Relationships and Sex Education

Summary
This is a summary of St George Catholic College’s Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) policy. For further details, please see the full policy and appendices. The purpose of this policy is to act as a central reference point to inform school staff, parents and carers, health professionals and visiting speakers of the school’s approach to RSE within PSHE (personal, social, health and economic) education. This summary, with the school’s RSE curriculum, will be circulated to all staff and given to visiting speakers. Senior staff and staff teaching PSHE education should read the whole document. The RSE policy is made available to all teaching and non-teaching staff, parents and carers on the school website. The RSE policy will be reviewed on a biennial basis.

Definition of RSE
Relationships and Sex Education is learning about the emotional, social and physical aspects of growing up. It includes the topics of families and carers, friendships, respectful relationships, online relationships and being safe. It should also cover what a healthy relationship looks like and what makes a successful marriage or other type of committed relationship, as well as contraception, developing intimate relationships and resisting pressure to have sex (and not applying pressure). Our approach to RSE is rooted in the Catholic Church’s teaching of the human person and presented in a positive framework of Christian ideals. As a consequence of the Christian belief that we are made in the image and likeness of God, gender and sexuality are seen as God’s gift, reflect God’s beauty and share in the divine creativity.

RSE, therefore, will be placed firmly within the context of relationship as it is there that sexuality grows and develops. It will be firmly embedded within the PSHE framework as it is concerned with nurturing human wholeness and is integral to the physical, spiritual, emotional, moral, social and intellectual development of pupils.

Roles and responsibilities in school
The governing body draws up the RSE policy in consultation with parents and teachers. The Headteacher is responsible for the implementation of this policy and the PSHE/RSE coordinator supports other members of staff in the implementation of the policy as well as leading the dissemination of information relating to RSE, the provision of training and the monitoring and evaluation of the RSE programme.

Confidentiality and safeguarding
Staff working with pupils cannot offer unconditional or absolute confidentiality. Staff have an obligation to inform pupils of this. Where a teacher suspects that a child or young person is a victim of or at risk of abuse they are required to follow the school’s safeguarding policy and immediately inform the designated senior member of staff responsible. If pupils disclose to visiting speakers, then the visitor should report this to school staff to follow up.

Parents’ and carers’ rights and partnership with school
We recognise that parents (and other carers who stand in their place) are the primary educators of their children. As a Catholic school, we provide the principal means by which the Church assists parents and carers in educating their children.

Parents must be consulted before the RSE policy is ratified by the governors.

The Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education (England) Regulations 2019 set out parents’ right to withdraw their children from sex education other that which is part of relationships education, health education or other National Curriculum subjects (such as biological aspects of human growth and reproduction within National Curriculum science). It is recommended that parents and carers arrange to meet with the relevant member of school staff to discuss this.