Frequently asked questions: about this section
As the largest charity provider of PSHE and wellbeing resources and training, we’re here to help you. Teachers contact us regularly to seek clarification and understand some of the detail behind the DfE statutory RSHE guidance (Eng) or RSHP requirements (Sco). Below are answers to the questions we're most often asked, alongside more general questions about SCARF. If you have a question that’s not covered here, then please contact us.
1. SCARF and the DfE Statutory Requirements for RSHE
No, if you are a maintained school or academy, you'll need to be delivering the DfE's Relationships Education and Health Education statutory guidance and it’s recommended that you do this within the wider, PSHE curriculum. In 2025, the DfE published updated RSHE Guidance for implementation by September 2026. Pupils receiving primary education must be taught relationships education; pupils receiving secondary education must be taught RSE; and all primary and secondary pupils must be taught health education. All schools, except independent schools, must make provision for Health Education. However, independent schools were required to teach PSHE well before Relationships, Health and Sex Education (RSHE) was made statutory. As a result, they were already expected to cover Health Education, and many now look to the Department for Education’s Health Education requirements as a useful framework when undertaking a curriculum review. This will require new or increased curriculum content for many schools, and new policies and renewed consultation with parents. But the revised 2025 guidance doesn’t cover everything needed for a comprehensive PSHE curriculum. Vital elements such as the rights of the child, caring for the environment, economic education, and parts of British Values and SMSC are not included.
The statutory requirement to provide Health Education does not apply to independent schools. Health Education as part of PSHE is already compulsory as independent schools must meet the Independent School Standards as set out in the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014. Independent schools, however, may find the principles in the guidance on Health Education helpful in planning an age-appropriate curriculum. This means that parents cannot request to withdraw their child/ren from Health Education.
A SCARF subscription gives schools access to a comprehensive PSHE programme that covers all this. We also provide a free Relationships Education policy template and guidance document – you'll find this in RSE guidance and support materials under the My SCARF tab.
SCARF is a sequential curriculum and offers a holistic approach to physical and mental health and wellbeing. There are opportunities for children to learn about emotions, emotional health and mental wellbeing in each year group, across many of the half termly units. The Subjects and Issues page can provide a quick signpost to lessons that cover 'Mental wellbeing' and 'mental health’.
Schools can also access our Mental Wellbeing Toolkit to supplement SCARF lessons. Being educated in core life skills early on gives children the best chance of developing the resilience, confidence and practical skills to navigate life. There are 5 sections to this toolkit, consisting of a collection of circle time, talking points or class activities reflecting the 5 Ways to Wellbeing, adapted by the NHS for mental wellbeing.
SCARF Early Years will meet all your PSED needs and beyond, in a child-led and cross-curricular way. Its comprehensive plans form part of a spiral curriculum that provides the essential building blocks needed to meet the DfE's Relationships Education and Health Education requirements.
Furthermore, “in line with Ofsted’s duties under the Equality Act, inspectors must determine whether the school has had regard to the Department for Education’s (DfE) statutory guidance on relationships education, relationships and sex education and health education (RSHE), and is teaching pupils about the protected characteristics in an age-appropriate way.”
(Ofsted: Guidance for inspectors on inspecting separation by sex in schools and the teaching of protected characteristics and relationships and sex education (RSE), 2025)
SCARF supports schools in providing age- and developmentally-appropriate inclusive RSHE education through its carefully planned sequential curriculum. Delivering SCARF lessons regularly provides children with consistent opportunities to learn about respectful behaviours and relationships, and understand and respect difference. SCARF lessons support you to provide an inclusive curriculum that reflects the diverse people in children’s lives and/or families, and in the community, and model to children that there are trusted adults in school that they can talk to if they have any questions.
This approach will help your school to meet Ofsted's expectations in relation to the protected characteristics from the moment children start school, through to Y6 (P7- Sco). Our guidance on protected characteristics within SCARF supports all SCARF schools in further understanding the requirements and how the SCARF curriculum aligns to these.
The KCSiE guidance (2025) also states that children should be taught a programme that tackles healthy and respectful relationships, boundaries, consent and kindness in relationships, stereotyping, prejudice and equality, body confidence and self-esteem, what constitutes sexual harassment, and how to recognise and report concerns about an abusive relationship. SCARF lessons provide regular and consistent opportunities for children to learn about these themes, and model to children that there are safe adults in the school that they can talk to about any worries or questions they may have about themselves or others, all of which can reduce their vulnerability to risk.
Teaching and learning about safeguarding is fully integrated into SCARF, with age-appropriate content across its spiral curriculum. Mapping of lessons to the safeguarding aspects listed in the Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance is available to all SCARF schools.
You may also find it useful to read the answers to question 3.1, 3.13 and 3.16 too, to help you understand fully how RSHE safeguards children.
On the 15th July 2025, the DfE published the revised RSHE statutory guidance.
Coram SCARF welcomes the new RSHE guidance that builds on the progress we have made over the last few years making sure children and young people get the relationships, health and sex education they need to support their mental health and wellbeing, and prepare them for the changes they will experience as they grow up. We believe this guidance will help them to make healthy choices, recognise and manage feelings, and better enable them to be safe from harm, both online and offline.
We are pleased that the statutory guidance reinforces a skills-based rather than a one-size-fits-all approach as this flexibility will enable schools to meet the needs of all their pupils. The guidance has been strengthened with a focus on supporting boys to develop a positive sense of masculinity, benefiting both boys and girls by ensuring harmful stereotypes are challenged, thus improving boys' mental health by enabling emotional expression and promoting help-seeking behaviours. This will go some way to supporting them to develop positive relationships, including skills for navigating boundaries with kindness and respect, to put in the early preventative work to tackle sexual violence and abusive behaviour.
There is a much-needed focus on equipping children with online safety and awareness skills, enabling them to be critical consumers of the messages they receive online, as well as developing good digital citizenship skills. The guidance reinforces the fact that healthy, loving, relationships include same-sex parents, and that families of many forms provide a nurturing environment for children.
For now, schools continue to be bound by the statutory guidance that has been in place since 2019, and will have until September 2026 to adapt their curricula to reflect this new guidance. They can start following it from September this year if they wish to. We will support SCARF schools to make these changes and update our resources accordingly.
For a helpful overview of the changes, you may wish to read Farrer & Co’s summary of the RSHE 2025 guidance. You may also find this article from School Management Plus helpful - it highlights the importance of creating a clear RSE policy and engaging parents early in the process.
SCARF and non-SCARF schools can alos access our free RSHE Statutory Requirements Webinar. This 30-minute bite-sized webinar is designed to support primary school PSHE leads and senior leaders who want to best understand the DfE's RSHE statutory requirements for teaching both Relationships and Health Education whilst considering the DfE's recommendation for teaching Sex Education. The webinar will provide clarity regarding what your statutory requirements are and what you are expected to teach and share best practice guidance where decisions sit with the individual school. Also see FAQ1.10 for the specific changes made to the Growing and Changing Unit within SCARF.
