Chaselea have developed the curriculum taking into account the age, developmental stage, needs and feelings of our pupils. If pupils ask questions outside the scope of this policy, teachers will respond in an appropriate manner so that pupils are fully informed and don’t seek answers online. The RSE curriculum is taught within PSHE and SMSC (including British Values) and is delivered during timetabled lessons. Additional arrangements are made using outside agencies to deliver bespoke RSE content to targeted groups of pupils.
The cyclic RSE curriculum is designed to suit the SEND requirements (using guidance from The PSHE Association) of our pupils as well as taking into the account the short stay element of our school. Through the monitoring of behaviour incidents and safeguarding concerns which impact our pupils, we can add content to the curriculum to be responsive to current issues impacting on pupils (e.g. knife crime, unhealthy relationships and gangs, etc…). Biological aspects of RSE are taught within the science curriculum, and other aspects are included in religious education (RE). Other RSE content is delivered by specialist outside agencies such as Loudmouth. Online Safety is delivered as part of the Computing/ICT curriculum. 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.
These areas of learning are taught within the context of family life, taking care to make sure that there is no stigmatisation of children based on their home circumstances (families can include single parent families, LGBTQIA+ parents, families headed by grandparents, adoptive parents and 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). We will also be mindful of the law and legal requirements, taking care not to condone or encourage illegal political activity, such as violent action against people, criminal damage to property, hate crime, terrorism or the illegal use of drugs.
RSE Right to Withdraw
Parents/carers have the right to choose whether to withdraw their child from the sex education element of RSE (other than the science curriculum, where reproduction is statutory). If a parent chooses to withdraw their child from sex education, they need to:
- Inform the school of their request for their child(ren) to be withdrawn, specifying whether this applies to all or part of the sex education curriculum. This should be done by contacting the school office.
- Attend a discussion meeting with a Senior Leader to ensure they are fully aware of the content and purpose of sex education and the possible impact of withdrawal.
- Understand that the school will supervise their child(ren) during the withdrawal period and will provide alternative PSHE work to support their understanding of other topics.
Whilst Chaselea respects the rights of parents/carers to withdraw their child(ren) from sex education, these rights do not apply to Relationships Education or Health Education, or to statutory science content that includes human reproduction.