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PSHE & RSE

We want all of our pupils to leave The Gateway School with knowledge of the curriculum, the world and an emotional literacy which optimises their chance of success in their work and happiness and safety in their relationships and personal lives.

As a school which actively promotes working for the maximum success of each of our individuals, we greatly value the importance and relevance of our PSHE, RSE curriculum. Our pupils often join us having had a negative experience of education and/or having difficulties learning ways to strategise and cope with the rigours of life and relationships in and out of school.

Many do not see the relevance of being good citizens and, by ‘good’, we mean playing an active role in the national as well as the local communities which make up our country, our continent and the world in general.

Qualification route/offer: There is no formal qualification for this subject area, but we currently offer a Citizenship GCSE which covers some key areas of the PSHE curriculum.

Fingers forming a heart shape

 PSHE/RSE and our six core values

Balance

In PSHE we encourage aspects of achieving balance by exploring a healthy lifestyle, managing screen time, and balancing work and leisure. There are key elements of the curriculum which focus on having a balanced response to difficult and/or challenging situations.

The RSE curriculum promotes balanced relationships, emotional regulation and understanding the importance of mutual respect and equality.

Reflection

Our PSHE curriculum encourages self-awareness, evaluating personal choices and learning from experiences. For example, after a lesson on peer pressure, pupils write a journal entry reflecting on a time they felt pressured and how they might handle it differently using the skills they've learned.
Our RSE offer supports understanding of personal values, relationship dynamics, and emotional literacy.

Resilience

Our PSHE curriculum encourages students to develop coping strategies, manage setbacks and build emotional well-being. For example, in a PSHE lesson pupils, who may have experienced online bullying learn strategies to manage their emotions, seek support from trusted adults and use reporting tools on social media platforms.

Our RSE curriculum helps pupils handle relationship challenges, peer pressure and emotional changes with confidence and perseverance.

Going Beyond Your Borders

Our PSHE curriculum encourages global citizenship, cultural awareness and empathy for others. For example, students may explore how gender roles vary across cultures and discuss the importance of respecting different perspectives in relationships and society.

Our RSE curriculum promotes respect for diversity in relationships, including different family structures, sexual orientations and gender identities.

Communication

Our PSHE curriculum actively promotes effective verbal and non-verbal communication, active listening and expressing opinions respectfully.

The RSE curriculum is essential for discussing consent, boundaries and healthy relationships. For example, pupils may role-play how to express personal boundaries in a relationship. They practice using assertive language and active listening to resolve misunderstandings respectfully.

Independence

Our PSHE curriculum fosters decision-making, personal responsibility and financial literacy. For example, pupils learn how to manage their own finances through budgeting activities in PSHE, helping them make independent, informed decisions about spending and saving.

Our RSE curriculum supports autonomy in relationships, understanding rights and making informed choices about health and well-being.

Overview of work covered

RSE Secondary stage curriculum and outcomes

Families

  • That there are different types of committed, stable relationships
  • How these relationships might contribute to human happiness and their importance for bringing up children 
  • What marriage is, including its legal status – for example, that marriage carries legal rights and protections not available to couples who are cohabiting or who have married, for example, in an unregistered religious ceremony
  • Why marriage is an important relationship choice for many couples and why it must be freely entered into 
  • The characteristics and legal status of other types of long-term relationships 
  • The roles and responsibilities of parents with respect to raising children, including the characteristics of successful parenting
  • How to determine whether other children, adults or sources of information are trustworthy, judge when a family, friend, intimate or other relationship is unsafe (and to recognise this in others’ relationships), how to seek help or advice, including reporting concerns about others, if needed

Respectful Relationships, including Friendships

  • The characteristics of positive and healthy friendships (in all contexts including online) include: trust, respect, honesty, kindness, generosity, boundaries, privacy, consent and the management of conflict, reconciliation and ending relationships. This includes different (non-sexual) types of relationship. 
  • Practical steps they can take in a range of different contexts to improve or support respectful relationships 
  • How stereotypes, in particular stereotypes based on sex, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation or disability, can cause damage (for example, how they might normalise non-consensual behaviour or encourage prejudice)
  • That, in school and in wider society, they can expect to be treated with respect by others, and that, in turn, they should show due respect to others, including people in positions of authority and due tolerance of other people’s beliefs. 
  • About different types of bullying (including cyberbullying), the impact of bullying, responsibilities of bystanders to report bullying and how and where to get help 
  • That some types of behaviour within relationships are criminal, including violent behaviour and coercive control 
  • What constitutes sexual harassment and sexual violence, and why are these always unacceptable? 
  • The legal rights and responsibilities regarding equality (particularly with reference to the protected characteristics as defined in the Equality Act 2010) and that everyone is unique and equal.
     