Relationships Education:
Guidance on Sex education
SCARF has updated its Growing and Changing lessons to be fully aligned with the revised 2025 RSHE guidance, which becomes statutory from September 2026. The main change is the inclusion of specific, required vocabulary (penis, vulva, vagina, testicles, scrotum, nipples). If this vocabulary has not previously been taught in your school, it is likely to represent a deviation from your existing RSE policy.
- Continue teaching only the content already covered by your current RSE policy
- Do not introduce the new statutory vocabulary until parental consultation has taken place
- Do not teach optional new lessons (e.g. Making Babies in Year 5 or Online Sexual Content in Year 6) unless you have already taught these and assessed pupil need
2. SCARF delivery
3. SCARF and RSE content
- In SEF's 2021 poll, young people said they would like to have more open conversations with parents and carers from a younger age
- There is strong evidence for the effectiveness of child sexual abuse prevention efforts, including teaching young children about body autonomy and communication
- Children who are taught lessons aimed at preventing sexual abuse at school are more likely to tell an adult if they have had, or were actually experiencing sexual abuse
- Where school-based programmes increased reporting of domestic violence, one of the most common benefits was an increase in children knowing how to identify a trusted person to whom they would report abuse
- Positive effects of RSE include increased communication with parents and carers about sex and relationships
- An LGBT+ inclusive curriculum was associated with higher reports of safety for individuals and lower levels of bullying in school; reports of adverse mental health among all young people, irrespective of gender or sexual orientation, were also lower
- RSE contributes to changes beyond health outcomes, including increasing gender equality, and building stronger and healthier relationships
- RSE works best if it is delivered in primary school onwards, starting with topics such as personal safety, bodily boundaries and friendships, and responds to the needs of young people as they mature
- Both primary and secondary school pupils, particularly girls, said they need RSE to start earlier
- 25% of girls did not know what to do when they started their period
- Addressing Sexual Harassment requires a whole-school approach that includes not only RSE but leadership strategies, policies and procedures, and myth-busting among staff
The full briefing from the Sex Education Forum is available for all. There are also one-page and two-page quick guides.
Teaching children about puberty, bodies, and sex can sometimes feel awkward for teachers and pupils. This can often be because as teachers many of us did not receive good sex education ourselves and so will not have seen good RSE modelled to us. Pupils too may find it awkward, as they may not come from families where they are able to talk openly about these topics, without feeling they are making their parents feel uncomfortable and so avoid bringing it up and asking questions.
Developing a class group agreement is a really good way of helping children to recognise what is expected of them in an RSE lesson, and indeed what they can expect from you. It helps put boundaries in place, so both you and they know how the lessons are going to run and protects both teacher and pupil from being put in an unsafe situation. Slides 17 and 18 of this DfE training module, created for the Changing Adolescent Body topic from the 2019 RSHE guidance, includes good practice, including model ground rules, such as:
- Respect privacy. We can discuss examples but do not use names or descriptions that identify anyone, including ourselves.
- Listen to others. It is okay to disagree with each other, but we should listen properly before making assumptions or deciding how to respond. When disagreeing, challenge the statement not the person.
- No judgement. We can explore beliefs and misunderstandings about a topic without fear of being judged.
- Choose level of participation. Everyone has the right to choose not to answer a question or join discussion. We never put anyone ‘on the spot’ (no personal questions or pressure to answer).
Here at SCARF, we've also created some helpful teacher training films to support you in creating that safe learning environment too. These cover topics such as:
- Developing a group class agreement with a class
- Presenting the ROCK agreement to a class
- Using SCARF values to create a safe learning environment
- Using a question box
- Responding to difficult questions when we don't immediately know an age-appropriate answer
- Answering difficult questions that are not relevant to the lesson, or not age-appropriate
- Using correct terminology
- Distancing techniques
By using a combination of techniques, you can ensure that both you and your pupils know how to talk about sensitive subjects without shame or sharing personal examples, whilst also showing respect for each other and ensuring children get the information they need at the right time, in line with their age and stage of development.
Appropriate questions that arise from the children during the lessons should be answered honestly and factually. If children ask questions that go beyond the planned curriculum, staff can consult our quick flowchart which may recommend checking the school’s RSE policy and informing parents, to support discussions on an individual basis or at home if needed.
Although there is no specific statutory requirement to teach about same sex parents or relationships, Section 68 of the 2025 guidance states:
“Pupils should understand the importance of equality and respect throughout their education. They should learn about all protected characteristics, including sexual orientation and gender reassignment, by the end of their secondary education. We strongly encourage primary schools to teach about healthy loving relationships, and to include same-sex parents along with other family arrangements when discussing families.”
It is statutory that children should learn, under the curriculum category of ‘Families and people who care for me’:
- “That the families of other children, either in school or in the wider world, sometimes look different from their family, but that they should respect those differences and know that other children’s families are also characterised by love and care.”
- “That marriage and civil partnerships represent a formal and legally recognised commitment of two people to each other which is intended to be lifelong.”
The DfE also acknowledges that (Section 62) “there will be a range of opinions regarding some topics within RSE. The starting principle should be that applicable law should be taught in a factual way so that pupils are clear about their rights and responsibilities as citizens.”
As it is legal for a same sex couple to get married or have a civil partnership, you’ll find references in SCARF to different relationships and family arrangements, which is fully integrated into lessons on families, marriage, civil partnerships, similarities and differences, stereotyping, prejudice, puberty, bullying, and diversity, in accordance with the DfE statutory guidance.
Sections 69 and 70 of the 2025 RSHE guidance state that:
“pupils should also be taught the facts and the law about biological sex and gender reassignment. This should recognise that people have legal rights by virtue of their biological sex which are different from the rights of those of the opposite sex with the protected characteristic of gender reassignment. Pupils should also be taught to recognise that people with the protected characteristic of gender reassignment, as with the other protected characteristics, have protection from discrimination and should be treated with respect and dignity.”
SCARF interpret this guidance to mean that primary schools may consider teaching the facts and the law about biological sex and gender reassignment. We provide a lesson in year 5 called Stop, Start Stereotypes that enable schools to do this, and content is threaded through other lessons where relevant too. Use the subjects and issues ‘Sex (protected characteristic)’ and ‘Gender Reassignment (protected characteristic)’ to see which lessons this includes.
The guidance states that “...schools should be mindful that beyond the facts and the law about biological sex and gender reassignment there is significant debate, and they should be careful not to endorse any particular view or teach it as fact. For example, they should not teach as fact that all people have a gender identity. Schools should avoid language and activities which repeat or enforce gender stereotypes. Schools should be mindful to avoid any suggestion that social transition is a simple solution to feelings of distress or discomfort.”
