Relationships – Primary

Children and young people are growing up in an increasingly complex world and may be living their lives seamlessly on and offline. This presents many positive and exciting opportunities, but also challenges and risks.

In this environment, children and young people need to know how to be safe and healthy. They need to be supported in developing attitudes to towards themselves and others which enable them to make positive choices from a basis of knowledge and self-awareness.

The challenges many children and young people face relating to mental health, friendship skills and physical wellbeing can be immense. Through high quality Relationships Education, schools can support their pupils to navigate some of these challenges positively.

There is no prescribed way that primary schools should manage their curriculum delivery, however for teaching to be effective the content should be broken down into themed age-appropriate units, which are revisited to build on prior learning. The units should be carefully sequenced within a planned programme or lessons. See this page for more guidance: The new statutory RSHE guidance: what’s changed and what does this mean for primary schools?

Primary schools must have a Relationships Education policy that is developed in consultation with parents and carers, reflects the needs of the school community, and is published on the school’s website.

Guidance on teaching Relationships Education for Primary and Secondary Schools 

PSHE Education lesson plans

Key principles for answering children’s questions include:

• Acknowledge the question and give the message that it is okay to ask.
• Avoid leaving the child with the impression that we are flustered, as this will reduce the likelihood of them asking questions in the future.
• Check out the context of the child’s question before answering
• Buy some time, but then make sure you get back to the child.
• Check the child understands
• Ask for guidance from a colleague.

Resource: Relationships and sex education

• Families and carers: Families provide love, care, security, and stability. Families may look different, but all should be respected. Children should understand healthy family relationships and know how to seek help if they feel unhappy or unsafe.
• Friendships: Good friendships are built on kindness, trust, honesty, respect, and support. Children should recognise healthy and unhealthy friendships, manage disagreements positively, and know when to ask for help.
• Respectful relationships: Everyone deserves respect, regardless of differences. Children should learn about good manners, self-respect, bullying (including online bullying), stereotypes, and the importance of consent and permission.
• Online relationships: The same expectations of respect apply online as offline. Children should understand online safety, recognise risks, think critically about online information and friendships, and know how personal information is shared and used.
• Staying safe: Children should understand personal boundaries, privacy, and that their body belongs to them. They should know how to recognise unsafe situations, report concerns, seek support, and stay safe both online and offline.
• Growing and changing: Children should learn about puberty, including physical and emotional changes, and understand key facts about menstrual wellbeing and the menstrual cycle.