RESPECT Curriculum

RSHE Parent Consultation

From Wednesday 24 June 2026, we will be consulting with parents and carers on our Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) curriculum. The consultation will run for four weeks and will close on Wednesday 22 July 2026.

This consultation gives families the opportunity to read the curriculum information, ask questions and share feedback before the policy and curriculum are finalised.

Our RSHE Curriculum

Our RSHE curriculum is carefully sequenced from Nursery to Year 6. It supports children to develop the knowledge, vocabulary and skills they need to build positive relationships, stay safe, understand their health and wellbeing, manage change, respect others and know how to ask for help.

The curriculum covers:

Families and friendships
Safe and respectful relationships
Online safety
Physical and mental wellbeing
Growing and changing
Keeping safe
Money and work
Communities and belonging

The curriculum has been designed to meet statutory requirements and to support pupils in an age-appropriate way. The full RSHE Progression Map is available online. This summary document has been shared to help families clearly understand what is taught in each year group. It also highlights where more sensitive content is introduced so parents and carers know what will be covered and when.

About the Consultation

The purpose of this consultation is to listen to parents’ and carers’ views on how the curriculum is taught, explained and communicated.

This consultation cannot remove statutory curriculum content that schools are required to teach. However, it provides an important opportunity for families to:

Ask questions
Raise concerns
Comment on the clarity of the curriculum
Request further information or resources
Help us understand what support parents and carers may need when discussing RSHE topics at home

Further Information and Feedback

Parents and carers are invited to submit any questions, comments or feedback during this consultation period.

Consultation Questions for Parents and Carers

We would welcome your responses to the following questions:

Is the RSHE curriculum summary clear and easy to understand?
Is the year-by-year progression clear, including what is taught and when?
Are there any areas where you would like further explanation from the school?
Are there any year group topics or teaching resources that you would like to view?
Are there any words, concepts or topics you would like the school to explain further?
What support would help you talk to your child at home about RSHE topics?
Do you have any comments about how the curriculum is communicated to parents and carers?
Do you have any comments for governors or school leaders to consider before the policy and curriculum are finalised?

To provide feedback, ask a question or request to view teaching resources, please contact:

Mrs Mander and Mrs Palmer via the school email address: office@ordsallpri.notts.sch.uk

Thank you for taking the time to engage with this consultation. Your feedback will help us ensure that our RSHE curriculum is communicated clearly and supports both pupils and families effectively.

