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Norbury Manor Primary School

Relationships and Health  Education

At Norbury Manor Primary School, we want every child to develop the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to build positive relationships, keep themselves safe, look after their physical and mental health and prepare for life in modern Britain.

Relationships Education and Health Education form an important part of our wider Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) curriculum and complement our work on safeguarding, wellbeing, behaviour, online safety and personal development.

Our teaching is inclusive and age-appropriate and takes account of the needs and maturity of our pupils and our diverse school community.

What are schools required to teach?

Relationships Education is compulsory in all primary schools and Health Education is compulsory in state-funded primary schools. The Department for Education's revised statutory guidance came into effect on 1 September 2026.

At primary school, Relationships Education establishes the foundations children need to develop positive and safe relationships. This includes learning about families and people who care for us, caring friendships, respectful relationships, online relationships and being safe.

Health Education helps children develop their understanding of physical health and mental wellbeing, including how they can make decisions that support their own health and safety.

Our curriculum is designed so that this learning develops progressively as children move through the school.

At Norbury Manor, we provide age-appropriate teaching that helps pupils understand growing up, relationships, their bodies and the changes they will experience as they mature.

This learning is approached sensitively and factually, with consideration given to pupils' age, maturity and individual needs.

The Right to Withdraw

It is important that parents understand the distinction between Relationships Education, Health Education, Science and Sex Education.

Parents cannot withdraw their child from Relationships Education or Health Education.

There is also no right to withdraw from the National Curriculum for Science, including statutory content relating to areas such as the human body, growth, puberty and reproduction in plants and animals.

Parents do have the right to request that their child is withdrawn from sex education taught outside the National Curriculum for Science in a primary school.

Relationships and Sex Education at NMP

Sex education is not compulsory in primary schools. However, the Department for Education recommends that primary schools provide age-appropriate sex education, particularly in Years 5 and/or 6, alongside relevant learning within the National Curriculum for Science.

Working in Partnership with Parents and Carers

Parents and carers are children's first educators, and we recognise the importance of working in partnership with families when teaching Relationships and Sex Education.

The DfE expects primary schools to consult parents about sex education content and to support parents in talking to their children about this learning.

At Norbury Manor, we want parents to understand what their children will learn, why they are learning it and how it will be taught.

Our curriculum and policy are therefore reviewed with consideration given to:

  • pupils' age, maturity and learning needs;
  • the needs of pupils with SEND;
  • the cultural and religious backgrounds represented within our community;
  • safeguarding and what pupils need to know to keep themselves and others safe;
  • physical and emotional development;
  • online as well as offline relationships; and
  • preparing pupils appropriately for the next stage of their education.

Our teaching is designed to be factual, sensitive, inclusive and appropriate to children's developmental stage.

Creating a Safe Environment for Learning

Relationships and health education sometimes involves sensitive subjects. We therefore establish clear expectations so that children know that lessons are a safe and respectful place to learn.

Teachers use age-appropriate language and carefully selected resources. Pupils are encouraged to ask questions, listen respectfully to different views and understand that they do not have to share personal experiences in front of their peers.

Where a pupil's question indicates a possible safeguarding concern, staff follow the school's safeguarding procedures.

How This Fits with Our Wider Curriculum

Relationships and Health Education does not sit in isolation.

Children encounter and apply this learning throughout school life through PSHE, Science, Computing and online safety, PE, assemblies, our RESPECT values, Skills Builder, nurture provision and safeguarding education.

This helps children make connections between what they learn in a lesson and the decisions and relationships they encounter in everyday life.

Our aim is for pupils to leave Norbury Manor increasingly able to:

develop healthy and respectful relationships; understand and manage their emotions; recognise when something is unsafe; know how and where to ask for help; make informed choices about their health and wellbeing; respect themselves and others; and approach growing up with knowledge and confidence.

Policies, Curriculum and Guidance

Norbury Manor documents