SCARF interpret this guidance to mean that primary schools should not teach gender identity as fact, however it can be helpful to refer to, as a belief, to help explain what it means to be transgender. The guidance does not specify in which year group pupils should be taught this content; that is a decision for the school.
Should you choose to include references to gender reassignment and transgender people in your curriculum, as provided in SCARF lessons, it will support you to meet many of the statutory requirements under the Respectful Relationships category that sits under Relationships Education, as well as provide evidence for Ofsted under Personal Development and Wellbeing by providing an age-appropriate understanding of the protected characteristics defined in the Equality Act 2010.
Ofsted’s latest guidance for schools (2025) states that:
“All primary and secondary schools should be able to demonstrate that no form of unlawful discrimination is tolerated and that pupils show respect for those who share the protected characteristics. Depending on the circumstances, schools may need to take specific steps to prevent kinds of prejudice or discrimination… from taking hold in some groups of pupils, in line with the DfE guidance on RSHE.”
Ofsted is “mindful that schools can choose to teach the tenets of any faith on the protected characteristics. For example, they may explain that same-sex relationships and gender reassignment are not permitted by a particular religion. However, if they do so, they must also explain the legal rights lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people have under UK law, and that LGBT people must be respected.”
The DfE is not clear in its definition of Sex Education, and therefore what is not statutory to teach, except to say that it should be in line with content about conception and birth, which forms part of the national curriculum for science.
It makes clear that it recommends primary schools teach Sex Education (Section 30):
Sex education is not compulsory in primary schools, but we recommend that primaries teach sex education in years 5 and/or 6, in line with content about conception and birth, which forms part of the national curriculum for science. The national curriculum for science includes subject content in related areas, such as the main external body parts, the human body as it grows from birth to old age (including puberty) and reproduction in some plants and animals. Schools may also cover human reproduction in the science curriculum, but where they do so, this should be in line with the factual description of conception in the science curriculum.
Section 14 of the guidance states that relationships education does not involve explaining the details of different forms of sexual activity. This implies that Sex Education would cover such content and, in the primary phase, this would align with teaching about conception and birth.
It is up to each school to define what Sex Education is, in their RSE policy, should they choose to teach it. In SCARF, we define Sex Education in the primary phase as explaining sexual activity that leads to conception, known as sexual intercourse. It should be noted that there are three lessons in SCARF that include non-statutory Sex Education, to support schools to meet pupil need, in line with the new guiding principles laid out in the revised RSHE statutory guidance; Making Babies (y5/6), What is HIV? (y6) and Online Sexual Content (y6).
Furthermore, in relation to safeguarding, the DfE does specify what Relationships Education should cover, which is based on boundaries, body autonomy and recognising sexual abuse:
(Section 27) Primary relationships education should be anchored in an understanding of positive relationships, but should also equip children to keep themselves and others safe, and to recognise and report risks and abuse, including online. This can be delivered by focusing on boundaries, privacy, and children’s rights over their own bodies and personal information. Pupils should be able to recognise emotional, physical and sexual abuse. Even very young children can be equipped to understand what counts as abusive behaviour and to trust their instincts about behaviour that doesn’t feel right.
With this in mind, the Developing Bodies curriculum content within this guidance (p25) states that children should know:
- About growth and other ways the body can change and develop, particularly during adolescence. This topic should include the human lifecycle, and puberty should be discussed as a stage in this process.
- The correct names of body parts, including the penis, vulva, vagina, testicles, scrotum, nipples. Pupils should understand that all of these parts of the body are private and have skills to understand and express their own boundaries around these body parts.
- The facts about the menstrual cycle, including physical and emotional changes, whilst the average age of the onset of menstruation is twelve, periods can start at eight, so covering this topic before girls’ periods start will help them understand what to expect and avoid distress.
We define puberty as physical and emotional body changes (including menstruation, wet dreams and masturbation), falling within the Primary health and wellbeing education: content to be covered by the end of primary (DfE RSHE Guidance 2025). Providing children with opportunities to learn about this information, in a timely manner, before these changes happen, can safeguard children physically and emotionally.
Sex education is not compulsory in primary schools, but we recommend that primaries teach sex education in years 5 and/or 6, in line with content about conception and birth, which forms part of the national curriculum for science. The national curriculum for science includes subject content in related areas, such as the main external body parts, the human body as it grows from birth to old age (including puberty) and reproduction in some plants and animals. Schools may also cover human reproduction in the science curriculum, but where they do so, this should be in line with the factual description of conception in the science curriculum.
This is in order to prepare children for life at secondary school, and safeguard them from any inappropriate behaviours, both online and offline.
Although talking about viruses is statutory, talking about HIV specifically at primary level is not. Your school will need to make a decision as to whether there is any reason not to teach about HIV at this age. Your school is best-placed to assess the pupils’ needs and SCARF is flexible enough to adapt to meet their needs. You can consider whether the children have already mentioned it. If so, are they referring to HIV appropriately or inappropriately? Do they have a good understanding of how it can and can't be passed on? Are there children in the community who could be vulnerable to coming into contact with used nedles? The answers to these questions will help you demonstrate the reasons for including this SCARF lesson in order to meet your pupil’s needs best.
N.B. We include sexual intercourse as well as some information about condoms in this lesson to help pupils understand that sexual intercourse also carries the risk of infections being passed between two people, and that risk can be dramatically reduced through the use of condoms. However, as contraception, including condoms, is not a statutory requirement until KS3, parents have the right to withdraw their child from this content too. It can be adapted to ensure no non-statutory sex education is taught (this would be by omitting the sexual intercourse and condom elements).
The DfE specifies what Relationships Education should cover, which is based on boundaries, body autonomy and recognising sexual abuse:
(Section 27) Primary relationships education should be anchored in an understanding of positive relationships, but should also equip children to keep themselves and others safe, and to recognise and report risks and abuse... This can be delivered by focusing on boundaries, privacy, and children’s rights over their own bodies and personal information. Pupils should be able to recognise emotional, physical and sexual abuse. Even very young children can be equipped to understand what counts as abusive behaviour and to trust their instincts about behaviour that doesn’t feel right.
The RSHE guidance doesn’t identify FGM as a statutory topic within primary schools – only secondary. However, the Keeping Children Safe in Education statutory guidance does specifically mention FGM and states that Governing Bodies should ensure children are taught about safeguarding. Therefore you will need to decide how you are safeguarding children from FGM, bearing in mind that the majority of cases happen to girls of primary school age.
Across SCARF’s spiral curriculum children will have learned to name and understand different parts of the body; their function and how they change as we get older, as well as understanding personal boundaries around private parts. In relation to FGM we explain that very occasionally young people have things done to their bodies which are criminal in this country. These crimes involve cuts made to female genitalia - the external area around the opening to the vagina.
