Charlton School

Dear Parents/Carers,

As a part of your child’s education, we promote personal wellbeing and development through a comprehensive Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education programme. PSHE education is the curriculum subject that gives young people the knowledge, understanding, attitudes and practical skills to live safe, healthy, productive lives and meet their full potential.

PSHE education is taught throughout the school in every year group and is monitored and reviewed regularly by the staff and governing body. All PSHE teaching takes place in a safe learning environment and is underpinned by our school ethos and values. One of the areas of PSHE is Relationships and Sex Education (RSE), and as you may be aware, the government have made some alterations to how schools are required to deliver RSE lessons, which need to be implemented from September 2020.

In response to this we have updated our RSE policy and the structure and format of the lessons that we will be delivering to students, to ensure that these are all engaging and age appropriate, whilst covering the required areas of the curriculum.

The development of the policy began in the Autumn term, and it has been written in a way that takes into account our needs as a school, as well as taking into account feedback from stakeholders and groups within the community. The consultation and policy development process involved the following steps:

1. Writing and Review – the policy has been written, taking into account all relevant information, including national and local guidance and information about our school context.
2. Staff consultation – the policy has been reviewed by school staff, including the Senior Leadership Team and Heads of Year and the School Governors.
3. Parent/stakeholder consultation – parents and any interested parties were invited to attend a meeting about the policy. This has included Friends of Charlton, meeting with interested parents, and advisors from religious groups. These steps ensured that the policy was sensitively developed to reflect the needs and views of the local community.

The next step is the wider consultation process where we ask for any additional feedback from parents. I therefore write to inform you that the policy can now be viewed on the school website by following the link below to the RSE consultation page:

http://www.charlton.uk.com/parent-student-information/rse-consultation

Once you have looked at the policy there is an interactive form on the website which will give you the option of submitting feedback for consultation. In addition to the policy being available to view on the website there are also hard copies at the school’s reception should you require a printed copy.  The consultation process will run until the 8^th of June at which point responses to the consultation will be collated and any necessary changes will be made to reflect the feedback given. The policy will then be shared with governors for final approval before being adopted for the delivery of RSE in September.

I do hope you are all well and are coping as a family during these most challenging times. Many thanks for your continued support.

Yours faithfully,

Miss Wills                         Mrs Vickers

EHWB Lead                       Assistant Head Learning Climate