British Values are explicitly taught and reinforced through PSHE, assemblies and daily practice.

Children develop understanding of:

• Democracy
• Rule of Law
• Individual Liberty
• Mutual Respect
• Tolerance of different faiths and beliefs

Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development is embedded throughout. Pupils reflect on beliefs and values, explore ethical questions and develop social confidence within a diverse community.

Our Thrive Approach strengthens our PSHE provision.

We understand that children learn best when they feel safe, secure and emotionally regulated. Through PSHE and Thrive, pupils develop:

• Self-awareness
• Emotional regulation
• Empathy
• Social skills
• Motivation and resilience

Emotional wellbeing is prioritised so that children are ready to learn and able to engage positively with school life.

Each class has identified Thrive targets, ensuring that emotional development is intentional and responsive. Staff use Thrive profiling and assessments on a termly basis to monitor needs and identify pupils who may benefit from additional support.

Where appropriate, children access:

• Small group Thrive intervention sessions
• Targeted 1:1 Thrive support
• Structured regulation strategies embedded within the classroom

This graduated and responsive approach ensures early identification of need and provides timely support, helping pupils to build emotional literacy, confidence and resilience over time.

Relationships and Health Education are statutory in primary schools.

In 2025, the Department for Education published updated RSHE guidance, which becomes statutory from September 2026. This strengthened guidance places greater emphasis on safeguarding, clarity around consent, respectful behaviour, online safety and ensuring all content is age-appropriate and factual.

Our curriculum has been reviewed and will continue to be refined to ensure full alignment with this updated statutory guidance.

Through the Relationships and Changing Me units, children learn about:

• Healthy and respectful relationships
• Personal boundaries and consent (age-appropriate)
• Online safety
• Physical and emotional changes as they grow
• How to seek help if they feel unsafe

Teaching is inclusive, factual and delivered within a safe, structured and supportive environment.

Parents are informed in advance when the Changing Me unit is delivered in Upper Key Stage 2 and are welcome to discuss the content with school if they have any questions.

Through the Healthy Me unit, children learn about:

• Physical and mental health
• Healthy lifestyle choices
• Peer influence
• Smoking, alcohol and vaping

In Upper Key Stage 2, pupils explore vaping and substance misuse in a balanced and factual way, equipping them with the knowledge and critical thinking skills needed to make informed decisions without using fear-based approaches.

This learning is further strengthened through our PE curriculum and wider Personal Development offer. Our enhanced subscription with the Liverpool School Sports Partnership (LSSP) provides additional opportunities for competitive sport, leadership development and active lifestyle engagement across the school year.

Through high-quality PE lessons, extracurricular clubs, inter-school competitions and health-focused initiatives, pupils develop positive attitudes towards physical activity, teamwork and wellbeing. This reinforces the messages taught within PSHE about maintaining both physical and mental health and making healthy choices for life.

Our Personal Development curriculum is responsive to modern safeguarding risks and the realities children may encounter beyond school.

In addition to our core PSHE programme, we use specialist materials from The Ariel Trust to deliver age-appropriate sessions that strengthen pupils’ awareness of risk and protective behaviours.

These sessions cover themes including:

• Grooming and exploitation (including criminal and sexual exploitation)
• Consent and healthy relationships (including digital contexts)
• Social media safety and online pressures
• Radicalisation awareness and critical thinking
• Responding safely to indecent images and inappropriate content

The Ariel Trust programmes are carefully designed to be safeguarding-led, factual and developmentally appropriate. They focus on empowering pupils with knowledge, confidence and strategies to seek help rather than creating fear.

This provision is delivered:

• Proactively in Years 5 and 6 to build awareness before transition to secondary school
• Responsively where contextual safeguarding concerns arise
• Inclusively, including within our SEND Unit where appropriate, with adaptations to ensure accessibility

Through this approach, pupils learn how to:

• Recognise unsafe situations
• Understand coercion and pressure
• Identify trusted adults
• Report concerns confidently
• Make safe and informed decisions

Contextual safeguarding is not a standalone lesson at Phoenix — it is embedded within our wider safeguarding culture, reinforced through assemblies, online safety teaching, staff training and pastoral support systems.

PSHE at Phoenix is fully inclusive and accessible to all learners.

We recognise that pupils develop socially and emotionally at different rates, and our provision reflects this. Lessons are carefully adapted to meet individual needs through:

• Visual scaffolds and simplified language
• Structured discussion prompts
• Pre-teaching and overlearning where appropriate
• Sensory regulation strategies
• Flexible grouping and adult support

Our SEND Unit pupils access PSHE through adapted materials and, where appropriate, personalised learning pathways. Teaching is carefully sequenced to ensure pupils build confidence, independence and understanding at a pace suited to their development.