Conversations about our bodies and emphasising with all children that they are the best person to decide what happens to their own body provides a natural opportunity to talk briefly about FGM, in context, and help raise awareness. In turn, this helps to safeguard those children both in school and any female members of their family, as well as female peers they may come across through after-school activities.
Should you choose to include references to FGM in your curriculum content, as provided in SCARF lessons, it will support you to meet the following statutory requirements:
- About the concept of privacy and the implications of it for both children and adults; including that it is not always right to keep secrets if they relate to being safe.
- That each person's body belongs to them, and the differences between appropriate and inappropriate or unsafe contact, including physical contact.
- How to report abuse, concerns about something they’ve seen online, or experienced in real life, or feelings of being unsafe or feeling bad about any adult, and the vocabulary and confidence to do so.
The SCARF lessons relating specifically to this can be found by searching FGM on our Subjects and Issues page. The wider issues around naming and understanding body parts, consent, personal safety and who to turn to for help, are covered widely throughout the SCARF curriculum.
At SCARF we believe teaching about masturbation/self-touch supports schools to meet the following statutory requirements
- That each person's body belongs to them, and the differences between appropriate and inappropriate or unsafe contact, including physical contact.
- The correct names of body parts, including the penis, vulva, vagina, testicles, scrotum, nipples. Pupils should understand that all of these parts of the body are private and have skills to understand and express their own boundaries around these body parts.
- About growth and other ways the body can change and develop, particularly during adolescence. This topic should include the human lifecycle, and puberty should be discussed as a stage in this process.
Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance also states that children should be taught a programme that tackles boundaries, consent and kindness in relationships, body confidence and self-esteem and how to recognise and report concerns about an abusive relationship.
All children go through phases of sexual development (Virtual Lab School). As children grow, so does their understanding of what is sexual, and we must remember not to sexualize, or place unnecessary sexual meaning, on behaviours we observe in children. An infant who touches their genitals learns that when they move and touch their body parts, they experience pleasurable sensations; this is an exploratory, normative sexual behaviour. Once children reach puberty, they may have an increased desire to touch their genitals for pleasure.
At SCARF we believe masturbation to be a physical and emotional change as part of puberty, where sexual development includes not just the genitals developing but feelings associated with ourselves, and others, change too. We know that children can begin to get more curious about sex from the age of 9. This is supported by the NSPCC which, in an article on healthy sexual development, states:
During these ages (9-13), children begin to get more curious about sex and relationships. They may start to be attracted to other people. Examples of typical sexual behaviour during this stage are...masturbating in private.
(National Sexual Violence Resource Centre, 2013; NCTSN, 2009; SECASA, 2017; Stop It Now, 2007; Stop It Now, 2020; Virtual Lab School, 2021).
The most recent DfE guidance also advises, within its Guiding Principles, that “schools should sequence teaching so that pupils are supported and equipped with the knowledge to navigate different experiences in a positive way before they occur, and to prevent harms” (p5). This is to prepare and safeguard children mentally and emotionally, as well as physically. Teaching children about this change so that they are prepared for puberty, leads to better mental health and confidence.
With this in mind SCARF has two lessons that include masturbation/self-touch. The first is in Year 4, whereby most children will have turned 9 by the end of the year. The Year 4 lesson is in the Growing and Changing lesson called All Change, and is referred to in a film clip, so schools can choose whether to show it or not. The lesson plan encourages teachers to talk about body boundaries and to recognise that masturbation/self-touch is a private activity that must be carried out in a private place.
The relevant film clip provided by Amaze, is included in the context of physical and emotional puberty changes for boys and explains that they may want to start touching their genitals for pleasure and that it is normal if they do, and normal if they don't. We also add a teaching note to acknowledge that the film clip about boys references masturbation but the girls' version does not. To ensure our RSE is based on equality, we encourage teachers to consider explaining to the children that an increased desire to touch themselves for pleasure is a private activity that everyone – male or female – can choose to do and to again point out that it is normal if you don't do it, and normal if you do, and should be done in private, e.g. bedroom or bathroom.
It’s also important to note that this information contributes to safeguarding; it not only helps children to keep themselves healthy and safe, but helps them to identify inappropriate behaviour in others too, either adults or peers, who may be touching their own genitals in public.
The second lesson we have is in Year 5, in the Growing and Changing lesson called Changing Bodies and Feelings; here we explore a variety of feelings and emotions that may come up during puberty, and we reflect on and debunk the myth that masturbation/self-touch is harmful to help reduce the shame, stigma - and related risks to mental health - a child might feel if they are developing an interest in touching themselves in this way.
In addition, children in our workshops sometimes ask, “is this called masturbation?” We respond factually, saying: “Yes, that’s a term that’s used.” Children may refer to this through slang terms too, so it’s important to clarify their understanding in a factual way. Just as is advised in our SCARF lessons, the language we use in our RSE workshops is developmentally appropriate and supportive of safeguarding. For example, educators, in consultation with a school, may say:
"As children go through puberty, their bodies and feelings can change towards themselves and others, and they may become more aware of their bodies. It is normal if they do want to explore or touch their body in a way that feels nice, and it is normal if they don’t.”
We then emphasise privacy, boundaries, and safety, helping children understand that touching their own private parts is something done in private, as part of the physical and emotional changes of puberty. Not only does this approach ensure children are prepared for puberty, it safeguards them from acting inappropriately in public, and importantly helps them identify others - particularly adults - who may be acting inappropriately in public, and report it to a trusted adult.
In line with statutory requirements, we also acknowledge that there are different opinions and beliefs about it too. Just like every other part of growing up, some children mature sooner or later than others. Therefore it is up to each individual school to design a curriculum that meets their pupils' needs best, so you have the flexibility to move the lesson to another year group if you feel that would meet your pupils' needs better at a different time than we have suggested. For further information, see our answer to Question 3.16 about pleasurable touch and how teaching about this safeguards children; and Section 4 which highlights how we recommend you consult and engage with parents. Should parents/ carers need support with talking about these topics at home we also have a recommended booklist and guidance on our Family SCARF page.
Although there is no specific statutory requirement to teach about Gender Reassignment, the revised 2025 RSE guidance states (Section 69):
Pupils should be taught the facts and the law about biological sex and gender reassignment. This should recognise that people have legal rights by virtue of their biological sex which are different from the rights of those of the opposite sex with the protected characteristic of gender reassignment. Pupils should also be taught to recognise that people with the protected characteristic of gender reassignment, as with the other protected characteristics, have protection from discrimination and should be treated with respect and dignity.
