RSE

How do we help girls build healthy relationships, understand their boundaries and know when to speak up?

At Sikh Heritage Girls School, Relationships and Sex Education is grounded in dignity, respect, self-awareness, responsibility and safeguarding.

Our aim is to give girls the knowledge they need to build healthy relationships, recognise behaviour that is inappropriate or unsafe, understand their own boundaries, manage the changes that come with growing up and know how to seek help. Our Sikh ethos shapes the way this learning is approached. We value self-respect, equality, responsibility, modesty and care for others. At the same time, essential factual and safeguarding knowledge is never withheld. Pupils are taught clearly, accurately and at a level appropriate to their age and maturity.

Our Intent

We want pupils to understand:

  • what healthy friendships and family relationships look like;

  • the importance of kindness, trust, respect and personal boundaries;

  • that they have a right to speak up when something feels wrong or unsafe;

  • how to identify trusted adults and seek help;

  • how relationships and behaviour online should be as respectful and safe as those offline;

  • the physical and emotional changes associated with growing up and puberty;

  • age-appropriate ideas about consent, autonomy and respecting another person's boundaries;

  • that families and individual circumstances can differ and that others must be treated with dignity and respect.

Girls are taught to use accurate vocabulary and to ask questions without embarrassment. Pupils are never expected to disclose personal or family experiences during lessons.

A Carefully Sequenced Curriculum

The foundations begin in EYFS, through learning about friendship, feelings, privacy, trusted adults, appropriate boundaries and how to seek help.

In Years 1 and 2, pupils build their understanding of families, caring friendships, kindness, respect, personal space, privacy and safe and unsafe situations.

In Years 3 and 4, this develops into more explicit work on boundaries, healthy and unhealthy behaviour, emotional development, online relationships and the early changes associated with puberty.

By Years 5 and 6, girls are prepared more fully for puberty and increasing independence. They explore self-respect, peer pressure, personal autonomy, consent and boundaries in age-appropriate contexts, online risks, healthy relationship behaviours and how to respond when they or someone else may need help.

At primary stage, SHGS does not teach a separate programme of non-statutory sex education. Our curriculum focuses on Relationships Education, safeguarding, emotional development, personal safety and age-appropriate teaching about puberty and growing up.

How We Teach Sensitive Content

RSE is taught calmly, factually and without sensationalising sensitive subjects. Teachers use age-appropriate language, carefully selected resources, scenarios and discussion. Questions are answered honestly at a level suitable for the pupils being taught. Where a question falls beyond what is appropriate for the class, the teacher will explain this sensitively rather than introducing content prematurely.

Safeguarding remains central. Pupils learn that adults cannot promise secrecy if something suggests that a child may be unsafe, and any concern arising from a lesson is handled in accordance with the school's Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy. The curriculum also teaches respect for others and reflects the school's duties under the Equality Act 2010. Pupils encounter different families and circumstances in an age-appropriate way and learn that disagreement or difference never justifies bullying, harassment or disrespect.

Equity and SEND

Every girl is entitled to the knowledge that helps keep her safe.

Pupils with SEND receive the same broad RSE entitlement. Teaching may be adapted through clearer language, visual resources, repetition, rehearsal, additional preparation or smaller learning steps where required. We are particularly mindful that some pupils may be more vulnerable to exploitation, unsafe relationships or misunderstanding social boundaries. Adaptation therefore supports access; it does not remove important safeguarding content.

Working with Parents

Parents are important partners in RSE.

Before pupils begin Year 4, parents are invited to meet with the Headmistress to discuss the curriculum, see how sensitive content is approached and raise questions or concerns. Parents may also request to view curriculum materials. SHGS keeps its RSE policy under review in consultation with parents and is committed to openness about what pupils are taught.

Parents have a legal right to request withdrawal only from sex education where a school provides it. As SHGS does not currently provide a separate programme of non-statutory primary sex education, no current primary lesson falls within that withdrawal provision. Full arrangements are explained in the school's RSE Policy.

Impact

By the time girls leave the primary phase, we want them to understand what respectful and healthy relationships look like, recognise personal boundaries and unsafe behaviour, and have the confidence to seek help.

They should understand the changes associated with puberty, know that their body and personal boundaries deserve respect, and recognise their responsibility to respect the boundaries and dignity of others. Most importantly, girls should know that being well informed is part of being safe, responsible and increasingly independent.

References

Department for Education. Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education: Statutory Guidance, effective September 2026.

Department for Education. Independent School Standards Guidance, 2026.

Equality Act 2010.

Keeping Children Safe in Education, current edition.