sessions delivered by a trained health professional and further input from trained professionals as appropriate throughout the course of the academic year.

At the Co-op Academy Stoke-on-Trent, RSE focuses on giving young people the information they need to help them develop healthy, nurturing relationships of all kinds including:

● Families

● Respectful relationships, including friendships

● Online and media

● Being safe

● Intimate and sexual relationships, including sexual health

For more information about our RSE curriculum, see Appendices 1 and 2.

These areas of learning are taught within the context of family life taking care to ensure that there is no stigmatisation of children based on their home circumstances (families can include single parent families, LGBT parents, families headed by grandparents, adoptive parents, foster parents/carers amongst other structures) along with reflecting sensitively that some children may have a different structure of support around them (for example: looked after children or young carers) and is in line with the Equality Act 2010.

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Section 7: Roles and responsibilities

7.1 The governing board

The governing board will approve the RSE policy and hold the headteacher to account for its implementation.

7.2 Leadership

The Headteacher is responsible for ensuring that RSE is taught consistently across the academy. The Assistant Headteacher: Personal Development is responsible for the day to day implementation of the policy and for managing requests to withdraw pupils from non-statutory components of RSE (see section 8).

7.3 Staff

Staff are responsible for:

● Delivering RSE in a sensitive way

● Modelling positive attitudes to RSE

● Monitoring progress

● Responding to the needs of individual pupils

● Responding appropriately to pupils whose parents wish them to be withdrawn from the non-statutory components of RSE

Staff do not have the right to opt out of teaching RSE. Staff who have concerns about teaching RSE are encouraged to discuss this with the principal.

Mrs K Bailey has responsibility for ensuring the delivery of RSE as part of the PSHE programme at the academy through a team of teaching staff and identified external and internal experts in such fields as LGBT, domestic violence, sexual health, contraception and healthy relationships.

7.4 Pupils

Pupils are expected to engage fully in RSE and, when discussing issues related to RSE, treat others with respect and sensitivity.

Section 8: Parents’ right to withdraw

Parents have the right to withdraw their children from the non-statutory components of sex education within RSE up to and until 3 terms before the child turns 16. After this point, if the child wishes to receive sex education rather than being withdrawn, the school will arrange this. Requests for withdrawal should be put in writing using the form found in Appendix 3 of this policy and addressed to Ms O Williamson, .Assistant Headteacher: Personal Development. A copy of withdrawal requests will be placed in the pupil’s educational record. The assistant headteacher will discuss the request with parents and take appropriate action.

Appropriate alternative work will be given to pupils who are withdrawn from sex education.

Section 9: Training

Staff involved in the delivery of RSE are given resources and guidance to enable them to deliver RSE in a competent and confident manner. External visitors, such as school nurses or sexual health professionals, are invited into the academy to provide support and training to staff teaching RSE and there is a planned schedule of training throughout the academic year.

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Section 10: Monitoring arrangements

The delivery of RSE is monitored by Mrs K Bailey, PSHE Leader and Ms O Williamson, SLT link through work scrutinies, learning walks and student voice.

Pupils’ development in RSE is monitored by class teachers as part of our internal monitoring systems. 7

Appendix 1: Curriculum map

Relationships and sex education curriculum map

The following link details the academy PSHE curriculum map and identifies when RSE will be taught for each year group. KS3 PSHE Curriculum KS4 PSHE Curriculum

Appendix 2: By the end of secondary school pupils should know

TOPICPUPILS SHOULD KNOW

Families● That there are different types of committed, stable relationships

● How these relationships might contribute to human happiness and their importance for bringing up children

● What marriage is, including their legal status e.g. that marriage carries legal rights and protections not available to couples who are cohabiting or who have married, for example, in an unregistered religious ceremony

● Why marriage is an important relationship choice for many couples and why it must be freely entered into

● The characteristics and legal status of other types of long-term relationships

● The roles and responsibilities of parents with respect to raising of children, including the characteristics of successful parenting ● How to: determine whether other children, adults or sources of information are trustworthy: judge when a family, friend, intimate or other relationship is unsafe (and to recognise this in others’ relationships); and, how to seek help or advice, including reporting concerns about others, if needed