Online & Media

  • Their rights, responsibilities and opportunities online, including that the same expectations of behaviour apply in all contexts, including online.
  • About online risks, including that any material someone provides to another has the potential to be shared online and the difficulty of removing potentially compromising material placed online
  • Not to provide material to others that they would not want shared further and not to share personal material which is sent to them. 
  • What to do and where to get support to report material or manage issues online 
  • The impact of viewing harmful content
  • That specifically sexually explicit material, for example pornography, presents a distorted picture of sexual behaviour, can damage the way people see themselves in relation to others and negatively affect how they behave towards sexual partners. 
  • That sharing and viewing indecent images of children (including those created by children) is a criminal offence which carries severe penalties, including jail.
  • How information and data are generated, collected, shared and used online. 

Being safe

  • The concepts of, and laws relating to, sexual consent, sexual exploitation, abuse, grooming, coercion, harassment, rape, domestic abuse, forced marriage, honour-based violence and FGM, and how these can affect current and future relationships 
  • How people can actively communicate and recognise consent from others, including sexual consent, and how and when consent can be withdrawn, in all contexts, including online

Intimate & Sexual Relationships, including Sexual Health

  • How to recognise the characteristics and positive aspects of healthy one-to-one intimate relationships, which include mutual respect, consent, loyalty, trust, shared interests and outlook, sex and friendship.
  • That all aspects of health can be affected by choices they make in sex and relationships, positively or negatively. For example, physical, emotional, mental, sexual and reproductive health and wellbeing.
  • The facts about reproductive health, including fertility and the potential impact of lifestyle on fertility for men and women and menopause.
  • That there are a range of strategies for identifying and managing sexual pressure, including understanding peer pressure, resisting pressure and not pressurising others.
  • That they have a choice to delay sex or to enjoy intimacy without sex.
  • The facts about the full range of contraceptive choices, efficacy and options available.
  • The facts around pregnancy, including miscarriage.
  • That there are choices in relation to pregnancy (with medically and legally accurate, impartial information on all options, including keeping the baby, adoption, abortion and where to get further help).
  • How the different sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV and AIDs, are transmitted, how risk can be reduced through safer sex (including through condom use) and the importance of and facts about testing.
  • About the prevalence of some STIs, the impact they can have on those who contract them and key facts about treatment.
  • How the use of alcohol and drugs can lead to risky sexual behaviour.
  • How to get further advice, including how and where to access confidential sexual and reproductive health advice and treatment.

Science in Our Preparing for Adulthood Curriculum

Science is thoughtfully embedded within our Preparing for Adulthood curriculum to help students understand the world around them and make informed decisions about their health, relationships, and future.

🧪 Key Stage 3 Focus Areas

  • Human Reproduction
    Students explore reproduction in humans as an example of a mammal. Topics include:

    • Structure and function of male and female reproductive systems
    • The menstrual cycle (overview only, without hormone details)
    • Gametes, fertilisation, gestation, and birth
    • The impact of maternal lifestyle on the developing foetus via the placenta

  • Plant Reproduction
    Learners study:

    • Flower structure and the roles of wind and insect pollination
    • Fertilisation, seed and fruit formation
    • Seed dispersal, including hands-on quantitative investigations of different dispersal methods

🧬 Key Stage 4 Focus Areas

  • Human Reproduction and Contraception

    • Hormonal and non-hormonal methods of contraception
    • The role of hormones in human reproduction

  • Health and Disease

    • Understanding communicable diseases, including sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as HIV/AIDS

  • Genetics

    • Introduction to genes and how sex is determined in humans

Requests to withdraw from sex education as part of RSE

Parents of children in secondary school have the right to request that their child be withdrawn from some, or all, of the sex education aspects of RSE. Before withdrawing or making a request, the school strongly urges parents to carefully consider their decision as sex education is a vital part of the school curriculum and supports child development. Parents cannot withdraw their child from Relationships, Health Education, or the elements on human growth and reproduction.

Any parent of a secondary student wishing to withdraw their child from sex education should put their request in writing and send it to the Headteacher using the form below. The Headteacher will arrange a meeting with a relevant member of staff to discuss their concerns.

  1. Withdrawal from sex education within RSE

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