SCARF does not have lessons that purely focus on LGBT identities, but threads them through lesson themes such as valuing difference, families, and respectful, kind, relationships. SCARF is a values-led programme and references to Gender Reassignment and Transgender people is fully integrated into SCARF lessons in accordance with the DfE statutory guidance. Being transgender is a topic that we touch on in our lessons that look at stereotyping, gender equality, and bullying.
Should you choose to include references to transgender people in your curriculum, as provided in SCARF lessons, it will support you to provide an inclusive curriculum that reflects the diverse people in children’s lives and/or families, and model to children that there are trusted adults in the school that they can talk to, should they be questioning their own gender. This can reduce their vulnerability to risk, as referred to in the Keeping children safe in education - GOV.UK (p56):
"A child or young person being lesbian, gay, or bisexual is not in itself an inherent risk factor for harm, however, they can sometimes be targeted by other children. In some cases, a child who is perceived by other children to be lesbian, gay, or bisexual (whether they are or not) can be just as vulnerable as children who are… Risks can be compounded where children lack trusted adults with whom they can be open. It is therefore vital that staff endeavour to reduce the additional barriers faced and create a culture where they can speak out or share their concerns with members of staff.”
Furthermore, the most recent Ofsted Toolkit (p44) outlines that “inspectors focus on gathering evidence relating to the factors that statutory and non-statutory guidance, research and inspection evidence indicate contribute most strongly to personal development and well-being. These factors are:…
- supporting pupils to become responsible, respectful and active citizens…
- developing and deepening pupils’ understanding of the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs
- promoting equality of opportunity so that all pupils can thrive together and understand that individual characteristics make people unique; this includes, but is not limited to, an age appropriate understanding of the protected characteristics defined in the Equality Act 2010”
It also states, as part of inclusive personal development and well-being (p49) that “in gathering evidence…inspectors consider the extent to which:
- pupils feel welcome, valued and respected and that they belong within the school community
- pupils understand, appreciate and respect differences in the world and its people; they celebrate what we have in common…
- pupils respect the different protected characteristics defined in the Equality Act 2010 and do not tolerate bullying, unlawful discrimination, harassment or victimisation.”
Being transgender is a topic that we touch on in our lessons that look at stereotyping, gender equality, and bullying. It may be useful for you to read our LGBT+ briefing to understand our approach. A whole lesson dedicated to gender reassignment would not be age-appropriate. Our Protected Characteristics across SCARF page highlights Ofsted's guidance which states that inspectors will gather evidence of how schools promote equality and pupils’ understanding of the protected characteristics, recognising that gender reassignment is one.
Should parents/ carers need support with talking about these topics at home we also have a recommended booklist and guidance on our Family SCARF page.
The DfE (2025) states that Relationships Education should be based on boundaries, body autonomy and recognising sexual abuse:
(Section 27) Primary relationships education should be anchored in an understanding of positive relationships, but should also equip children to keep themselves and others safe, and to recognise and report risks and abuse, including online. This can be delivered by focusing on boundaries, privacy, and children’s rights over their own bodies and personal information. Pupils should be able to recognise emotional, physical and sexual abuse. Even very young children can be equipped to understand what counts as abusive behaviour and to trust their instincts about behaviour that doesn’t feel right.
SCARF’s spiral curriculum supports schools to meet the following statutory requirements:
- That each person's body belongs to them, and the differences between appropriate and inappropriate or unsafe contact, including physical contact.
- The correct names of body parts, including the penis, vulva, vagina, testicles, scrotum, nipples. Pupils should understand that all of these parts of the body are private and have skills to understand and express their own boundaries around these body parts.
- About growth and other ways the body can change and develop, particularly during adolescence. This topic should include the human lifecycle, and puberty should be discussed as a stage in this process.
Keeping children safe in education (p37) also states that children should be taught a programme that tackles boundaries, consent and kindness in relationships, body confidence and self-esteem and how to recognise and report concerns about an abusive relationship.
SCARF tackles many single issues in a holistic way, building the skills, knowledge and positive attitudes that children need to keep themselves safe from harm. Terms such as 'sexual abuse' or 'sexual harassment' won't appear in lesson plans (in the same way that the term Female Genital Mutilation isn't named in the language that children are introduced to and taught about) but the principles that underlie prevention of it are very much included. Threaded throughout SCARF, across each year group, are opportunities for children to develop skills around body autonomy and boundaries alongside the values of respect, kindness and caring that underpin these lessons. This builds a solid foundation for children around the importance of understanding their own body and feelings, and respecting others’ too.
The lessons that cover this issue more explicitly are tagged in the Subjects and Issues page under the index headings: 'consent' 'appropriate touch' 'gender expectations' and 'safeguarding'. The DfE end-of-primary statements most closely linked to this issue in the guidance, is under the units Respectful, kind relationships, Online safety and awareness, Being safe and Wellbeing online.
We have a number of other training options too - which can support your school in embedding this preventative approach through good quality RSE:
The RSHE 2025 guidance states that schools should teach:
The facts about the menstrual cycle, including physical and emotional changes, whilst the average age of the onset of menstruation is twelve, periods can start at eight, so covering this topic before girls’ periods start will help them understand what to expect and avoid distress.
The approach SCARF has consistently taken, which is to start puberty education in Year 3, is based on evidence from the NHS and research from The Sex Education Forum, yet schools can choose to deliver themes at a later stage if that best meets their pupils’ needs, which can be determined through pupil voice and parent consultation.
The NHS states that girls as young as 8 years old start menstruating. Children turn 8 in Year 3, so it is a timely point for them to receive the information before the changes take place. In a Sex Education Forum survey, nearly a quarter of respondents identifying as female did not learn about periods before they started having them. Anecdotally we hear of girls who thought they were dying when they first discovered blood in their knickers, because they had been unprepared. The shame and stigma surrounding menstruation has a big impact on a girl’s identity and mental wellbeing. Headteachers have told us of the positive impact that early teaching - to both boys an girls - about the changes can have in reducing bullying and increasing empathy and understanding as children go through puberty.
We have recently added further content to our Y3 lessons so that they contain more information on male puberty too, to ensure we are preparing all children for the changes they will go through so they can manage them with confidence.
We work hard to ensure our resources use language that doesn't reinforce stereotypical or outdated messages about menstruation being dirty. For example, using the words 'menstrual products' and 'period products' rather than 'sanitary', which can imply or reinfroce the hamrful message that periods are unhygienic and dirty. Which can cause girls to feel uncomfortabkle or haev low confidence/self esteem about their bodies. Body positive langauge conversely reinforces positive self esteem and can encourage peers to be respectful and supportive too. We've also been using this as an opportunity to raise awareness of reusable products too such as pads, pants and cups. When taking into account the religious background of all pupils when teaching this topic, it would be important to be clear, when you are teaching, what is fact and what is belief. When taking into account the religious background of all pupils when teaching this topic, it would be important to be clear, when you are teaching, what is fact and what is belief. The Royal College of Nursing has a useful section in this pdf about cultural and religious influences on page 23.
