Relationship and Sex Education Consultation 2026

The DfE's guidance for Relationship and Sex Education (RSHE) is changing

In September 2026 the Department for Education will launch its statutory RSHE guidance to which schools must legally adhere. A link to which can be found here for your information: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education

What has changed in the DfE's 2026 guidance for schools?

The overall picture for primary schools has not shifted dramatically since the last guidance in 2019. Relationships and health education remain compulsory, while sex education stays optional. But teachers need to be aware of some important clarifications and stronger expectations:

Greater transparency with parents

Schools, as Meltham CE always has, must be open with families about what is being taught and when. From September 2026:

• Parents should be able to view any RSHE materials used in class from class teachers.

• RSHE policies should clearly explain how parents can access resources. This isn’t new, but the expectation for transparency is now sharper.

Clearer boundaries for primary content

The guidance emphasises teaching children how to:

• Set and respect personal boundaries.

• Recognise unsafe online or offline relationships.

• Seek help when something feels wrong.

This is all about safeguarding children with age-appropriate skills and knowledge. By giving children the tools to recognise risk and manage safe decisions, both now and in the future, schools play an important role in helping them navigate a world where social norms, online behaviours and pressures are constantly shifting.

Specific vocabulary and puberty guidance

Teachers now have explicit direction on terminology:

• Pupils should learn the correct names for body parts

• These terms should be taught within the context of privacy, boundaries and respect

• Menstruation should be introduced before pupils are likely to experience it, and teachers are encouraged to use clear, accessible language instead of outdated terms

Online safety in today’s context

Since the last DfE guidance in 2019, the online world has changed drastically, and the new guidance ensures that teaching keeps up with it. Updates include: 

• Age limits for social media

• Risk around image-sharing and online pressure

• Privacy and location settings

• Online gaming safety

• Critical thinking about online wellbeing
  

Personal safety and first aid

New content has been added to help children recognise and manage risk, including: 

• Rail and water safety

• Peer influence and pressure

• Updated first aid guidance with an emphasis on reporting incidents, rather than filming them

Families and representations

As in the 2019 guidance, teaching should reflect the diversity of family life, from same-sex parents to kinship carers so that all children feel recognised and respected.

How will Meltham CE respond to these changes?

Here in school, we use the Kapow Primary scheme of work to deliver our PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Education) and RSHE (Relationships, Sex and Health Education) curricula.

Kapow provides your teachers with the most up-to-date, child friendly resources with which to deliver this curriculum and one which ensures we are up-to-date with the changes ahead. As always with RSHE and PSHE, we will touch on areas of great importance (such as online safety) and areas of potential sensitivity (such as bereavement). We do so, as we always have, in the safe, reliable and trusted environment of your child's classroom in both mixed and single sex sessions.

At Meltham CE Primary School, we have very few alterations to make to our existing PSHE and RSHE ahead of the statutory changes in September 2026. In using Kapow Primary's latest evidence based resources, school will be fully in line with government guidance; with our Church School distinctiveness, vision and its Christian Values.

If you have previously had children educated here, you will find very little difference to the content and methods of delivery we employ. PSHE and RSHE are vital cornerstones of our curriculum, dealing with health, emotions, online safety, changes and reporoduction (which is taught in line with the statutory expectations of the National Curriculum for Science in both Key Stage 1 and 2).

How will I know what will be taught at school ahead of September 2026?

Firstly, you will receive termly newsletters detailing what will be taught in the coming term. At the year group introductory meetings in September 2026, you will have a further chance to learn about how RSHE and PSHE is taught and ask questions.

However, in order to give you an idea of the content of our curriculum from September 2026, you can find a representative sample of materials on this page of the school's website. They are designed to give you an over-arching impression of how these important parts of the curriculum are taught, their content and why they are important.

It is important to remember that as parents and legal guardians, you retain the right to withdraw your child from any non-statutory parts of the RSHE education programme as you have previously. As always, the process by which to do so will be to contact the class teacher for an initial discussion ahead of the lessons which take place in the Summer Term. Your child's class teacher will let you know ahead of the delivery of the RSHE section of our PSHE curriculum in the termly newsletter. Kapow Primary helps your teachers to remove the non-statutory content quickly and effectively so your child can still learn the key skills and knowledge which form the statutory (that's the bit they must learn) learning within the RSHE and Science curricula.

How can I inform school of my thoughts?

If you have comments on the curriculum you wish to share, we invite you to complete the form below and send it via email to Mr. Gibbins or Mrs. Turner ([email protected]) and your thoughts will be taken fully into account, along with those of our staff and governors, before the finalisation of any changes in September 2026. Please remember to mark your email clearly as RSHE Consultation 2026 to avoid your response being missed.

All completed forms must be received by Friday 22nd May 2026.

You are not obligated in any way to respond to this consultation. If you trust us, as I hope you will, please rest assured that we will continue to make the best efforts to provide your child with their correct, statutory and important PSHE and RSHE learning in the coming year.

Many thanks for your time and consideration.

Attachments

Here you will find:

• Parent consultation response form (word)

• Parent consultation response form (pdf)

• Meltham CE Curiculum Intent document (2026-27)

• Meltham CE Relationshiop and Sex Education Policy Draft (2026-27)

• Meltham CE's Kapow Primary whole school long-term plan detailing key areas in each year group to be taught throughout the school year from September 2026

• Meltham CE's Kapow Primary Subject Coordinator Progression of Skills and Knowledge document for years EYFS to Year 6

• Year 5 sample planning (How am I influenced by what I see online?)

• Year 2 sample planning (How can we look after and respect our bodies as we grow?)

• Year 4 sample planning (How will my body and emotions change as I grow up?)

• Year 4 sample resource

• Year 4 sample resource 2

Please note that links within the sample planning will not function as a result of the security and subscriptions within Kapow Primary RSHE.