Year group summary

Year group	What pupils learn	Sensitive or potentially sensitive content	Why this is taught
Nursery	Children learn about important people in their lives, families, friends, kindness, feelings, simple routines, healthy habits, screen safety and asking adults for help.	Private body parts, comfortable and uncomfortable touch, saying “no”, asking before touching someone else and telling a trusted adult if something feels wrong.	This helps children begin to understand personal safety, trusted adults, early boundaries and how to ask for help.
Reception	Children learn about families, friendships, kindness, emotions, trusted adults, class rules, differences, simple online safety, healthy choices and growing more independent.	Private body parts, boundaries, asking for help, saying “stop” if someone is unkind or hurts them and telling a trusted adult if something online is upsetting.	This helps children understand that their body belongs to them, that adults can help and that worries should be shared.
Year 1	Pupils learn about respect, kindness, family differences, people who care for them, safe and unsafe touch, online safety, healthy habits, emotions and safety rules.	Different family types, including single-parent, families with same-sex parents and extended families, personal boundaries, private parts, safe and unsafe touch, online safety and age restrictions.	This supports pupils to understand that families can look different, that all children should be safe and cared for and that permission and boundaries matter. Pupils also learn to keep asking a trusted adult for help if they feel unsafe.
Year 2	Pupils learn about friendships, bullying, online bullying, secrets and surprises, pressure, communities, online information, money, emotions, medicines, growing up and emergency help.	Online bullying, unsafe secrets, pressure, grief, medicines and vaccinations, private parts and correct vocabulary for external genitalia including penis, vulva, vagina and testicles.	This helps pupils use clear language about their bodies, recognise unsafe situations, understand when not to keep a secret and know how to seek help.
Year 3	Pupils learn about respect, self-respect, family diversity, privacy, consent, online safety, bullying, laws, rights, reliable information, stereotypes, healthy habits, self-worth and everyday hazards.	Families with same-sex parents, blended families, adoptive and foster families, marriage and civil partnership, feeling unsafe at home, consent, privacy, boundaries, online bullying and age restrictions for social media. Vocabulary also includes emotional abuse and physical abuse.	This helps pupils understand that families can be different, that privacy and consent apply online and offline and that worries should be reported to a trusted adult.
Year 4	Pupils learn about healthy friendships, peer pressure, online contact, teasing, bullying, dares, secrets, reporting online concerns, community, digital footprints, advertising, budgeting, health, medicines, drugs, puberty and personal hygiene.	Online strangers, unsafe dares, unsafe secrets, harmful online contact, exploitation vocabulary, drugs including alcohol, cigarettes, vapes and some medicines, external genitalia, reproductive organs, puberty, menstruation and menstrual products.	This prepares pupils for physical and emotional changes, helps them understand online and offline risk and supports them to know when and how to ask for help. The DfE guidance is clear that puberty, including menstruation, should be covered in Health Education and should be addressed before onset where possible. Parents/carers cannot withdraw from puberty and menstruation
Year 5	Pupils learn about changing friendships, peer pressure, coercion, consent, unwanted contact, unsafe secrets, equality, discrimination, online information, stereotypes, image sharing, personal identity, wellbeing, risk and first aid. They also learn about digital devices collecting, storing or sharing personal information.	Coercion, consent and withdrawing consent, wanted and unwanted physical contact, harmful or controlling relationships, unsafe secrets, discrimination including racism, sexism and homophobia, online requests to share images or personal information, public and private online spaces and support services.	This helps pupils recognise pressure, respect others, understand that consent can be withdrawn, know they are never to blame for unwanted contact and report concerns safely.
Year 6	Pupils learn about attraction, sexual orientation, healthy and unhealthy relationships, commitment, marriage and civil partnership, forced marriage, consent, conception, online image sharing, discrimination, mental health, bereavement, transition to secondary school, substances and safeguarding.	Sexual orientation, attraction, abusive relationships, domestic abuse vocabulary, forced marriage, consent, sexual intercourse, conception, pregnancy, indecent images, exploitation, coercion, online image sharing, digital manipulation, deepfakes, AI-generated imagery, scams, fraud, gambling, debt, mental ill-health, illegal drugs and safeguarding.	This supports pupils as they prepare for secondary school, increased independence and online and social pressure. It helps pupils understand the law, healthy relationships, reporting routes and where to get support. Parents / carers have a right to withdraw from content which covers any sex education taught in primary school that goes beyond the National Curriculum for Science.

Key vocabulary parents may wish to be aware of

Across the curriculum, pupils meet vocabulary gradually and in an age-appropriate way. Some vocabulary parents/carers may particularly wish to note include:

Nursery and Reception: private parts, trusted adult, comfortable touch, uncomfortable touch, boundaries, online safety.

Year 1: consent, personal boundaries, same-sex families, single-parent families, extended families, age restrictions.

Year 2: bullying, online bullying, safe secrets, unsafe secrets, pressure, penis, vulva, vagina, testicles, scrotum, nipples, grief, vaccinations, in-game purchases.

Year 3: adoption, foster care, unhealthy relationship, harmful relationship, ongoing consent, emotional abuse, physical abuse, password, online pressure.

Year 4: dare, teasing, exploitation, harmful behaviour, harmful friendship, peer pressure, strangers, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, vapes, puberty, menstruation, period, menstrual products.

Year 5: coercion, withdraw consent, online consent, harmful relationships, controlling behaviour, discrimination, racism, sexism, homophobia, image sharing, public online spaces, private online spaces, support services.

Year 6: sexual orientation, attraction, abuse, domestic abuse, forced marriage, indecent images, consent, sexual intercourse, pregnancy, digital manipulation, deepfake, AI-generated imagery, gambling, debt, scam, fraud, illegal drugs, safeguarding.

The RESPECT Curriculum at Ordsall Primary School

At Ordsall Primary School, the RESPECT Curriculum is a school-specific, pupil-focused approach that supports children to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to Play, Learn and Grow Together respectfully and safely.

The RESPECT Curriculum enhances and supports statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) and is delivered alongside learning through circle time, assemblies and whole-school events. It responds directly to the contextual safeguarding needs of our pupils, school community and the wider world.

Underpinned by British Values and our school values, the RESPECT Curriculum supports pupils to develop emotional awareness, positive mental health, respectful relationships and the confidence to act as responsible citizens.

