"We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future." Franklin D. Roosevelt.
PSHE and RSE
Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education and Relationship and Sex Education
What we say about PSHE at Coxhoe Primary School
Our PSHE and RSE lead Miss Watkins says:
"While we have always valued the role of PSHE and RSE in our school as a fundamental part of our children's school journey, we feel it has become increasingly important over the last few years. As children and families experience change, we strive to adapt so that our whole school family have the necessary life skills to succeed. Through our creative and engaging curriculum, we feel that children from all key stages will have opportunities to explore their feelings, their community and their wider society."
Our Year 6 Ambassadors say:
"Hello, we are the PSHE and RSE ambassadors 2024-25. We follow Kapow for our teaching and have assemblies which talk about the things we discuss in our lessons. The topics are really important because they help us prepare for life."
Children from across school say:
"It prepares us for when we get older"
"We have a class agreement so that everyone feels safe"
"We learn about consent which means giving permission"
"I like my telling my teacher how I feel"
"My teacher helps me when I have a problem"
Curriculum Intent
At Coxhoe Primary School, our school ethos is based firmly on mutual respect, trust and tolerance. PSHE plays a key role in teaching children foundational concepts in health and wellbeing, relationships, and living in the wider world. We believe in the importance of education for the development of the whole child and PSHE helps to give pupils the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to lead confident, healthy independent lives and to become responsible citizens. Our aim is that PSHE will have a positive impact on the children at Coxhoe Primary School that it will help them throughout their entire lives.
Enrichment Activities
- Peer Mentors - We have trained some our wonderful pupils to act as peer mentors for other children around they school. They support others by encouraging them to express their feelings and build resilience. Having peer mentors in school fosters a positive and open culture of mental health and accesible support.
- Inclusion Squad - A group of KS2 children meet regularly to help us be a more inclusive, friendly and welcoming place. We design school displays, plan events throughout the year and even deliver the occasional assembly!
- Youth Pride Network (Rainbow Reps!) - A group of Year 6 children who are very passionate about our school and how welcoming we are to all. We meet every month with our link person and discuss a wide variety of topics. We hope to plan an assembly, attend a staff meeting and also plan a School fundraising event in the Summer term!
- Careers Related Education (CRE)
- Annual Careers Fair
- Dogs Trust Safety Workshops
- Pedestrain Training
- First Aid and CPR training
- Bikeability
- Decider Skills
- Mini Minds
- Skills Builder
- Assembly Curriculum
- Links with Further and Higher Education Institutes
- Hello Yellow Day
- Zones of Regulation
- Links with Barclays and NatWest
PSHE 2025-26 Long term plan
We are very excited this year to be following the Kapow Primary scheme at Coxhoe. Each class follows the same unit each half term, each made up of age-appropriate lessons. This is complemented with additional units of work designed to meet the needs of our children, focussing on our core value (independence, resilience, tolerance, ambition, confidence and respecting).
PSHE Long Term Curriculum
RSE Curriculum
In response to the new statutory guidance, we have adopted our new RSE policy that has not come into effect. You can find the policy here:
Should you have any questions about or comments on the policy, you may find our FAQ helpful, which you can find here:
Q: What is RSE?
A: RSE stands for Relationship and Sex Education. It is part of the new government guidance for schools that was intended to become statutory in September 2020. However, due to COVID lockdowns, this was put back to summer term 2021.
Q: What is in the RSE guidance?
The new guidance covers a range of areas. It covers healthy relationships (including family, friendships, being respectful towards others and online safety); issues of mental health and wellbeing; and physical health (including healthy lifestyles and first aid).
Q: Can I read the guidance for myself?
The guidance is readily available for anyone to read and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education
Q: Is Sex Education compulsory in primary school?
The new guidance makes relationships education compulsory for all primary schools. Sex education is not compulsory to be taught at primary school level, but the Department for Education “continues to recommend that all primary schools should have a sex education programme tailored to the age and the physical and emotional maturity of the pupils.”
