Dear Parents and Carers,
As a part of your child’s education at Outwood Academy Shafton, we promote personal well-being and development through a comprehensive Life education programme. The Life curriculum which encompasses RSE, Health education, Citizenship and Religious Education is the personal development area that gives young people the knowledge, understanding, attitudes and practical skills to live safe, healthy, productive lives and meet their full potential.
As part of our PSHE ”LIFE” provision to students from Y7-11, we deliver a comprehensive Relationships, Sex and Health Education curriculum. We ensure that all statutory objectives are adequately covered so that all children learn about different relationships, different families, physical/mental health and wellbeing and staying safe
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RSE sessions will include age appropriate teaching of healthy relationships, including friendships and intimate relationships; sex, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation; families; growing and changing, including puberty; personal hygiene; changing feelings; becoming more independent; keeping safe and consent; physical/mental health and wellbeing and staying safe; developing self-esteem and confidence. Students will also have opportunities to ask questions that help prepare them for relationships of all kinds in the modern world. Children will also learn about puberty and their changing bodies. At our academy, this learning takes place across all year groups and across multiple subjects, however the majority of the teaching and learning takes place in LIFE lessons.
In line with best practice, we also deliver intimate and sexual relationships, including sexual health to Y9-11. These lessons include learning about human reproduction and sexual relationships. The intimate relationships area of the curriculum is mainly covered by Spectrum who are a specialist team in the fields of relationships and sexual health. Parents and carers do have the right to withdraw their child from lessons covering this non-statutory content. However, we would urge any parents and carers considering withdrawing their child from these lessons to consider what is being taught, how it is being taught and how important this education is for all children.
Our Relationships, Sex and Health Education is fully inclusive to meet the needs of all our students. We fully believe that all children should learn about these important life skills in an open, honest and safe environment. We also believe that they should be taught in an age-appropriate and engaging way. RSE and Health education is taught throughout the school in every year group and is monitored and reviewed regularly. We encourage parents and carers to view our Relationships and Sex Education Policy. This can be found at
OGAT Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education (RSHE) Secondary Policy V3
As a school community, we are committed to working in partnership with parents; parental feedback has indicated that the overwhelming majority of parents continue to be highly supportive of the relationships and sex education programme. We invite you to contact the Lead for Personal Development and Life (using the email address below) if you would like to know more about our curriculum and the resources we use – we will be very happy to talk through any concerns you may have.
Yours sincerely,
S. Riley
Personal Development Lead for Life
s.riley@shafton.outwood.com