Best practice states that menstruation education should be delivered to boys and girls together. Section 83 of the statutory guidance states that:
RSE lessons should ensure that both boys and girls have opportunities to practise respectful communication and understand experiences which are different from their own, including menstruation and menopause. However, in some cases, such as when a school identifies a specific need, the school may consider that separating classes by sex is the best way to create a safe space for discussion of a particular topic.
If splitting classes into single sex groups, it is important to ensure that they are taught the same information, which means learning about the changes that happen to both boys and girls, in order to meet your statutory requirements. This is particularly important if you have a transgender or gender questioning child in your school; it ensures that they learn about the puberty they are likely to experience related to the sex they are rather than the gender they identify as.
What if a girl is likely to start - or has started - to menstruate especially early because of a medical condition?
Ideally, the school would foster a relationship between the parents and the school nurse, enabling both the parents and child to get the right support. It would also be good for the parents to understand that while the school wouldn't normally cover menstruation until Y3 (Eng) P4 (Sco) - depending on how the school delivers RSE - it would be important to prepare their child for this potential change so when it happens she knows that she hasn't hurt herself, she's not poorly, that it happens to all girls at some point, and that because of her condition, it's going to happen to her earlier than for most other girls.
A parent could say something like this:
"You know you have XXX condition and that sometimes it affects your body in different ways. Well, one of the ways it can change it is to speed up things, so you experience things earlier than other children. One of the changes that all girls go through is that they start to have blood that comes out of their vaginas. Can you tell me where your vagina is? Yes, that's right, between your legs. Now, this doesn't happen all the time, it will happen now and again, usually about once a month, but this can be different for different people. This is all totally normal and happens to girls. Usually, this could start at any time from the age of 8, but it's going to happen a bit earlier for you. We call this a period.
Now, when this happens we need to protect our clothes from the period blood, or it can stain pants and skirt or trousers. So to stop this happening, we can wear a pad in our pants. [We recommend that you have a period pad ready to show the girl how this works, using a teddy bear with pants and showing how to fix the pad in place. This YouTube film - watch the section between 2 mins 22 seconds and 4 mins 50 seconds - is a really nice way of showing how you can do this. We recommend that you only watch this section of the film as it contains lots of information for older girls that would probably be too much for a younger girl to take in at this stage. Please check the film before showing it to a child.]
Continue the conversation as follows:
Sometimes when the bleeding happens a person can have a stomach ache too, so it's important to let an adult know if you're in pain so they can give you some medicine or a hot water bottle, if possible, to help reduce the aches."
The school could let the parents know about period pants and swimming costumes and this will definitely be the easiest way for this child to manage their periods at such a young age. The challenge will be if any brands make sizes small enough for a young girl. Initial research shows that Cheeky Wipes do a small size in incontinence pads that can be used for wee or period blood for age 5-6 and swimwear from size 2-4.
Finally, it's important to signpost the parents to our parent's page so that they feel a bit more prepared to manage what's to come.
Whilst it's not statutory to teach children Relationship and Health Education until Year 1, every school is responsible for helping to keep all children safe. With safeguarding in mind, it's important that children are taught the correct words for their genitals so that they may report abuse, as supported by the Cochrane Review (2015). It should also be remembered that every child will be taught by their parents' different words for their genitals, and it would be impossible for the teacher to teach a lesson where there are potentially 30 different words for the same part of the body, without teaching them the correct words so everyone knew what was being discussed.
We recommend that the correct words are used and taught from Nursery/Reception. This ensures all children know the correct words to use, and have the language to communicate to any member of staff, if they need to, about anything related to their genital health, as well as for safeguarding purposes. However, if the parent wants to withdraw their child from Relationships Education lessons in Reception they can. Once parent consultation is complete and a school’s RSHE programme is agreed then its implementation is statutory. Parents can’t then request that their child be withdrawn from the lessons, except for any non-statutory sex education elements that the school have decided to include.
The statutory guidance states that children should know:
"How to report concerns or abuse, and the vocabulary and confidence needed to do so".
Teaching programmes should be designed after considering the needs of the pupils and the feedback from the parent consultation; this will help to determine the right time to teach correct vocabulary. Best practice is to invite into school any parent who is considering withdrawing their child, to discuss their concerns and explain to them that this approach has been taken to keep their child safe.
Using the phrase 'private parts' might tackle this issue, but unfortunately, it doesn't go far enough in keeping children safe. During RSE parents' sessions, parents have disclosed to us that they were abused as children, but their cases never resulted in prosecution because as a child, they didn't have the vocabulary to give a specific and exact account of what happened. In recent years there have been many cases we've heard about from schools and in the media, where children haven't been able to report abuse beacuse of this lack of accurate vocabulary, nor opportunuity to raise their worries soon enough. An uninformed child is therefore a vulnerable child.
The Department of Education (DfE) acknowledges that the RSHE guidance is only statutory for Y1 onwards, but strongly recommends that teachers introduce it, in an age-appropriate way, as soon as children begin school and the guidance stresses the value of a whole-school approach. The EYFS non-statutory curriculum guidance sits alongside the Early Years framework. The sections on “understanding the world" (pages 60-68) and “personal, social and emotional development” (pages 26-34 – see p32 in particular for reception) contain recommended content that closely matches that of the Relationships Education guidance. It forms the basic building block for the RSHE curriculum.
Our lessons will support you to meet the following statutory requirements:
- About the concept of privacy and the implications of it for both children and adults; including that it is not always right to keep secrets if they relate to being safe.
- That each person's body belongs to them, and the differences between appropriate and inappropriate or unsafe contact, including physical contact.
- How to report abuse, concerns about something they’ve seen online, or experienced in real life, or feelings of being unsafe or feeling bad about any adult, and the vocabulary and confidence to do so.
Normalising the use of correct anatomical language from an early age helps reduce the stigma that comes with talking about bodies, puberty and sex. It lays the foundations for children to be able to talk openly about these topics and helps create a safe learning environment that allows questions to be asked and answered in an age-appropriate way. The alternative is that children adopt nicknames for their body parts - often unique to their family. This can lead to confusion and embarrassment in later years. It can also lead to missed opportunities as trusted adults are unable to safeguard children who haven't been taught to use the correct vocabulary. An example of this can be seen in this social worker's account of child abuse.
This is also supported by the findings in The Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse and Coram BAAF's Good Practice Guide, Child sexual abuse in foster and kinship care, special guardianship and adoption: Learning from safeguarding reviews 2007–2022.
