Our PSHE programme aims to equip all students with the belief they can achieve goals, both academic and personal; stick to tasks that will help them achieve those goals and recover from challenging periods in their lives. Students at Lawrence Sheriff are taught about RSHE through our PSHE lessons, vertical tutor programme and age specific sessions.

The PSHE curriculum covers the key themes of Health & wellbeing, Relationships and Living in the wider world – all themes are adapted to the context of Lawrence Sheriff school. At Key Stage 5 PSHE sessions focus upon careers, university applications, trends in employment and future options available to students, as well as their overall development, contribution to society, personal health, financial independence, cookery and personal wellbeing. The pastoral curriculum covers PSHE (including RSHE), which is covered both within vertical tutor groups, with elements of RSHE being delivered in age specific house groups. The pastoral curriculum runs over a two year cycle to account for students that join the school in Year 12.

Today’s children are growing up in an increasingly complex world, living their lives seamlessly on and offline. This presents many positive and exciting opportunities, but also challenges and risks. Learning how to develop and maintain different types of safe and healthy relationships in is an essential skill in this rapidly changing world. The change to the way RSHE is taught in schools is the first of its kind for over 20 years; and, given that many issues surrounding relationships in today’s society simply did not exist back then, it is much needed.

The aim of RSHE is to give young people the information they need to help them develop healthy, nurturing relationships of all kinds, not just intimate relationships. We recognise that parents and carers are educators for children on many of these matters, and at school we aim to complement and reinforce this role. The RSHE curriculum will enable students to know what a healthy relationship looks like and what makes a good friend, a good colleague and a successful marriage or other type of committed relationship. Pupils should understand the benefits of healthy relationships to their ‘wellbeing’ and self-respect. Through gaining the knowledge of what a healthy relationship is like, young people can be empowered to identify when relationships are unhealthy.

Lawrence Sheriff was an early adopter of the new RSHE curriculum and began adapting the curriculum during 2019 to encompass the new elements of RSHE. The school has now fully implemented the new RSHE curriculum and this is delivered as part of the school’s PSHE programme. RSHE is delivered within PSHE lessons, as part of the tutor programme and also in year group specific sessions that are arranged either during assemblies or as part of the tutor programme. The RSHE programme covers all statutory components for Key Stage 3, 4 and 5 which comes under the following headings: Families, Respectful relationships (including friendships), Online and media, Being safe, Intimate relationships including sexual health. The curriculum is adapted to meet the needs of students within the Lawrence Sheriff context and is adapted for the single sex nature at Key Stage 3 and 4 and the co-educational context of the Sixth Form. Parents have the right to withdraw from the sex education element until 3 terms prior to their sixteenth birthday. Any parents that request for their child to be withdrawn from the sex education component of RSHE must first discuss this with either the headteacher or assistant headteacher.

It is recognised that there will be a range of opinions regarding RSHE. The starting principle when teaching each of these is that the applicable law is taught in a factual way so that pupils are clear on their rights and responsibilities. This will aid young people in understanding the positive effects that good relationships have on their mental wellbeing, identifying when relationships are not right and understanding how such situations can be managed

The new subject content aims to give students the knowledge and capability to take care of themselves and receive support if problems arise. Teaching about mental wellbeing is central to these subjects, the wider work of schools in helping to foster pupil wellbeing, develop resilience and character are fundamental to pupils being happy and successful members of society.

For more information on the new RSHE curriculum which will be taught in all schools from September 2020 please see the link below:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/812594/RSE_secondary_schools_guide_for_parents.pdf