Since September 2020, it became statutory that all schools in England teach Relationship, Health and Sex Education as a fundamental part of the curriculum. At St Hugh’s, this has been taught for a number of years in the summer term as part of our PSHE lessons. We adopted a Catholic scheme called ‘Journey in Love’, which complements our RE curriculum, ‘Come and See’. The scheme has been revised to follow the new government guidelines.
In 2019 we held extensive consultation with parents (over 85 families attended) when revising the scheme of work. However after twelve months of implementation staff found the scheme did not reflect our demographic and children and from September 2021 we will be using a new scheme, ‘Ten Ten.’
Within a Catholic context, the purpose for teaching RSE at St. Hugh’s is:
- To engender growth in self-respect and self-worth recognising that each of us is created in the image and likeness of God
- To appreciate and understand the role of God our Father as creator of our world and the founder of productive and purposeful relationships
- To enable pupils to have an understanding that love, trust and faith is central to relationships
- To promote an appreciation of the nature, purposes and value of marriage and the family
- To enable pupils to have an understanding of themselves, their bodies and their emotional development
- To enable pupils to reflect and recognise the qualities that helps them to grow, develop and sustain positive and effective relationships
The delivery of Relationships and Health Education is now a statutory requirement for primary schools.
The following elements cover ‘the changes which occur in growing older’ part of the curriculum:
In Y1, the children will learn how babies learn to crawl and then walk; eat solid food etc. In Y4, the children are introduced to the term ‘puberty’ and how this is related to reproduction. The science curriculum will cover human life cycles. (This is revised in much more detail in Y5 & Y6) This is part of the Health Education & Science Curriculum so children cannot be withdrawn from these lessons.
The following elements cover Sex Education:
The Department for Education recommends that children are taught how a baby is conceived and born using the knowledge of the human life cycle from the science curriculum. The Governors at St Hugh of Lincoln have decided after consultation, children in Year 6 will be taught how a baby is conceived. Parents are regularly informed of any changes and have the right to withdraw their children from these lessons.
