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|  How
much should we teach and when should we start teaching it?
These are questions that come up again and again and are ones that
should be decided by each school community. The decisions should
be made after effective participatory consultation with parents,
pupils, teaching and non-teaching staff, governors, local health
professionals and religious leaders if possible.
Once the needs of the pupils within a school community are assessed
(involving parents, pupils, teaching and non-teaching staff, governors,
local health professionals and religious leaders if possible), an
age appropriate programme can be developed.
When thinking about what should be taught when, it is useful to
remember that every child has a right to be informed about the changes
that will affect them as they pass through puberty. Some children
are starting puberty as young as 8. Is your current provision meeting
their needs? |
| Is SRE only for Year 6 and upwards? |
The DfES Guidance defines SRE as: -
“The lifelong learning about physical, moral and emotional
development. It is about the understanding of the importance of
marriage for family life, stable and loving relationships, respect,
love and care. It is also about the teaching of sex, sexuality,
and sexual health. It is not about the promotion of sexual orientation
or sexual activity - this would be inappropriate teaching."
The term ‘lifelong’ suggesting that it should start
at home, pre-school, and be continued as a progression through life,
not something that should just be done in Year 6.
This makes sense. Very young children are constantly picking up
messages about sex and relationships from the world around them.
They see relationships within families. They are developing friendships.
They will know people who are having babies. They will hear and
see things through games, stories, television, friends and older
siblings. It is only natural.
At Key Stage 1 they have a heightened awareness of differences
between the sexes, they are vulnerable to media messages and they
are developing a sense of self and gender identity (Passport Calouste
Gulbenkian Foundation 2000).
Without formal SRE young people are exposed to so much that there
is a risk of misinformation. They need to be able to make sense
of the things they hear.
The primary stage of education is an ideal time to lay an age appropriate
foundation for learning about sex and relationships in a safe environment
that can be built on as the young people progress through the school
system. |
| What are the requirements at Primary? |
The law states:-
- The sex education elements of the National Curriculum Science
Orders are mandatory for all pupils of primary school age
- All schools must provide, and make available for inspection,
an up-to-date policy describing the content and organisation of
SRE outside of National Curriculum Science. This is the school
governors’ responsibility
- Primary schools should have a policy statement that describes
the SRE provided or gives a statement of the decision not to provide
SRE
- Parents have the right to withdraw their child from all or
part of SRE provided outside National Curriculum Science
- SRE should be “give in such a manner as to encourage
those pupils to have due regard to moral considerations and the
value of family life”
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| What is covered by the Statutory Science
Curriculum? |
The National Curriculum Science Orders cover the biological aspects
of sex education.
Key Stage 1
1. b) that animals including humans, move, feed, grow, use their senses
and reproduce
2. a) to recognise and compare the main external parts of the bodies
of humans
2. f) that humans and animals can produce offspring and these grow
into adults
4. a) to recognise similarities and differences between themselves
and others and treat
others with sensitivity.
Key Stage 2
1. a) that the life processes common to humans and other animals include
nutrition,
growth and reproduction
2. f) about the main stages of the human life cycle |
| What does OFSTED recommend? |
It is widely recognised that sex education should be more than
solely science if it is to meet children’s needs. Ofsted guidance
to all schools suggests the following broader learning outcomes
for SRE. They give a basis for planning work to develop knowledge
and understanding, values and attitudes and personal skills in SRE.
They draw on DfES and other guidance on SRE and they reflect elements
of the non-statutory framework for PSHE.