In order to meet statutory Relationships and Health Education requirements, you'll need to deliver all the six half-termly units within SCARF (you can choose the order of units and lesson plans) because the 78 end-of-primary statutory requirements are covered across different units. The Growing and Changing unit focuses particularly on naming and understanding body parts, and changes at puberty; it ensures that you meet most of the requirements within the Developing Bodies category within Health Education. However, many of RSE requirements are covered in other SCARF half-termly units.
Lessons across the rest of SCARF cover themes such as emotional knowledge and awareness, valuing difference, families, and respectful, kind, relationships; you will find that very few lessons only meet requirements under one unit, but contribute to them within a range of units, as part of an age-appropriate sequential curriculum, ensuring that by the end of primary school, children are secure in their knowledge of each requirement.
There are many benefits to boys and girls being taught together. In schools where learning about the changes at puberty before their onset takes place, headteachers have reported to us the positive impact this has on their pupils; children show more empathy and understanding towards each other, leading to a reduction in incidences of teasing and bullying.
Teaching boys and girls together helps build respectful relationships and mutual understanding, when all pupils understand that everyone goes through these changes, with some children being early developers and others being late starters, and others in the middle. It also normalises the topics involved, reassuring all children that we are able to speak about these things in school and learn together; being modelled how to do this respectfully and appropriately, encouraging children to speak up if they have any worries or concerns. This can remove any air of taboo or mystery that can be created when teaching separately, which could lead to children feeling the need to find out information alone on a device – potentially increasing of them viewing harmful online content or misinformation.
Mixed-gender delivery also provides a more inclusive environment for transgender or gender questioning children; it ensures they are receiving information and makes it easier to ask questions related to the type of puberty they will go through e.g. male or female, rather than being in a lesson with only children who are the same gender as them but who will not experience puberty in the same way as them.
Section 83 of the 2025 statutory guidance states that:
RSE lessons should ensure that both boys and girls have opportunities to practise respectful communication and understand experiences which are different from their own, including menstruation and menopause. However, in some cases, such as when a school identifies a specific need, the school may consider that separating classes by sex is the best way to create a safe space for discussion of a particular topic.
The key point to ensure if splitting classes into single sex groups, is that they are taught the same information, which means learning about the changes that happen to both boys and girls. This is particularly important if you have a transgender or gender questioning child in your school; it ensures that they learn about the puberty they are likely to experience related to the sex they are rather than the gender they identify as.
By talking to children about pleasure, we can help foster an understanding of pleasurable touch before we talk to them about pleasure in the context of sex. This mirrors how we talk to children about consent before we talk to them about it in the context of sex. We know that it's important (as well as statutory) for children to learn about appropriate and inappropriate touch, and learning that some touches feel nice, for example their hair being brushed or plaited or having a foot or head massage, will help them to distinguish between when a touch feels nice and wanted, and when a touch feels unpleasant, inappropriate or wrong.
This is fundamental to safeguarding; children need to be able to identify touch/body contact/ behaviours that they don’t like, are uncomfortable with, or want to stop (e.g. hugs or hand-holding) and practise assertive skills around this. For example, learning that they can say no, ask someone to stop, or seek help from a trusted adult.
This helps lay the foundations for talking about masturbation as a normal part of growing up and puberty - healthy if a person wants to do it, and healthy if they don’t - but explaining that it is a private activity that should be done in a private place. Again, this helps children to keep themselves healthy and safe.
Teaching and learning about misogyny, masculinity, and social media influence is fully integrated into SCARF, through age-appropriate content across its spiral curriculum - find out more.
Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance (2025, p10) states that:
“It is essential that all staff understand the importance of challenging inappropriate behaviours between children that are abusive in nature... Downplaying certain behaviours, for example dismissing sexual harassment as “just banter”, “just having a laugh”, “part of growing up” or “boys being boys” can lead to a culture of unacceptable behaviours, an unsafe environment for children and in worst case scenarios a culture that normalises abuse leading to children accepting it as normal and not coming forward to report it.”
Preventative work starts with children developing a healthy relationship with themselves, their sense of identity and belonging, what makes them feel good about themselves, and positive role models. They should then learn how to respect others, even when they may be different from themselves, to recognise bullying, in all its forms, and how they can safely play their part as an active bystander. This provides them with skills to judge when people are presenting harmful attitudes online, often based on destructive stereotypes of what it means to be a boy and what it means to be a girl. In turn, this can help reframe masculinity to give young people the best chance of forming healthy, long-term relationships with others, and to develop good mental health.
However, these issues cannot be tackled through PSHE lessons alone. They need a whole-school approach. The KCSIE guidance (2025) expects schools to
“have a clear set of values and standards, upheld and demonstrated throughout all aspects of school life. These will be underpinned… by a planned programme of evidence based RSHE delivered in regularly timetabled lessons and reinforced throughout the whole curriculum” (Paragraph 130)
Staff should be supported with effective and regular training in how to be role models themselves, and how to identify and expose harmful attitudes and behaviours then take appropriate action to challenge such attitudes.
We have a number of other training options which can support your school in embedding this preventative approach through good quality RSE:
4. Parental Consultation, engagement and right to withdraw
To meet the DfE statutory RSHE requirements, primary schools must proactively engage and consult parents. As part of your consultation, you must consult parents when developing and reviewing your RSE policy.
To consult means to have discussions, typically before undertaking a course of action. As part of this process, it's good practice to inform parents of the statutory requirements and any changes that are likely to take place in the school's appraoch to RSE, all of which will be relevant when developing and reviewing your RSE policy, and planned programme.
Coram SCARF also encourages schools to carry out a survey with parents, to find out what they know already, how they think the school is doing and to support them in their role at home. You should also provide examples of the resources that you plan to use; this can be reassuring for parents and enables them to continue the conversations started in class at home. More information on this process, including links to surveys and how to appropriately share examples of resources, can be found in our Working with Parents and Carers section on SCARF.
We also have a Family SCARF page which can signpost parents to further RHSE support and reading, to assist in discussions at home and provide a consistent approach to RSHE for children.
Schools are free to determine an age-appropriate, developmental curriculum that meets the needs of young people and is developed in consultation with parents and the local community. If you choose to teach sex education, which go beyond the statutory elements of the Science National Curriculum, then you must set this out in your policy and communicate with parents what is to be taught. This process should include offering parents support in talking to their children about sex and how to link this with what's being taught in school. Once the consultation process has been completed it's still important that you have ongoing engagement with parents throughout the school year, providing regular information about what will be taught and when.
This DfE document provides information to primary schools on what is expected of them in terms of parental engagement and Relationships Education and why. It also provides advice, tips and case studies on effective parental engagement. This includes where to go for help and the important role governors can play in this process.
Schools are expected to communicate with parents about their RSE policy’s content, including providing examples of resources they plan to use. The key to making this effective is to use this as an opportunity to dispel any myths about what might be taught and to build trust. Consider running workshops and training with staff before talking with parents, so that staff can talk confidently about the subject as the questions arise. We provide a variety of teacher training workshops for individuals or all staff to attend.
