Relationships, sex and health education (RSHE)

What is RSHE and why does it matter?

Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) helps children and young people grow up healthy, happy, safe, and ready for life in modern Britain. RSHE gives children and young people the essential knowledge, skills, and values they need to navigate today's world - including emotional regulation, physical and mental health, healthy relationships, and safe, informed online behaviour.  These topics must be spoken about in schools and at home to help children and young people make healthy choices and thrive.

Since 2020:

• Primary schools must teach Relationships and Health Education
• Secondary schools must teach Relationships, Sex and Health Education

This learning helps children understand their bodies, emotions, and relationships in a way that's right for their age and stage of development. Schools can adapt how they teach RSHE to reflect their pupils' needs, including their faith or cultural background.

RSHE support for Norfolk's schools and settings

RSHE underpins Norfolk's Flourish ambition aims to help every child:

• Be safe and happy
• Learn and grow
• Be ready for adult life

The Norfolk RSHE Graduated Offer supports schools with local resources and advice tailored to their communities. It builds on national guidance to help schools meet the needs of all pupils.

What does the DfE guidance say?

The Department for Education (DfE) issued statutory guidance in 2019 and published updated guidance on Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE), and Health Education in July 2025. This revised guidance is intended to support schools in preparing for its implementation from 1 September 2026.

Schools are required to have regard to this guidance. If they choose to deviate from any sections that specify actions they should or should not take, they must be able to justify their decisions with sound reasoning.

The July 2025 RSHE guidance from the Department for Education introduces several important updates to help schools prepare for implementation by 1 September 2026. The following is a summary of the key content and changes.

Guiding principles

• Engagement with pupils: Schools should involve pupils in shaping the RSHE curriculum to ensure it feels relevant and engaging to them
• Engagement and transparency with families: Schools must keep parents informed about RSHE content and materials, providing full access and respecting their right to withdraw children from sex education
• Positivity: RSHE lessons should build positive attitudes and promote healthy relationships and mental health, while avoiding language that could normalise harmful behaviours
• Careful sequencing: Teaching should follow a thoughtful order, covering all required topics early and preparing pupils to handle real-life experiences positively and safely
• Relevant and responsive: The curriculum must be tailored to the age, stage, and local context of pupils, with input from relevant partners to meet community needs
• Skilled delivery of participative education: RSHE should be taught by skilled staff and supported by trusted providers who can create safe, supportive, and interactive learning environments, with safeguarding training in place
• Whole school approach: RSHE should be part of a whole school approach to wellbeing, reinforced by policies on behaviour and safeguarding

Core themes and curriculum areas

• Relationships Education (Primary): Focuses on building respectful relationships, understanding families, and recognising healthy friendships
• Sex Education (Primary): Non-statutory but encouraged; includes basic understanding of human development and reproduction
• Relationships and Sex Education (Secondary): Covers consent, sexual health, contraception, and the impact of pornography
• Health and Wellbeing (Primary & Secondary): Includes physical health, mental wellbeing, puberty, drugs and alcohol, and online safety

New and strengthened focus areas

• Misogyny and violence against women and girls: Greater emphasis on tackling harmful gender norms and the impact of pornography
• Personal safety: New content on road, railway, and water safety, plus staying safe in public spaces
• Online safeguarding: Addresses emerging risks like AI deepfakes, toxic online influencers, and harmful subcultures
• Mental health support: Expanded guidance on grief, loss, and loneliness
• Family diversity: Recognition of varied family structures, including single parents, same-sex parents, kinship carers, and foster families
• Financial exploitation: New focus on financial harms and safeguarding, with support for teaching personal financial education

