PSHE/RSE/BRITISH VALUES

Developing the whole child is important to us at St James'.  Through our carefully sequenced program of PSHE and RSE we aim to instill understanding of themselves and the world around them. 

All of our school community conduct themselves in the 'St James' Way', which is summed up by 3 simple strands: 

Be Kind

Be Respectful

Give Your All

This ethos underpins everything that we do and is a code for students and staff alike. Interactions are kind and respectful, behaviour shows compassion and understanding of others and the school staff and children give their very best each day, as we grow and learn together.

Our Christian Values of Friendship, Peace, Compassion, Endurance, Forgiveness and Thanfulness indicate the qualities we recognise as important in promoting in our students. We also understand and recognise the Importance of British Values.

Relationships, Sex and Health information 

As per our school Relationship, Sex and Health Education Policy, we have made the decision not to look at the biology of reproductive organs or indeed the biology of sexual intercourse.  These will be areas that are statutory in secondary education but not in primary. 

In order to inform parents on content, please see the 2 videos below that will be used as part of the block of work in the summer term. They will be used to teach children about puberty and menstruation. These videos have been edited to match our policy and will be taught in separate gender groups when appropriate.

The focus of the unit in lower school will be based on health and wellbeing, families and relationships and safety. 

If you have any questions regarding any of this content, please do not hesitate to contact the school.

Changes to the Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) Framework

Relationships education should support children to grow into kind, caring adults who have respect for others and know how to keep themselves and others safe. RSHE is about children’s everyday lives, and needs to reflect new and emerging issues that children are exposed to and as a result, the government have released a new curriculum to be taught in schools. This will be fully implemented by September 2026 as we are currently waiting for our schemes of work to be updated.

Our teaching will now have a greater focus on online safety and wellbeing. For example, pupils will learn about online financial harms such as gaming, video game monetisation, scams and fraud – as well as the reasons for age restrictions on online content such as gambling websites and social media. New content is also about helping pupils to critically engage with what they see online and recognise their rights – for example in relation to privacy, consent and personal data.

Within health education, there’s still an emphasis on helping pupils understand their bodies and the changes they might experience — and now, this includes learning the correct names for body parts. This reflects established best practice when it comes to giving children the knowledge and understanding they need to stay safe, including the ability to identify and report signs of abuse.

Personal safety, with an emphasis on recognising and reducing risk, in the context of fire and travel safety — for example around water, roads and railways is also part of our curriculum.

There’s now learning around change and loss, including bereavement; recognising that this can cause a range of feelings, and that everyone grieves differently.

Within relationships education, there is new learning around communicating effectively, and developing the ability to be assertive and to express needs and boundaries. There’s also an emphasis on skills for managing difficult feelings in the context of relationships, such as disappointment, frustration and loneliness — and these skills are highlighted in online contexts too. Pupils will learn strategies for resisting pressure to share information or images online.