The Appleton School

Understanding Relationships, Sex and Health Education at your child’s secondary school

A Guide for Parents

We want all children to grow up healthy, happy, safe and able to manage the challenges and opportunities of modern Britain. All secondary age children must be taught Relationships, Sex and Health Education. These subjects are designed to equip your child with knowledge to make informed decisions about their wellbeing, health and relationships as well as preparing them for a successful adult life. Our curriculum delivers the content in a way that is age and developmentally appropriate and sensitive to the needs and religious background of our pupils.

Relationships and Sex Education

At the Appleton School Relationships and Sex Education builds on the teaching at primary. It aims to give young people the information they need to help them develop healthy, nurturing relationships of all kinds. We cover content on what healthy and unhealthy relationships look like and what makes a good friend, colleague and successful marriage or committed relationship. At the appropriate time, the focus will move to developing intimate relationships, to equip your child with knowledge they need to make safe, informed and healthy choices as they progress through adult life.

By the end of secondary school, pupils will have been taught content on:

families
respectful relationships, including friendships
online media
being safe
intimate and sexual relationships, including sexual health

You can find further details by searching ‘relationships, sex and health education’ on GOV.UK

Health Education

At the Appleton School the aim of our Health Education is to give your child the information they need to make good decisions about their own health and wellbeing, to recognise issues in themselves and others, and to seek support as early as possible when issues arise.

By the end of secondary school, pupils will have been taught content on:

mental wellbeing
internet safety and harms
physical health and fitness
healthy eating
Drugs, alcohol and tobacco
Health and prevention
Basic first aid
Changing adolescent body

You can find further details by searching ‘relationships, sex and health education’ on GOV.UK

Your rights as a parent

The important lessons you teach your child about healthy relationships, looking after themselves and staying safe, are respected and valued under the national curriculum. Teaching at this school will complement and reinforce the lessons you teach your child as they grow up.

We have consulted with parents when developing and renewing our policy on Relationships, Sex and Health Education. All relevant policies on this topic as well as safeguarding are available on the school website. We have given parents the opportunity to express their opinion. We also speak to the students and value their opinion. We use this to help decide how and when to cover the content of the statutory guidance. We also use this information to help us decide what other non-statutory content is also best suited to our school. All our teaching of any of these topics reflects the age and religious background of our students. Whilst we started teaching many of the current topics in September 2019, we are constantly reviewing and updating the content in order to meet local and national issues/topics and changes to statutory content. You cannot withdraw your child from Health Education or the Relationships Education element of Relationships and Sex Education, because it is important that all children receive this content, covering topics such as friendships and how to stay safe.

If you do not want your child to take part in some or all of the Sex Education lessons delivered at the school, then you can ask for them to be withdrawn. The school will consider this request and discuss it with you, and it will be granted, unless in exceptional circumstances, up until three school terms before your child turns 16. At this age, your child can choose to receive Sex Education if they would like to, and the school will arrange for your child to receive this teaching in one of those three terms (unless there are exceptional circumstances).

The science curriculum in all maintained schools also includes content on human development, including reproduction, which there is no right to withdraw from.

Dfe guidance can be found here and here

There is also a useful guide for parents about the new RSE statutory guidance that can be found here.

Please refer to the CAPE overview document for further information.
https://www.theappletonschool.org/subjects/citizenship-and-pshee-cpshee