Respectful relationships , including friendships

● The characteristics of positive and healthy friendships (in all contexts, including online) include: trust, respect, honesty, kindness, generosity, boundaries, privacy, consent and the management of conflict, reconciliation and ending relationships. This includes different (non-sexual) types of relationship

● Practical steps they can take in a range of different contexts to improve or support respectful relationships

● How stereotypes, in particular stereotypes based on sex, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation or disability, can cause damage (e.g. how they might normalise non-consensual behaviour or encourage prejudice)

● That in school and in wider society they can expect to be treated with respect by others, and that in turn they should show due respect to others, including people in positions of authority and due tolerance of other people’s beliefs

● About different types of bullying (including cyberbullying), the impact of bullying, responsibilities of bystanders to report bullying and how and where to get help

● That some types of behaviour within relationships are criminal, including violent behaviour and coercive control ● What constitutes sexual harassment and sexual violence and why these are always unacceptable

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● The legal rights and responsibilities regarding equality (particularly with reference to the protected characteristics as

defined in the Equality Act 2010) and that everyone is unique and equal

Online and media● Their rights, responsibilities and opportunities online, including that the same expectations of behaviour apply in all contexts, including online

● About online risks, including that any material someone provides to another has the potential to be shared online and the

difficulty of removing potentially compromising material placed online

● Not to provide material to others that they would not want shared further and not to share personal material which is sent

to them

● What to do and where to get support to report material or manage issues online

● The impact of viewing harmful content

● That specifically sexually explicit material e.g. pornography presents a distorted picture of sexual behaviours, can

damage the way people see themselves in relation to others and negatively affect how they behave towards sexual

partners

● That sharing and viewing indecent images of children (including those created by children) is a criminal offence which

carries severe penalties including jail

● How information and data is generated, collected, shared and used online

Being safe● The concepts of, and laws relating to, sexual consent, sexual exploitation, abuse, grooming, coercion, harassment, rape, domestic abuse, forced marriage, honour-based violence and FGM, and how these can affect current and future

relationships

● How people can actively communicate and recognise consent from others, including sexual consent, and how and

when consent can be withdrawn (in all contexts, including online)

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Intimate and sexual relationships, including sexual health

● How to recognise the characteristics and positive aspects of healthy one-to-one intimate relationships, which include mutual respect, consent, loyalty, trust, shared interests and outlook, sex and friendship

● That all aspects of health can be affected by choices they make in sex and relationships, positively or negatively, e.g. physical, emotional, mental, sexual and reproductive health and wellbeing

● The facts about reproductive health, including fertility and the potential impact of lifestyle on fertility for men and women ● That there are a range of strategies for identifying and managing sexual pressure, including understanding peer pressure, resisting pressure and not pressurising others

● That they have a choice to delay sex or to enjoy intimacy without sex

● The facts about the full range of contraceptive choices, efficacy and options available

● The facts around pregnancy including miscarriage

● That there are choices in relation to pregnancy (with medically and legally accurate, impartial information on all options, including keeping the baby, adoption, abortion and where to get further help)

● How the different sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDs, are transmitted, how risk can be reduced through safer sex (including through condom use) and the importance of and facts about testing

● About the prevalence of some STIs, the impact they can have on those who contract them and key facts about treatment ● How the use of alcohol and drugs can lead to risky sexual behaviour

● How to get further advice, including how and where to access confidential sexual and reproductive health advice and treatment

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Appendix 3: Parent form: withdrawal from sex education within RSE

TO BE COMPLETED BY PARENTS

Name of childClass

Name of parentDate

Reason for withdrawing from sex education within relationships and sex education

Any other information you would like the school to consider

Parent signature

TO BE COMPLETED BY CO-OP ACADEMY STOKE-ON-TRENT

Agreed actions from discussion with parents

Include notes from discussions with parents and agreed actions taken. 11