Q: Why have we made the decision to teach sex education at Coxhoe?
Following the recommendations of the department for education, we believe that it is vitally important to educate our children to prepare them for the changes that adolescence brings.
Q: What will be taught as part of the sex education programme at Coxhoe?
We teach PSHE in a spiral approach, which means we cover the same core themes in each year group, building up age-appropriate knowledge each year.
As part of our relationship education, we teach Year 1 the importance of privacy and that the parts of their body covered by underwear are private. We teach the correct terminology for external genitalia, as it is important that children use scientific terms when naming body parts to avoid misunderstandings. This foundation is built on throughout a child’s time at Coxhoe in an age-appropriate way.
In year 6, we teach our children:
- about puberty and the physical and emotional changes that happen in the body.
- the importance of personal hygiene during changes during puberty
- human reproduction as part of the life cycle, how babies are conceived and born and how they need to be looked after.
- to identify the external genitalia and internal reproductive organs
- where to get information, help and advice about growing and changing, especially about puberty.
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Q: Can I withdraw my child from sex education lessons?
Parents have the right to withdraw their children from some or all of sex education that is taught in upper KS2.
We encourage any parent who has questions or concerns about the content their child will be taught to get in touch with the class teacher.
Relationships education is part of the statutory guidance from the Department for Education and parents cannot withdraw children from these lessons. The DfE says: “There is no right to withdraw from Relationships Education at primary or secondary as we believe the contents of these subjects – such as family, friendship, safety (including online safety) – are important for all children to be taught”
Q: What changes have been made at Coxhoe?
Before the new guidance was released, we already had an extensive PSHE curriculum developed in consultation with parents that covered the main areas of relationships, health and sex education. We have carried out a subject audit and are happy that our current curriculum covers all new areas in the RSE guidance, so we have not made any changes to the content taught. However, we continue to monitor the teaching of PSHE and may change the curriculum in response to the children’s needs.
Q: Does the new Relationships Education and RSE curriculum take account of my faith?
A: The subjects are designed to help children from all backgrounds build positive and safe relationships, and to thrive in modern Britain.
At Coxhoe, when teaching these subjects, the religious background of pupils is taken into account when planning teaching, so that topics are appropriately handled.
In developing these subjects, the Department for Education have worked with a number of representative bodies and faith organisations, representing all the major faith groups in England. Several faith organisations produce teaching materials that schools can choose to use.
Q: Has the government listened to the views of my community in introducing these subjects?
A: A thorough engagement process, involving a public call for evidence and discussions with over 90 organisations, as well as the public consultation on the draft regulations and guidance, has informed the key decisions on these subjects. The consultation received over 11,000 responses from teachers, schools, expert organisations, young people and parents – these responses have helped finalise the statutory guidance.
Q: Will my child be taught about LGBT relationships?
A: The Department for Education says: “Pupils should be taught about the society in which they are growing up. These subjects are designed to foster respect for others and for difference, and educate pupils about healthy relationships.
Pupils should receive teaching on LGBT content during their school years. Teaching children about the society that we live in and the different types of loving, healthy relationships that exist can be done in a way that respects everyone. Primary schools are strongly encouraged and enabled to cover LGBT content when teaching about different types of families.”
At Coxhoe, we teach in KS1 that families can look different to our own families. In KS2, we look at different family set ups (including single parents, same-sex parents, step-parents, blended families and foster families) and in upper KS2 we teach about being attracted to someone else, and that people may be attracted to someone of a different sex to them, or the same sex.
We are committed to being an inclusive school and want to celebrate all our differences: gender, sexuality, nationality, skin colour etc. This year, we are starting a new award called Educate and Celebrate, that will help us to plan a calendar of events to promote inclusion and celebrate these differences.
Q: What should I do if I still have concerns or questions?
