Relationships & Health

Relationships and Health Education at Heathmere

Intent

In September 2020, new statutory guidance made Relationships Education compulsory in all primary schools in England and Health Education compulsory in all state-funded schools in England. Heathmere sits in both of these categories and therefore is required, by law, to teach Relationships and Health Education to all pupils. In preparation for this change, we developed our current Relationships and Health Education policy and curriculum in consultation with staff, governors, pupils and parents.

We also know that research demonstrates how positive relationships in school that are built on trust, kindness, safety and security are directly linked to better child wellbeing and better educational performance (Mentally Healthy Schools, 2022). Therefore, our ambition for Relationships and Health Education at Heathmere is to teach all pupils how to be safe and healthy, and how to manage their academic, personal and social lives in a positive way, preparing them for the increasingly complex world they are growing up in. This aim supports our curriculum vision: children’s learning is purposeful, empowering them to be ambitious for their future.

The Relationships and Health Education policy and curriculum at Heathmere sits alongside, and is complemented by, several national curriculum subjects including: Science, Computing, Physical Education and Religious Education. When creating our Relationships and Health Education curriculum progression, we looked for opportunities to draw links between these subjects and integrate teaching where appropriate. We also ensured subject content was planned and taught using a progressive model across the school.

Implementation

Relationships and Health education is taught as part of the Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education at Heathmere. All pupils in year 1 to year 6 partake in discrete Relationships and Health education lessons throughout the school year; content from the Relationships and Health education curriculum is also embedded within our Early Years curriculum. Some content from the Relationships and Health education curriculum is taught within Science, Computing, Physical Education and Religious Education lessons.

Our Relationships education curriculum focuses on the key building blocks of health, respectful relationships, focusing on family and friendships in all contexts, including online. Curriculum content is delivered in strands, focusing on: families and people who care for me, caring friendships, respectful relationships, online relationships and being safe. The sequence of this delivery has been careful mapped out to support children across the curriculum, and in their wider lives, as they move through their primary school years.

Our Health education curriculum focus on providing all pupils with an essential understanding of how to be healthy, including both physical health and mental wellbeing. Curriculum content enables all pupils at Heathmere to develop the language to talk about their bodies, health and emotions, so they can articulate how they are feeling and judge whether what they are feeling and how they are behaving is appropriate for the situations that they experience. Our Health education curriculum is also delivered in strands, focusing on: mental wellbeing, internet safety and harms, physical health and fitness, healthy eating, drugs, alcohol and tobacco, health and prevention, basic first aid and changing adolescent body. 

To further support all pupils with conversations about relationships and health, Zones of Regulation and PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies) are well embedded across the school and consistent language from these approaches is used by all during Relationships and Health education lessons at Heathmere.

Impact

The Curriculum Lead at Heathmere monitors the impact of the Relationships and Health Education curriculum, ensuring that all pupils successfully learn the curriculum through a range of monitoring arrangements including: curriculum progression and planning reviews, learning walks, books looks, pupil voice and tracking of behaviour incidents. Pupils’ progress in Relationships and Health Education is monitored by class teachers as part of our end of year assessment procedures.