Bishopswood Infant School

Barlows Rd, Tadley, Hampshire RG26 3NA
0118 9812836
adminoffice@bishopswood-inf.hants.sch.uk

Relationship, Sex & Health Education (RSHE)

Relationships Education is taught within the personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education curriculum. Pupils learn about the characteristics of healthy relationships, safety in forming and maintaining relationships, how relationships may affect physical and mental health (Health Education). The education must be age appropriate.

Biological aspects of RSHE are taught within the Science curriculum. Relationships education focuses on teaching the fundamental building blocks and characteristics of positive relationships including: families and people who care for me, caring friendships, respectful relationships, online relationships and being safe. 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). The government has made Relationships Education a statutory part of the curriculum and we agree that this is a crucial aspect of the primary curriculum.

We want children to develop the skills to make positive, caring, respectful and healthy relationships; in their friendships, within their families and with other children and adults. We recognise that many children in primary school already have active online lives and that the knowledge and skills they learn in Relationships Education will enable them to navigate the online world safely and understand what is and is not appropriate behaviour. Through Relationships Education, pupils also gain the knowledge they need to recognise and report abuse, including emotional, physical and sexual abuse and to keep themselves safe. For all these important reasons, the government has made Relationships Education a compulsory part of the school curriculum in which all pupils are required to participate and parents do not have the right to withdraw them.

Health Education is mandatory under Relationships Education. This will give pupils the vital skills and strategies and awareness to manage their own mental health. Topics include: physical health benefits to mental health, sleep, first aid, positive and emotional wellbeing and learning when and how to get help and tackling the stigma of mental health. Importantly it outlines the link between physical and mental health and how one can impact on the other.

What is HeartSmart?

HeartSmart is a creative approach that we use to build character, emotional health and resilience in children. It equips them with foundational principles and skills that will improve their mental health, relationships and academic achievement. As a school we recognise the value of educating the heart alongside educating the mind and HeartSmart is a great tool to do just that.

HeartSmart is a powerful toolkit that helps children learn how to be smart with their heart so that they can grow into thriving adults. The life of our hearts affects the whole of our life. What is in our heart will always be played out. Our lives will be greater or worse, more courageous or more fearful by what is in our heart. Therefore, learning about how to lead our heart, when to lead from our heart, how to process pain, how to hope and how to love others is essential in learning about how to live. Through the HeartSmart High Five and the lovable robot character Boris, children will be learning what it means to be a powerful person, how to make good choices and how to love themselves and those around them well.