The government has published updated guidance for relationships, sex and health education (‘RHSE’) in schools. It is hoped that the guidance will assist schools and teachers to navigate the challenges they face in dealing with these issues and provide them with the right tools to support children. Lauranne Nolan, Associate Solicitor and Safeguarding Lead in the Keoghs Specialist Abuse Team, has considered the guidance further and sets out a summary of what areas should be covered below.
The guidance contains information on what schools should do and sets out the legal duties that schools must comply with. Schools can choose to begin following the guidance from the new school year, in September 2025 – it must be followed from September 2026.
The guidance is aimed at:
- governing bodies of maintained schools (including schools with a sixth form) and non-maintained special schools;
- trustees or directors of academies and free schools;
- proprietors of independent schools (including academies and free schools);
- management committees of pupil referral units (PRUs);
- teachers, other school staff and school nurses;
- head teachers, principals and senior leadership teams;
- diocese and other faith representatives; and
- relevant local authority staff, for reference.
The guidance
The guidance sets out that there are clear safeguards to ensure teaching remains age-appropriate and that parents can view all curriculum materials on request. Parents also have the right to request that their child be withdrawn from some or all of sex education delivered as part of statutory RSHE. If such a request is made, then this should be documented.
Primary school
The approach in the guidance is that learning should start early with the aim to put in place the key building blocks of healthy, respectful relationships, focusing on family and friendships, in all contexts, including online.
This starts with pupils being taught about what a relationship is, what friendship is, what family means, and who the people are who can support them. Pupils should also be taught how to treat each other with kindness and respect, the importance of honesty and truthfulness, and the concept of personal privacy. Establishing personal space and boundaries and understanding the differences between appropriate and inappropriate or unsafe contact provides the foundation for being taught about consent, which takes place at secondary level.
By the end of primary school, pupils should know (the below is a summary and not the full list):
- that families are important for children growing up because they can give love, security and stability and that other families may look different to their family, but these differences should be respected;
- how to recognise if family relationships are making them feel unhappy or unsafe and how to seek help or advice from others if needed;
- how to recognise and report feelings of being unsafe or feeling bad about any adult;
- about different types of bullying (including cyberbullying), the impact of bullying, the responsibilities of bystanders and how to get help;
- the rules and principles for keeping safe online, how to recognise risks, harmful content and contact, and how to report them;
- how information and data is shared and used online;
- that people sometimes behave differently online, including by pretending to be someone they are not;
- about the benefits of rationing time spent online, the risks of excessive time spent on electronic devices and the impact of positive and negative content online on their own and others’ mental and physical well-being;
- why social media, some computer games and online gaming, for example, are age restricted;
- that the Internet can also be a negative place where online abuse, trolling, bullying and harassment can take place, which can have a negative impact on mental health;
- about the concept of privacy and its implications for both children and adults, including that it is not always right to keep secrets if they relate to being safe;
- that each person’s body belongs to them, and the differences between appropriate and inappropriate or unsafe physical, and other, contact;
- what constitutes a healthy diet and the characteristics of a poor diet and risks associated with unhealthy eating and other behaviours (e.g. the impact of alcohol on diet or health);
- the facts about legal and illegal harmful substances and associated risks, including smoking, alcohol use and drug-taking;
- how to make a clear and efficient call to emergency services if necessary and the concepts of basic first aid;
- key facts about puberty and the changing adolescent body, particularly from age 9 through to age 11, including physical and emotional changes;
- that there is a normal range of emotions (e.g. happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, nervousness) and scale of emotions that all humans experience in relation to different experiences and situations; and
- about menstrual well-being, including key facts about the menstrual cycle, how to report concerns or abuse, and the vocabulary and confidence needed to do so.
Secondary School
RHSE at secondary school aims to build on the knowledge acquired at primary school and should develop further understanding of health, with an increased focus on risk areas such as drugs and alcohol, as well as introducing knowledge about intimate relationships and sex and lessons focused on understanding consent. In addition, they will learn to identify positive role models and understand how to challenge harmful attitudes they might encounter online as well as learn about building resilience and managing everyday mental health challenges.
Schools should continue to develop knowledge on topics learnt in primary school as well as covering the following content by the end of secondary school:
- 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;
- 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;
- what to do and where to get support to report material or manage issues online;
- 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 can 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;
- 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 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;
- key facts about puberty, the changing adolescent body and menstrual well-being, including facts about reproductive health, fertility, and the potential impact of lifestyle on fertility for men and women, as well as menopause and how to get further advice, including how and where to access confidential sexual and reproductive health advice and treatment; and
- building on knowledge of first aid and the basic treatments for common injuries by learning life-saving skills, including how to administer CPR as well as the purpose of defibrillators and when one might be needed.
The following is new content for secondary schools included in the guidance:
- staying safe in public spaces, to match staying safe online, so young people know how to increase their personal safety in public spaces, build confidence in trusting their instincts, and learn ways to seek help;
- financial exploitation; and
- positive conceptions of femininity and masculinity.
Comments
The aim of this type of education is to give young people the information they need to help them develop healthy, nurturing relationships of all kinds, not just intimate relationships. It should enable them to know what a healthy relationship looks like and what makes a good friend, a good colleague, and a successful committed relationship. It should also give them the knowledge to recognise and report abuse, including emotional, physical and sexual abuse involving themselves and/or others, and when issues arise they should know how to seek support as early as possible from appropriate sources.