We strongly encourage any parents who have other questions or concerns about the RSE curriculum to contact school. A conversation with the class teacher is often the best solution, as they will know exactly what is to be taught. Teachers are happy to share lesson outlines and resources with you if you want to know more about the content of lessons.
You can also request to speak to Mrs Smith, the PSHE lead or Mrs. Bartle or a member of the leadership team to discuss any concerns. You can email: coxhoe@durhamlearning.net or phone 0191 3770294.
The Department for Education have also produced some resources for parents, which can be found here: parent guides
PSHE at Coxhoe 2025-26
Autumn Term 2025
Pupil Voice - What our children have said about enrichment this term:
Dickens Class: Thoughts on Restart a Heart Day CPR session:
Summary of what you did : We learned how to recognise if someone could be having a heart attack. Then, we learned how to perform CPR to different songs. The songs help you remember how long and how many times.
What did you like about the visit?: I liked being able to learn on a mannequin. I liked how it could help us learn to save a life in case we ever need to.
What new knowledge have you gained from this experience? We learned that how to ring for an ambulance and what we need to say. We learned that if someone is choking, you should hit their back to try and get it out or you could wrap your arms around them and squeeze. We saw a defibrillator and learned how to use it.
What will you tell others about the visitor? It is really good and it could help you save someone’s like one day
Which careers/jobs link to your visitor? Lifeguard Paramedic Nurse Doctor Ambulance drive / first response
What skills/qualities would you need to do that career/job? Resilience Patience Calm Caring / compassionate Respectful
Rowling Class: Thoughts on Restart a Heart Day:
Summary of what you did : We learnt how to do CPR, what to do if someone is chocking and how to use a defibrillator.
What did you like about the visit?: Everyone got to try CPR on the bodies. Learning how to save people who are choking. We liked learning the difference between CPR on adults and babies.
What new knowledge have you gained from this experience? We would now know how to respond if we saw someone not breathing or choking. Help people when they are dying.
What will you tell others about the visit? It was fun, and we could pass on the information to others. We got to meet real nurses and try CPR on the dummies.
Which careers/jobs did you see? Nurses, Paramedics, Doctors, Teachers.
What skills/qualities would you need to do that career/job? Helpful, clear communication, patience, kindness, working as part of a team, good listening, bravery, calm.
Murphy Class: Thoughts on Restart a Heart Day:
Summary of what you did: We were doing CPR and we learnt how to do it. You don’t just do it straight away, you check to see if they are breathing by checking with your two fingers on their forehead and neck. If they are not breathing, you perform CPR.
Putting your hands together and put them between your nipple line and keeping your elbows straight you push down hard, putting your body over the top of someone and with a steady rhythm you push up and down to re start the heart and get the blood pumping again.
We learnt how to treat people if they choke. Using the palm of your hand you hit their back five times. If that doesn’t work you put your arms around the person and pull your hands and arms in 5 times and call 999.
We would shout for help and call 999.
What did you like about the visit?: I liked that I learnt how to do CPR on adults, children and babies – Emily. I liked that we got to try on the NHS costumes – Enzo. I liked the part when we did CPR on the babies with two fingers – Lucy.
What new knowledge have you gained from this experience? To make sure if someone chokes, you hit their back 5 times. I did not know it was that many times and that hard. – Charlie. I learned how to help people if they choke. – Disha.
What will you tell others about the visit? It is a life lesson to save a life. You use your two fingers only to help babies if their heart stops. It is really important to know CPR especially if your friend stops breathing or chokes.
Which careers/jobs did you see? Nurse, doctors, ambulance driver.
What skills/qualities would you need to do that career/job? You would need to be a good listener, know how to do CPR, good eye sight, caring, careful, kind, respectful, science, maths.
Spring Term 2026
Summer Term 2026
PSHE at Coxhoe 2024-25
Summer Term 2025
Spring Term 2025
Citizenship
Economic Wellbeing
Autumn Term 2024
Family and Relationships
Health and Wellbeing
PSHE at Coxhoe 2023-24
SummerTerm 2024