What the RESPECT Curriculum Includes

The RESPECT Curriculum brings together several interconnected strands of learning, including:

Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE)
Circle time, used to teach:
- emotional regulation through the Zones of Regulation
- contextualised safeguarding, based on issues most relevant to our school community
- anti-racism education
School values education, rooted in our RESPECT values:
- Resilience – developing perseverance, self-belief and the ability to manage challenge
- Effort – understanding the importance of trying our best and taking pride in learning
- Support – learning how to give and seek help, and to look out for others
- Passion – developing curiosity, enthusiasm and a positive attitude to learning
- Enrichment – valuing experiences that broaden understanding and aspiration
- Compassion – showing kindness, empathy and care for others
- Teamwork – learning to work cooperatively and respectfully with others
Explicit teaching about diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB)
Learning through assemblies, visitors and whole-school events

Together, these elements ensure pupils experience a coherent, preventative and inclusive curriculum that places wellbeing, safety and respect at its core.

Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE)

RSHE forms a core and statutory part of the RESPECT Curriculum.

Through RSHE, pupils develop the knowledge, understanding and confidence they need to:

build healthy, respectful relationships
understand physical and mental health
recognise and manage risk
understand consent, boundaries, rights and responsibilities
make informed choices
know how and when to seek help

We follow statutory RSHE guidance, with a clear ambition that pupils leave Ordsall able to apply their learning appropriately in real-life situations as they grow in independence.

What the RESPECT Curriculum Develops

Through progressive, inclusive and age-appropriate learning, pupils:

develop emotional literacy, emotional intelligence and self-regulation strategies
are kept safe through proactive, preventative safeguarding education
learn how to live respectfully within a diverse society
build the knowledge, language and confidence to act as responsible citizens
are prepared for increasing independence, both now and in the future

How the RESPECT Curriculum Enhances RSHE

The RESPECT Curriculum strengthens and contextualises RSHE by responding directly to:

local contextual risks and pupil needs
whole-school safeguarding priorities, contributing to a strong safeguarding culture
current thinking around diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, anti-racism and relational safety
trauma-informed, preventative education that reduces harm, including risks related to grooming, domestic abuse and exploitation
the national direction of travel towards stronger citizenship education

This ensures RSHE learning is relevant, protective and responsive rather than isolated or abstract.

Curriculum Sequencing and Implementation

Sequencing within the RESPECT Curriculum is intentional, preventative and developmental.

Emotional regulation is taught first, enabling pupils to manage emotions and engage positively in learning and relationships.
Key knowledge is introduced before periods of increased independence or known seasonal and social risks.
Learning builds cumulatively from Early Years to Year 6, supporting increasing maturity, confidence and independence.

Curriculum strands are taught concurrently and reinforced through assemblies, visitors and whole-school events, reflecting the understanding that emotional regulation, safety, respect and citizenship are interconnected and equally valued.

Teaching and Learning Approach

Teaching within the RESPECT Curriculum is underpinned by the following principles:

All feelings are valid, and pupils are supported to understand, name and manage emotions safely and appropriately.
Learning takes place in a calm, respectful and supportive environment, free from fear, judgement or shame.
Teaching is trauma-informed and protective, prioritising trusted relationships and strong safeguarding foundations.
The curriculum actively reduces silence and stigma, enabling pupils to ask questions, seek help and talk about concerns with confidence.
Teaching and materials promote British Values, Protected Characteristics and Ordsall’s RESPECT values, are inclusive and accurate, and actively challenge stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination.
Staff maintain clear professional boundaries, model respectful behaviour and respond appropriately to disclosures, ensuring safeguarding procedures are consistently followed.

Thinking and Acting Responsibly

Across the RESPECT Curriculum, pupils are taught to think and act responsibly by learning how to:

recognise safe and unsafe situations
make informed choices and understand consequences
communicate feelings, boundaries and consent clearly
seek support from trusted adults and appropriate services
understand rights, responsibilities and the role of laws in protecting people

Disciplinary language within the RESPECT Curriculum is closely linked to the actions and safeguarding behaviours pupils are learning to carry out. This language is introduced early and revisited regularly so pupils can explain concerns clearly and act appropriately when needed.

Inclusion and Impact

We are committed to ensuring that all pupils can access and benefit from the RESPECT Curriculum. Teaching is adapted to support individual needs without lowering expectations, and sensitive topics are handled carefully, respectfully and in line with statutory guidance.

By the end of Year 6, pupils are confident in managing relationships, understanding risk and knowing how to seek help for themselves or others. They demonstrate respectful behaviour, emotional awareness and readiness for secondary school and increased independence.