- Introduction
Golftyn school plays a central role in having a positive and sustained impact on children and young people’s sexual health and well-being. All learners in Golftyn will receive high-quality sex and relationships education (SRE) as part of their personal and social development.
‘Effective school SRE programmes help learners to develop the skills and knowledge appropriate to their age, understanding and development. Learners are enabled to make responsible decisions about their relationships, sexual health and well-being’.
- Aim
Sex and Relationships Education at Golftyn school aims to equip children and young people with the information, skills and values they need to have safe, fulfilling and enjoyable relationships and to take responsibility for their sexual health and well-being.
- Objectives
The school will:
- Help children understand the importance of stable and loving relationships, respect, love and care
- Help children to understand the information and situations they come across and to put them in a values framework
- Help children to communicate about matters to do with their bodies and relationships without embarrassment
- Provide information on:
- Loving relationships
- Names of parts of the body
- Different kinds of families
- The physical and emotional changes associated with puberty
- The needs of babies and the responsibility of parenthood
- Keep children safe by helping them to recognise and respond appropriately to unacceptable behaviour by adults and other children
- Teach children to respect themselves and other people
- Help children to understand their own feelings and the feelings of others
- Environment and Ethos of the School
The school’s environment and ethos support the pupils’ personal development in the following areas:
- Planned Sex and Relationships Education within Health and wellbeing with a clear purpose
- Planned teaching of relevant knowledge and understanding, skills, values and attitudes within National Curriculum subjects and RE
- Teaching and learning strategies which use interactive and experiential approaches that are relevant and suitable to the needs and aptitudes of pupils and which offer ample time for discussion and reflection
- Valuing pupils and promoting positive relationships and self-esteem
- Effective coordination and staff training and support
- Opportunities in school for pupils to participate in decision making
- Positive behavioural approaches
- Curriculum
Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) will be taught within the context of the Framework for Children’ Learning for 3 to 7 year olds, the Personal and Social Education (PSE) Framework for 7 to 19-year-olds as a basis for provision and the Science order.
Foundation Phase Framework for Children’s Learning for 3 to 7 year olds in Wales (2008) (APPENDIX 1)
Education about relationships for 3 to 7 year-olds should focus on the building of self-esteem by encouraging learners to:
- value themselves
- recognise and communicate their feelings
- form friendships and relationships
By the end of the Foundation Phase, Year 2 pupils will recognise parts of their body in order to differentiate between male and female. Terms used for male are penis and testicles and the terms used for female are breasts and vagina.
Personal and Social Education Framework for 7 to 19 year olds in Wales (2008) (APPENDIX 2)
SRE should help 7 to 11-year-olds to understand:
- the reasons for the physical and emotional changes that take place at puberty, to include conception, pregnancy and birth
- the range of their own and others’ feelings and emotions
- the importance of personal safety
- what to do or to whom to go when feeling unsafe.
As children and young people develop sexually they need to understand bodily changes, manage sexual feelings and enjoy safe, healthy and happy personal relationships. Learners can also be enabled to explore their feelings, develop self-awareness and self-respect and develop their self-esteem.
By the end of year 6, the school will ensure that pupils are aware of the reasons for the physical and emotional changes during puberty including conception.
- Organisation and Delivery
The learning experience should be delivered with a sensitive, relaxed, informative approach and through active, experiential learning. Circle time will be used for open discussion and debate as well as question and answer sessions.
Most lessons will be taught in mixed sex groups by their class teacher; however single sex and relationships lessons will be built into the programme to ensure that both boys and girls have an opportunity to ask questions which may be sensitive for them.
In Year 1 and 2, during the third term, pupils will learn the names of body parts in order to differentiate between male and female.
In Year 3 and 4, during the third term, pupils will revise the activities taught in Year 1 and 2 and will learn about some aspects of the human body through projects such as Funny Bones and Healthy Living.
Sexual aspects within the curriculum will be taught mainly in Years 5 & 6, during the third term, through an organised programme of Sex and Relationships Educational lessons. The curriculum time will be flexible, depending on the needs of specific classes.
Girls are spoken to about menstruation. Girls need particular support when they begin to menstruate and every attempt is made by female staff to inform and advise. A sample of sanitary towel is shown to each girl and they are encouraged to discuss with their parent(s) what they have seen and heard. They are also told that a member of staff is available to discuss matters and are informed that an emergency supply of towels are kept in school.
6.1 Resources
The SENSE CD-rom resource is mainly used in Sex and Relationships Education, as recommended by Welsh Government, for years 5/6 along with the interactive resource Tyfu I Fyny.
