Lightwater Village School Autumn 2014
Healthy Schools Story- Sex and Relationships Education
Lightwater Village School is a 2 form entry maintained mixed infant school with 176 pupils on role. At LVS the wellbeing of both the pupils and staff is central to our ethos. We consistently strive to ensure that our pupils are given the means to develop social skills that enable them to become responsible and respectful of self and others. PSHE and wellbeing was a priority on our SDP in 2013-2014 and remains so this year with a focus on vision and values. We constantly strive to improve the quality of the emotional and social provision that we provide for our pupils with a strong focus on safeguarding.
What needs did we identify?
We felt that our SRE provision needed updating and after a staff meeting to discuss this we discovered that teacher’s confidence when delivering SRE was relatively low. We also identified that teachers were unsure of what should be taught during SRE and what content was age appropriate. A school council meeting with pupil voice identified a need for clarification of what relationship education is. As a direct result of this, as PSHE lead I attended the 'Effective Sex and Relationships Education' course with our local PSHE and Well-being Curriculum Consultant. This prompted us to identify a need for using correct anatomical language with the children, when teaching and discussing issues. This would enhance our safeguarding at school and empower the children should they ever need to make a disclosure of a sexual nature. It also addresses FGM issues.
What outcomes did we focus on?
We focussed on improving teacher confidence across the school in understanding and delivering the SRE curriculum which would in turn improve the quality of teaching. We also focussed on introducing anatomical language discreetly and appropriately to the children, across the whole school with the support of parents.
What activities/ interventions did we put in place?
SRE was made a school priority and time was set aside to develop the policy with the help of our link governor. Teachers were given time to discuss SRE with the PSHE lead and share any concerns they had.
Questionnaires
An initial questionnaire to measure confidence and understanding of SRE was given to all teachers and completed. I used this to shape information and discussion which was relevant to us.
Training and Monitoring
As a staff we discussed what the curriculum could look like, what we needed to include and audited what we already had in place. The PSHE lead supplied each year group with the learning intentions that would be expected to be achieved and staff added and developed these into the circle time where necessary.
Choosing the appropriate language
As a staff and using guidance from Surrey we agreed the language that we would use in school.
Parent Rep Meeting
Once staff had decided upon an the anatomical language that would be used in each year group we held a parent meeting where we introduced what we were planning to do and shared our rationale for doing so. Parents were very supportive and wanted to know what they could do to help at home and those that felt comfortable are using the correct language at home too. It was made clear that ‘family names’ for genitalia would be perfectly acceptable at home should this be preferred.
Pupil Voice
Children from the school council were asked about what they knew about relationships education. We decided that it was not appropriate to use the word ‘sex’ with them as the learning does not involve this as this age.
Introducing the language to all staff
Lunchtime supervisors and teaching assistants were introduced to the language to be used and given clear examples of when it might be appropriate to use it. The rationale was shared.
Introducing the language into school life
Teachers began to identify areas of the curriculum where the language may be used to support learning and implementing it in these areas. Year 1 –Ourselves and Year 2-Healthy Lifestyles. All other staff began to use the language if and when it was appropriate.
What did we achieve, and how did we know?
The implementation and use of language was difficult to measure statistically but qualitative evidence has been collected to demonstrate the effect on this part of the project.
- Teaching staff have noticed that the children are beginning to refer to genitalia and other parts of the body using anatomical language during science lessons. When prompted they are also able to directly relate the correct language to the family name that may often be used at home. A year 2 teacher reported “ During news time a young boy was talking about his baby sister and how she was fed by ‘mummy’s body’. It was appropriate for me use the correct term and then to explain what it meant. I felt confident to do this”.
- Playground and lunchtime staff are using the language when there is a need to in the playground and have reported doing so. “I’ve used the anatomical language for more private parts of the body several times when sorting out altercations and dealing with injuries. Sometimes I will introduce the word and sometimes it is appropriate to correct the language.” T.E.- Lunchtime Supervisor
- During a focus on body parts in science children labelled the body using the language the anatomical language. (See appendix 1)
- Children across the school are beginning to use the language independently in the appropriate circumstances.
- The school council minutes indicated a much clearer understanding of what relationships education is and how it plays an important role in wellbeing.“Using the doctor’s words for parts of our body is important so we can keep safe.” Yr 2 pupil. “Sometimes the teachers say a body word that I don’t know but then they explain and I can use it.” Year 1 pupil.
This could not have been achieved without teachers and staff having a clear understanding of the language to be used and the support of parents and carers.
The teacher confidence questionnaire was redistributed and showed a clear increase in understanding of the content of the SRE curriculum and levels of confidence when teaching SRE. Results were generated from 6 teaching staff at 2 intervals and show a clear % increase in levels of teacher confidence and understanding of SRE.
1 being the most confident and 4 being the least confident.
December 2013 Most Least
1 / 2 / 3 / 4How well do you understand SRE content for EYFS/KS1 / 33.4% / 33.4% / 33.4%
How confident are you that you delivering SRE? / 66.8% / 33.4%
How clear are you on the language that is/isn't appropriate to use in our school? / 33.4% / 50.1% / 16.7%
Do you feel confident teaching SRE? / 66.8% / 33.4%
How confident are you implementing the school policy on SRE? / 83.5% / 16.7%
May 2014
1 / 2 / 3 / 4How well do you understand SRE content for EYFS/KS1 / 66.8% / 33.4 %
How confident are you that you delivering SRE? / 83.5% / 16.7%
How clear are you on the language that is/isn't appropriate to use in our school? / 100%
Do you feel confident teaching SRE? / 66.8% / 33.4% / 16.7%
How confident are you implementing the school policy on SRE? / 83.5% / 16.7%
Interestingly the whole school children’s questionnaire showed that 99% of children reported feeling safe in school and there was 10% increase from 82% in 2013 to 92% in 2014 in the amount of children that felt that children were kind and caring in our school. It seems quite possible that this has been a knock on effect of better and more informed teaching of positive and negative relationships.
What will we do next?
We will continue to work on SRE in school ensuring that all new staff are aware of our policy on anatomical language and what should be taught in lessons. We will be referring to the PANTS- NSPCC campaign during safety week in November as it links to positive and safe touch. We are now working towards level 1 RR award. We will continue to monitor the children’s understanding by issuing a questionnaire to a wider group of children regarding ‘relationships education’.
Senior leader quote:
The project has been very successful in delivering its aims to improve teacher confidence across the school in understanding and delivering the SRE curriculum. Clear monitoring and evaluation of the project has shown that both teachers and children now have an improved understanding of SRE and how this can be incorporated into the curriculum. Through carefully devised staff training and a sensitive discussion with a parent forum group, Our PSHCE coordinator has lead the staff in developing the SRE curriculum and her strong leadership has led to an increased profile of SRE not only in school with staff but with our parents too. The children in our school clearly feel safe and the work done by the wellbeing team and the School Council around SRE has been instrumental in this.
Sarah Evans, Executive Headteacher.
Karen Bewick, Head of School.
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LVS Healthy Schools Project