The Department of Education have announced changes to relationships and sex education (RSE).
All schools are required to comply with the updated guidance. This means that we have reviewed our RSE curriculum and policy at Blackburn Central High School. We have tried to ensure that our RSE provision is in line with our school’s vision, values and mission and is appropriate for our pupils based on their age, physical maturity, emotional maturity, religious background, cultural backgrounds and special educational needs and/or disabilities. We have also considered previous experiences we have had at BCHS of behaviour incidents and safeguarding concerns.
We need your feedback on our curriculum and policy, here’s how you can help:
The new policy and overview of what is included in the new curriculum are on our school website, please have a look at them. If you have any questions or concerns please email them to RSEconsultation@bchs.co.uk. The deadline for you to do this is Friday 7th May.
We want to consult with parents as some topics in RSE can be sensitive, and we want to make sure everyone has a chance to have their opinions heard. We want our curriculum to support your children as they grow and develop, and help to keep them safe.
We will endeavour to answer all questions and consider all points of view. As a school we are committed to providing a balanced SRE curriculum that meets the curriculum requirements and is also sensitive to the religious and cultural needs of our community. There are expectations set out by the Department for Education of what what topics we need to cover at secondary school. This is what the government expects every child to have learned by the end of secondary school.
We must provide the following to all pupils:
- Relationships and sex education. The focus of this mandatory portion of the programme is to focus on understanding what healthy and unhealthy relationships look like, being safe online and what makes good friendships and working relationships. It includes topics like sexual orientation and gender identity. It also includes sensitive topics such as sexual grooming, domestic abuse and forced marriages. The government requires us to teach this because it believes children are at risk of harm if we don’t teach them how to recognise when relationships (including family relationships) are harmful.
- Health education. This focuses on teaching your child to make good decisions about their own health and well-being. This includes science-based information about adolescence and is designed to teach children about changes in their bodies.
If you have any queries or concerns please do not hesitate to email the consultation email address provided.
Yours sincerely
Hannah Sinclair
Assistant Headteacher