Our curriculum aligns with the PSHE Association SEND Framework and supports pupils to develop:

• Self-awareness
• Emotional regulation
• Self-care and safety
• Healthy relationships
• Understanding of the wider world

In addition, our Thrive profiling and termly assessments help identify pupils who may benefit from targeted group or 1:1 support. This graduated approach ensures early identification of need and timely intervention.

Through adaptive teaching, pastoral support and specialist provision, we ensure that every child — regardless of need — can engage meaningfully with PSHE and develop the knowledge, skills and confidence required to thrive both in school and beyond.

From Spring 2 2026, we introduced weekly Values Assemblies to strengthen the connection between our PSHE curriculum, safeguarding priorities and everyday school life.

Each half-term, assemblies are carefully structured to link:

• A British Value
• A Children’s Right (UNCRC)
• A Phoenix Value
• A personal responsibility

This helps children understand not only their rights, but also the responsibilities that come with them.

Themes across the half-term include belonging, pupil voice, attendance and routines, inclusion, safe choices (including online safety) and resilience. These assemblies provide a shared language across the school, reinforcing the messages taught in PSHE lessons and supporting consistent expectations in classrooms and around school.

During assemblies, pupils are encouraged to reflect, discuss and consider how these values apply to their own lives. Practical examples are used to help children understand what respectful behaviour, responsible decision-making and kindness look like in action.

By explicitly linking values, rights and responsibilities, we help children to:

• Develop a strong sense of identity and belonging
• Understand fairness and equality
• Recognise how their choices affect others
• Build resilience when facing challenges
• Feel confident using their voice appropriately

Values Assemblies ensure that personal development is not confined to one lesson each week, but embedded within the culture of Phoenix. They provide regular opportunities to revisit safeguarding messages, celebrate positive behaviour and strengthen our shared commitment to Resilience, Responsibility, Kindness and Ambition.

At Phoenix, we recognise that some pupils require additional specialist support to promote their emotional wellbeing and personal development.

Alongside our internal Thrive provision, we work closely with a range of external professionals to ensure pupils and families receive the right help at the right time.

This includes:

• Weekly Seedlings therapeutic support sessions
• Partnership working with NHS CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services)
• Commissioned therapeutic services where appropriate
• Targeted access to a trained Therapy Dog to support emotional regulation and attachment needs (including for Looked After Children)

Referrals to external agencies are carefully considered and made in partnership with families and, where appropriate, external professionals. Support is delivered through a graduated and needs-led approach, ensuring early identification, timely intervention and strong safeguarding practice.

By combining high-quality classroom teaching, Thrive provision and specialist external support, we prioritise emotional wellbeing and work to remove barriers to learning wherever possible.

1. Is RSHE compulsory?

Relationships Education and Health Education are statutory subjects in all primary schools and cannot be withdrawn from.

These areas form an important part of safeguarding and help children to understand healthy relationships, personal safety, mental wellbeing and how to seek help if needed.

2. Can I withdraw my child from sex education?

Parents may request withdrawal from specific sex education elements that are taught beyond the National Curriculum for Science.

At primary level, this content is limited, age-appropriate and delivered sensitively. The biological aspects of reproduction are taught through the statutory Science curriculum and cannot be withdrawn from.

If you are considering withdrawal, we strongly encourage you to speak with the Headteacher first so we can explain the content and answer any questions.

3. What is taught in primary RSHE?

In line with statutory guidance (updated in 2025 and becoming statutory from September 2026), children learn about:

• Families and caring relationships
• Friendships and respect
• Bullying and how to seek help
• Online safety and digital boundaries
• Personal safety and trusted adults
• Physical and emotional changes as they grow
• Puberty (in Upper Key Stage 2)

All teaching is age-appropriate, factual and delivered within a safe and structured environment.

4. How do you teach sensitive topics?

We use the Jigsaw Learning Charter at the start of every lesson to establish clear expectations around respect and confidentiality. Lessons are carefully planned, use correct terminology and are adapted to suit the age and maturity of pupils.

Staff are trained to deliver sensitive content confidently and appropriately.

5. How will I know when RSHE is being taught?

Parents are informed in advance when the Changing Me unit is delivered in Upper Key Stage 2. We are happy to share curriculum overviews or discuss lesson content with you at any time.

6. How does RSHE link to safeguarding?

RSHE helps children understand:

• Personal boundaries
• Consent (in an age-appropriate way)
• Recognising unsafe situations
• How to report concerns
• Who their trusted adults are

This supports our wider safeguarding duties and ensures children know how to keep themselves safe. 

7. Who can I speak to if I have concerns or questions?

If you would like to discuss RSHE in more detail, please contact school. We value open communication and aim to work in partnership with families.