By the end of Key Stage 1
Pupils will be able to:
- Identify and share their feelings with others
- Recognise safe and unsafe situations
- Identify and be able to talk with someone they trust
- Be aware that their feelings and actions have an impact on
others
- Make a friend, talk with them and share feelings
- Use simple rules for dealing with strangers and for resisting
pressure when they feel
uncomfortable or at risk
Pupils will know and understand:
- The basic rules for keeping themselves safe and healthy
- About safe places to play and safe people to be with
- The needs of babies and young people
- Ways in which they are like and different from others
- That they have some control over their actions and bodies
- The names of the main external parts of the body including
agreed names for sexual parts
- Why families are special for caring and sharing
Pupils will have considered:
- Why families are special
- The similarities and differences between people
- How their feelings and actions have an impact on other people
By the end of Key Stage 2
Pupils will be able to:
- Express opinions, for example, about relationships and bullying
- Listen to, and support others
- Respect other people’s viewpoints and beliefs
- Recognise their changing emotions with friends and family and
be able to express their
feelings positively
- Identify adults they can trust and who they can ask for help
- Be self-confident in a wide range of new situations, such as
seeking new friends
- Form opinions that they can articulate to a variety of audiences
- Recognise their own worth and identify positive things about
themselves
- Balance the stresses of life in order to promote both their
own mental health and well-
being and that of others
- See things from other people’s viewpoints, for example
their parents and their carers
- Discuss moral questions
- Listen to, support their friends and manage friendship problems
- Recognise and challenge stereotypes, for example in relation
to gender
- Recognise the pressure of unwanted physical contact and know
ways of resisting it
Pupils will know and understand:
- That safe routines can stop the spread of viruses including
HIV
- About the physical changes that take place at puberty, why
they happen and how to
manage them
- The many relationships in which they are all involved
- Where individual families and groups can find help
- How the media impact on forming attitudes
- About keeping themselves safe when involved with risky activities
- That their actions have consequences and be able to anticipate
the results of them
- About different forms of bullying people and the feelings of
both bullies and victims
- Why being different can provoke bullying and to know why this
is unacceptable
- About, and accept, a wide range of different family arrangements,
for example second
marriages, fostering, extended families and three or more generations
living together
Pupils will have considered:
- The diversity of lifestyles
- Others’ points of view, including those of their parents
or carers
- Why being different can provoke bullying and why this is unacceptable
- When it is appropriate to take a risk and when to say no and
seek help
- The diversity of values and customs in the school and in the
community
- The need for trust and love in established
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| You may already be doing more than you think... |
At primary level, SRE should contribute to the foundation of
PSHE and Citizenship by ensuring that all children:-
“Develop confidence in talking, listening, and thinking
about feelings and relationships; are able to name parts of the
body and describe how their bodies work; and protect themselves
and ask for help and support; and are prepared for puberty.”
(3.3) (DfEE, 2000)
Some people worry that primary aged pupils are too young for SRE
and that parents would not support schools to deliver it, yet many
schools are already covering a great deal of the SRE curriculum
but under other names e.g. ‘growing up’, ‘differences’,
‘me and my body’ etc.
Download and use the audit tool to find out how
much you are already covering.
Once you’ve seen what the gaps are, the remaining sex and
relationships education can be integrated into the curriculum and,
like the work you are already, doing it does not need to be isolated,
taken out of context, or over-emphasised in any way. |
| Good Practice: |
| When you are developing and implementing
your programme, good practice would be to ensure that as well as
being planned and delivered in line with Ofsted recommendations
and QCA guidance:-
- Representatives from the whole school community have been consulted
and pupils' needs are identified
- You plan to address the needs of the pupils by delivering SRE
to every year group within a broader PSHE programme through which
continuity and progression are evident and which includes information,
social skill development and values clarification
- The lessons are planned to ensure they meet the needs of both
genders, of vulnerable pupils, of pupils from different family
situations and of the different faiths and cultures represented
in the school community
- Those expected to deliver the sessions are comfortable and
confident to do so and have a sound knowledge of local community
health services and confidential support services
- The full programme has been discussed with the pupils and has
been made available to parents
- The clarification of the intended learning outcomes is established
as a matter of routine
- The development, agreement, display and/or revisiting of ground
rules is built into the start of every unit of work with the meaning
of confidentiality being made clear and where pupils, staff and
local services stand in terms of confidentiality
- Appropriate language for use in the classroom is agreed, slang
terms being accepted only rarely at the discretion of the teacher
as long as correct terminology is acknowledged
- Strategies for answering difficult questions are established
such as the use of an anonymous question box. With signposting
to parents and other appropriate services made clear as necessary
- Active teaching and learning styles are adopted wherever possible
to involve the pupils in their own learning
- Distancing techniques are used
- Visitors to the classroom work closely with the classroom teacher
being used to support the planned programme rather than relying
on them to solely cover aspects of the programme
- Time is built into each session for the pupils to reflect on
their own learning
- Self and group assessment and evaluation take place alongside
teacher evaluation at the end of a unit of work and that this
is utilised to record pupils’ progress and to inform future
planning
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