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender content

• Equality and respect: Pupils should learn about equality and all protected characteristics, including sexual orientation and gender reassignment, by the end of secondary school
• Inclusive relationships education: Primary schools are encouraged to include same-sex families when teaching about relationships, and secondary schools should fully integrate content on same-sex relationships and sexual health for all pupils
• Biological sex and gender reassignment: Pupils should be taught the facts and laws about biological sex and gender reassignment, including the legal rights and protections for both
• Balanced and sensitive teaching: Schools must present this topic carefully, avoid promoting any single viewpoint, steer clear of gender stereotypes, and should be mindful to avoid any suggestion that social transition is a simple solution to feelings of distress or discomfort
• Respectful discussion: Pupils should be taught to express their views respectfully and understand that bullying or disrespect is never acceptable
• Use of external resources: Schools should avoid oversimplified or stereotype-based materials, consult parents in advance, and share all external resources with them on request

The full guidance document is on GOV.UK or a detailed summary is available from the PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic) Association.

What does the law say?

• Relationships Education is compulsory in all primary schools
• Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) is compulsory in all secondary schools
• Health Education is compulsory in both primary and secondary schools

Although sex education is not required in primary schools, the government recommends that schools teach children about the changes that happen during puberty and how babies are made and born. This is also part of the science curriculum, which parents cannot opt out of.

Supporting all learners

The goal is to make sure every child can understand and use what they learn to stay safe and healthy.  Inclusive RSHE helps children understand and respect others, promotes equality, and supports the wellbeing of all pupils.

The Department for Education's 2025 guidance states that schools must teach RSHE in a way that reflects the diversity of modern Britain, including different types of families and relationships. Keeping Children Safe in Education also highlights the importance of creating a school environment where every pupil is protected from discrimination and bullying, including those who identify as LGBTQ+.

Here are four top tips for schools aiming to make their RSHE curriculum inclusive.

Reflect real-life diversity in the curriculum and wider school environment

• Make sure your RSHE lessons include examples of different types of families and relationships, including same-sex couples and LGBTQ+ individuals. This helps all pupils feel seen and respected and prepares them for life in a diverse society.

Take a whole school approach to challenging prejudice behaviours and bullying

• Take the key learning from RSHE around challenging prejudice behaviours and bullying, including the responsibilities of bystanders, and how to get help and ensure it is embedded in your wider curriculum, policies and procedures, physical environment. staff CPD and wellbeing etc.

Create a safe and respectful learning environment

• Establish clear ground rules for respectful discussion. Encourage open-mindedness and kindness, and make sure pupils know that discrimination including prejudice language and jokes or bullying of any kind, is not tolerated.

Involve the whole school community

• Work with staff, pupils and their families to shape your RSHE policy. Gather feedback, explain what's being taught and why, and provide reassurance that the content is age-appropriate and inclusive. This builds trust and helps everyone feel part of the process.

Prove extra support for SEND if needed

Children with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities), including SEMH (Social Emotional Mental Health) or EAL (English as an Additional Language) may need extra support. Schools should:

• Use simple language and visual aids
• Adapt lessons to suit each child's needs
• Work closely with families
• Make sure staff are trained to teach RSHE to all pupils

Working with families

Parents and carers are key partners in RSHE. They:

• Have the right to know what their child is being taught
• Can ask to see teaching materials
• Can request to excuse their child from some or all of sex education in secondary school. From three terms before the pupil turns 16, a pupil can choose to opt back into sex education even if their parent has requested withdrawal.
• Cannot excuse their child from relationships or health education, or from the science curriculum

In 2019, the DfE has produced guides for parents and carers of primary and secondary age pupils that schools can use to communicate with them about teaching RSHE.

Staff training matters

The updated guidance includes a guiding principle that the RSHE curriculum should be taught by trained staff or trusted external providers who can create a safe, supportive, and engaging environment, with safeguarding training in place to handle potential disclosures.

Teachers need to feel confident and supported when teaching RSHE. Ongoing training helps staff:

• Create safe, respectful classrooms
• Handle sensitive topics carefully
• Support all pupils, including those with different views or experiences

The skills and strategies requires to teach safe, inclusive and effective RSHE can be transferred into other areas of the curriculum and wider school life. The PSHE Association offers helpful guidance on creating safe learning environments and teaching complex topics.