A selection of the following resources also support delivery in Foundation Phase and Key Stage 2:
- Circle Time resources
- SEAL
- School library & classroom resources
6.2 Answering Questions
- Teachers will attempt to answer general questions from pupils honestly considering the pupils age and maturity
- Teachers will use a question box which gives children the opportunity to ask questions anonymously and will provide an opportunity for teachers to consider their responses
- If a pupil asks questions about values, teachers will refer the child to its family and will try to avoid giving own views as the only right one
- Teachers will deal honestly, sensitively and in a non judgemental way with sexual orientation.
6.3 Use of Outside Speakers
The core SRE programme is delivered by the class teacher in all years. This approach makes the content appear ordinary and allows plenty of opportunity for pupils to come back to staff with any questions. Learners are encouraged to speak to the member of staff they feel most comfortable with; male or female.
- Contact with Parents
Golftyn school believes that Sex and Relationships Education should be a shared responsibility. We wish to build a positive and supporting relationship with the parents through mutual understanding, trust and co-operation.
In promoting this objective we:
- Inform parents and provide opportunities for parents to view the videos and resources being used.
- Take seriously any issue that parents raise with teachers or governors about the policy or the arrangements for sex education in the school
- Encourage parents to be involved in reviewing the school policy and making modifications to it as necessary
- Inform parents about the best practice known with regard to sex education, in order to ensure teaching in school supports key messages that parents/carers give to children at home
- The policy is made available on the school website and on request from the school office
- Resources available for parents/guardians to loan
Parents/Carers right to withdraw
Section 405 of the Education Act 1996 enables parents to prevent their children, either wholly or partly, from receiving sex education in school other than Sex Education contained within the national curriculum.
In Years 5 and 6 parents/carers must inform the school it they wish to exercise this right. If a parent wishes their child to be withdrawn from SRE, they are welcome to make arrangements to see the Head teacher to identify which aspects of the programme they do not wish their child to participate in. These arrangements are specified within the school Prospectus.
- Child Protection
It may be necessary to invoke local Child Protection Procedures if a pupil’s safety or welfare (or that of another pupil) is under threat. It would be only be in exceptional circumstances, e.g where there is a clear child protection issue, that sensitive information is passed on against a pupil’s wishes, and even then the school will inform the pupil first and endeavour to explain why this needs to happen. These exceptions are defined by a moral or professional duty to act:
- Where there is Child Protection issues
- Where a life is in danger
- Confidentiality
Teachers will not promise confidentiality. The boundaries of confidentiality will be made clear to pupils. If a pupil discloses information which is sensitive, not generally known, and which the pupil asks not to be passed on, it will be discussed with the head teacher. The request will be honoured unless this is unavoidable in order for teachers to fulfil their professional responsibilities in relation to:
- Child Protection
- Co-operation with a police investigation
- Referral to external service
Every effort will be made to secure the pupils agreement to the way in which the school intends to use any sensitive information.
Ground rules will be established prior to the delivery of the SRE programme in order to protect learners and teaching staff.
10.Equality
As an employer and provider of services Golftyn school will not unlawfully discriminate on grounds of age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity or on the grounds of Welsh language.
All pupils, their parents and guardians, volunteers, staff and school governors are valued and will be treated with dignity and respect. The school will not tolerate any form of discrimination, harassment or victimisation.
We will work across our school community to ensure our commitment to equality and fairness is shared and take steps to ensure that our school is accessible, welcoming and inclusive.
- Implementation
At Golftyn school, the class teachers are responsible for implementing the SRE programme.
The Head teacher and Governing Body have ultimate responsibility for the implementation of the SRE Policy. It is the responsibility of the Head teacher to ensure that both staff and parents are informed about the SRE policy, and that the policy is implemented effectively. It is also the Head teacher’s responsibility to ensure that members of staff are given sufficient training, so that they can teach effectively and handle any difficult issues with sensitivity.
Appendix 1
Foundation Phase Revised Framework (2015)
| Area of Learning: Personal and Social Development,
Well-Being and Cultural Diversity |
|
| Personal development | Children should be given opportunities to: |
|
|
| Social development | Children should be given opportunities to: |
willing to compromise
cooperatively
|
|
| Well-being | Children should be given opportunities to: |
well-being of others
that other people have feelings
outside environment. |
|
| Moral and Spiritual development |
Children should be given opportunities to: |
|
|
| Area of Learning: Knowledge and Understanding of the World | |
| Myself and other living things | Children should be given opportunities to: |
|
Appendix 2
Personal and Social Education Framework for 7 to 19 year olds in Wales (2008)
| Key Stage 2 | Learners should be given opportunities to: |
| Health and emotional well-being |
feelings of others . |
| and to understand: | |
|
|
| Moral and spiritual development | Learners should be given opportunities to: |
|
|
| and to understand: | |
|
Science in the National Curriculum for Wales
| Key Stage 2
|
Pupils should be given opportunities to study: |
| Interdependence of organisms |
main organs. |