RSHE in primary schools

The introduction of RSHE as a subject becomes compulsory from September 2020.  The subject is split into two sections: physical health and mental wellbeing and relationships.

Within these two sections, there are a number of different topics that pupils should have learnt about by the end of primary school.

Physical health and mental wellbeing

This part of RSHE covers:

• Mental wellbeing, which teaches children about the importance of mental health, how to talk about their feelings and where to seek help
• Internet safety and harms, which focuses on topics like cyberbullying, rationing time spent online and how to behave online
• Healthy eating
• Drugs, alcohol and tobacco
• Health and prevention, which touches on the importance of good sleep to mental wellbeing
• Basic first aid
• Changing adolescent body, which covers the emotional changes children may experience as they grow

See the full breakdown on the English government’s website.

Relationships

This part of RSHE covers:

• Families and people who care for me, which includes the characteristics of healthy family life and how to ask for help if family life is making them feel unhappy or unsafe
• Caring friendships, where pupils will learn about how to create and maintain healthy friendships and how to resolve issues with friends
• Respectful relationships, focusing on the importance of respecting others even if they come from different backgrounds, as well as learning about bullying
• Online relationships, including the risks of talking to people anonymously on the internet, and how to treat people online
• Being safe, which teaches children about consent, boundaries and how to report it if they feel unsafe around an adult