RSE & Personal Social and Health Education

At Weaverham Forest Primary School, we want our children to be equipped for life. Children will develop respect and tolerance for other faiths, feelings and values. They will enjoy learning about themselves, others and the world as well as recognising when they are using a growth mindset. We strive for our children to be happy, reflective learners well equipped with strategies to support their mental well-being. They will recognise right and wrong and understand consequences. Developing their social skills, children will understand their place and responsibilities in the community and the wider world. British values are woven throughout the curriculum, in parallel to understanding and celebrating other cultures and diversity.

KAPOW, No Outsiders and Zones Regulation lessons are fully embedded within classes across school. Teaching should support children in thinking critically, questioning, debating and working together.

The Zones of Regulation program is an empowering instructional tool to build safe, supportive environments that foster learning and well-being for all. Transitions at lunch and breaks are followed by relaxation including relaxation music or happy breathing. ‘No Outsiders’ sessions based on a picture books suitable to the year group—activities involve discussion, working together, class displays. The Christopher Winter Project (RSE) is delivered to the children by class teachers during the summer term. Each class keeps a large class book which contains evidence of the RSE & PSHE curriculum.

Throughout the year, events are held to compliment the RSHE curriculum e.g. texts for Writing Week are chosen to have a RSHE theme. Awareness days/weeks are celebrated and visitors are invited into school to support the curriculum.

Intent

At Weaverham Forest Primary School, we are committed to providing a high-quality PSHE (Personal, Social, Health, and Economic) and RSE (Relationships and Sex Education) curriculum that equips our children with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to navigate life in the 21st century with confidence. Rooted in our core values of Respect, Kindness, and Honesty, our curriculum fosters personal development, supports informed decision-making, and encourages our pupils to become responsible and active members of society.

We follow Kapow Primary’s RSE/PSHE scheme of work, which aligns with the statutory Relationships and Health Education guidance set by the Department for Education. This curriculum covers essential aspects of children’s health, safety, wellbeing, relationships, and financial education, ensuring they are well-prepared for the challenges of the modern world. Additionally, it promotes the fundamental British values of democracy, rule of law, respect and tolerance, and individual liberty, reflecting life in modern Britain.

As a school that embraces the No Outsiders curriculum, we celebrate inclusion, diversity, and equality, ensuring that every child feels valued and respected. Identity is explored throughout our PSHE and RSE learning, encouraging pupils to develop a strong sense of self and an appreciation for others.

While Kapow Primary’s scheme does not specifically cover gender identity—since this is not part of the National Curriculum—it does address identity as a broader theme across all year groups. As always, we adhere to our school’s policies and procedures to approach such topics with sensitivity and care.

High-quality PSHE and RSE education is essential for safeguarding our pupils, including online safety. In line with the Department for Education’s ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (2022) guidance, our curriculum teaches children about personal boundaries, consent, and respectful communication, ensuring they understand their rights and responsibilities. By revisiting these key themes throughout their school journey, we empower our pupils to build healthy relationships, make informed choices, and develop resilience for the future.

At Weaverham Forest Primary School, we believe that every child deserves to grow up feeling safe, supported, and prepared for the opportunities and challenges ahead. Our PSHE and RSE curriculum is designed to achieve just that.

RSE at Weaverham Forest Primary School links closely with our core values and the British Values – please see our website: http://www.weaverhamforest.cheshire.sch.uk/

Implementation

At Weaverham Forest Primary School, we are dedicated to delivering a high-quality PSHE and RSE curriculum that aligns with our core values of Respect, Kindness, and Honesty. We use the Kapow Primary scheme, a whole-school approach designed to ensure a consistent, progressive, and comprehensive learning experience for all pupils. In addition, we incorporate the No Outsiders curriculum to promote inclusion, diversity, and equality, ensuring that every child feels valued and accepted.

Our PSHE and RSE curriculum is structured as follows:

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

In Reception, learning is based on the Personal, Social, and Emotional Development prime area of the EYFS framework and focuses on:

Self-regulation
Building relationships
Managing self

Key Stages 1 and 2

Throughout Key Stages 1 and 2, our curriculum is organised into five key areas:

Families and relationships
Health and wellbeing
Safety and the changing body
Citizenship
Economic wellbeing

Each area is revisited regularly, allowing children to build on their prior learning in a progressive and age-appropriate way. Lessons are based on the statutory requirements for Relationships and Health Education, with additional content in Citizenship and Economic Wellbeing, which follows the PSHE Association Programme of Study recommended by the Department for Education (DfE).

Sex Education

In line with DfE recommendations, our scheme includes non-statutory sex education, which is taught from Reception to Year 6 to ensure that pupils are well-prepared for the transition to secondary school. Christopher Winter Resources are used to support teachers in the delivery of this part of the curriculum.

Equality and Inclusion

Our curriculum actively supports the Equality Act, ensuring that children learn about:

Different types of families
The negative effects of stereotypes
The importance of celebrating differences

Diverse teaching resources are embedded throughout our lessons to ensure that all pupils see themselves reflected in the curriculum.

A range of teaching and learning activities are used and are based on good practice in teaching RSE/PSHE education to ensure that all children can access learning and make progress. In key stage 1 and 2, there is an introductory lesson at the start of each year group which provides the opportunity for children and teachers to negotiate ground rules for the lessons. These introductory lessons can then be referred to throughout the year to help create a safe environment. All lessons include ideas for differentiation to stretch the most able learners and give additional support to those who need it. Many lessons, stories, scenarios, and video clips provide the opportunity for children to engage in real life and current topics in a safe and structured way. Role-play activities are also included to help children play out scenarios that they may find themselves in. There are meaningful opportunities for cross-curricular learning, in particular with Computing for online safety and Science for growing, nutrition, teeth, diet and lifestyle. The scheme provides consistent messages throughout the age ranges including how and where to access help.

Impact

Each lesson within Kapow Primary’s scheme features assessment guidance, helping teachers to identify whether pupils have met, exceeded, or failed to meet the desired learning intentions for that lesson.

Each unit of lessons comes with an Assessment quiz. The quiz contains 10 questions, nine of which are multiple-choice and can be used at both the start and the end to help measure progress and identify any gaps in learning.

Once taught the full scheme, children will have met the objectives set out within the Relationships and Health Education statutory guidance and can utilise their learning within their daily lives, from dealing with friendship issues to resilience to making healthy choices and knowing where and how to get help when needed.

No Outsiders at Weaverham Forest

There are no outsiders in our school; to quote the South African social rights activist Desmond Tutu (2004), ‘Everyone is an insider, no matter their beliefs, whatever their colour, gender or sexuality’ (No Outsiders Project Team, 2010, ix).

We use the book, ‘No Outsiders in Our School: Teaching the Equality Act in Primary Schools’ by Andrew Moffat.

The No Outsiders resource includes lesson plans based on children’s picture books. The class discussion is child-led and offers opportunity for the children to make observations and consider the simple messages in the text, which link to the Equality Act in an age appropriate way. The table below outlines the texts used in each year group.

Please click on the files below to view the whole school book list.