It's important for parents to have a chance to learn what we mean by Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) to help dispel any myths they may have heard from the media. Historically some newspapers and websites have created the myth that sex education for 5-year-olds involves teaching them how to have sex; this clearly isn’t the case. Good quality RSE is based on gradually developing children’s knowledge and understanding of bodies, emotions, boundaries and respectful relationships through a carefully planned and sequenced programme, in order to safeguard children physically and emotionally.
Letting parents know what's covered in each year group will help them to see the role RSE has in keeping their children safe, whilst laying the foundations to build on in an age-appropriate way. In order to communicate these messages to parents, schools themselves need to feel confident about the importance of delivering RSE; not just because of its statutory status, but because it keeps children safe and healthy. We encourage schools to take advantage of the support available from Coram SCARF and our local delivery partners by accessing staff workshops, including parent consultation guidance and our other RSE teacher training courses.
Coram SCARF has prepared a suite of resources to share with parents during periods of consultation and engagement. SCARF schools can find our guidance for parent consultation by reading supporting documents 2 and 3 from our managing your parent consultation: step-by-step guide under step 6. You can share supporting documents 2 and 3, and the SCARF and RSE PDF, all of which are suitable for sharing in virtual meetings or on school websites with parents.
Schools should show parents a representative sample of the resources that they plan to use and should ensure that parents are able to view all curriculum materials used to teach RSHE, on request. Parents are not able to veto curriculum content, but schools must consult with parents when developing their RSHE policy. By ‘materials’ the DfE has clarified these as workbooks, videos and other materials that are limited to those used and shown to a pupil during the teaching of a topic. Teacher training and internal planning in order to teach a lesson is not what is taught in the classroom. We also have a recorded webinar that can support you to plan your parent consultation and RSE policy review.
Following the initial parent consultation about your RSHE policy, good practice is to continue regular communication and engagement with parents throughout the school year, to ensure that they are kept informed as to when different topics are to be taught. This also encourages a productive home-school partnership that is to the benefit of the child’s emotional and physical development and wellbeing. Our Family SCARF page has suggested SCARF at home activities for parents and children to do at home together, and our pre unit editable letters and our post unit editable leaflets can provide a steer on what to talk about and when.
The revised RSHE guidance 2025 (p6) states that:
Parents do not have the right to withdraw their pupils from relationships and health education, nor can they be withdrawn from topics taught as part of the science curriculum, including science topics related to puberty or sexual reproduction.”
Parents can only request that their child be withdrawn from lessons that include non-statutory Sex Education. (See SCARF and RSE content questions 3.3, 3.4, 3.5 and 3.6 to see how SCARF defines Sex Education and which lessons include non-statutory Sex Education.)
Our Growing and Changing Unit covers the majority of requirements listed within the Developing Bodies unit under statutory Health Education, however, we must recognise that the DfE expects schools to deliver a spiral curriculum. Therefore, content in the early years, such as the difference between girls' and boys' bodies and the correct words for external body parts is covered before content later on about how our bodies change and why. The lessons grow in complexity and maturity, in line with children's development, supporting them every step of the way. Some of this content may also be included in our Keeping Safe unit, for example in discussing the PANTS rule, which is fundamental to safeguarding and provides the foundation to discussing body changes.
Schools must consult with parents when developing their RSHE policy. Parents are not able to veto curriculum content, but you may, of course, move the lessons around into an order that you feel meets your pupil's needs best. If a parent has concerns about what is included in our Growing and Changing Unit (Or Keeping Safe) then it is important to explain to them that you have chosen to use SCARF resources as they meet the needs of the pupils at your school best.
It is important to recognise that some parents may not have received good quality RSE themselves and may not feel confident in talking about this content with their child. There may be cultural or religious aspects to consider too, (see FAQ 5.7). Ultimately, inviting parents into school to discuss their concerns and view resources can help dispel any myths they may have heard about the content of RSE and see for themselves how the SCARF programme has been designed; ensuring that each lesson is age-appropriate, reflecting the child’s stage of development and maturity, and how SCARF can help to safeguard the child.
The DfE reminds us that ‘Listening and responding to the views of pupils and parents helps to ensure that RSHE meets pupils’ needs and that topics are taught at the right time to support children to build positive relationships and avoid harms before they occur.’ (Section 12)
It might be useful to reassure parents that SCARF is evidence-based; content of SCARF has been written using a variety of evidence including:
- This NSPCC guidance on healthy sexual development. helps us to recognise which sexual behaviours are developmentally typical and at what age. The DfE statutory guidance supports schools to teach content that ensures male and female pupils are prepared for the changes they and their peers will experience and should, as far as possible, address them before their onset.
- This Sex Education Forum Curriculum Design Tool. tool supports us in designing a developmental, spiral, and comprehensive programme of relationships and sex education (RSE) which starts early in primary school. It maps out the core content of a comprehensive RSE programme by age and stage and shows how core concepts are developed and revisited with increasing complexity.
- This UNESCO International technical guidance on sexuality education (known as RSE in England and RSHP in Scotland) promotes structured learning about sex and relationships in a manner that is positive, affirming, and centered on the best interest of the young person. By outlining the essential components of effective sexuality education programmes, the guidance has enabled us to design comprehensive curricula that will have a positive impact on young people’s health and well-being.
Using these sources above helps to ensure that young people make the transition from childhood to adulthood receiving accurate, comprehensive and non-judgemental information that positively impacts on their physical, social and emotional development. Failing to inadequately prepare children not only impacts safeguarding and exacerbates the vulnerability of children and youth to exploitation and other harmful outcomes, but also represents the failure of society’s duty bearers to fulfil their obligations to an entire generation.
This would be recorded as an unauthorised absence. If a school agrees with our definition of sex education (see our answer under SCARF and RSE content, Q3.3), then everything else within SCARF becomes statutory either under Relationships Education, Health Education or Science from Year 1.
The revised RSHE guidance 2025 (p6) states that:
“Parents do not have the right to withdraw their pupils from relationships and health education, nor can they be withdrawn from topics taught as part of the science curriculum, including science topics related to puberty or sexual reproduction.”
The school should meet with the parent or carer to determine exactly what they are unhappy with, in order to allay fears, and help them to recognise the benefits of their child learning with their peers from a trusted source; this ensures that the child receives correct information rather than other children's version of the lessons. It's important to also focus on the positives and the norms: the vast majority of parents want their child to have this information. Over time this parent may decide how important it is for their child to receive this information. See also FAQ 4.3.
The most recent DfE guidance (2025) advises, within its Guiding Principles, that “schools should sequence teaching so that pupils are supported and equipped with the knowledge to navigate different experiences in a positive way before they occur, and to prevent harms” (p5).
The RSE content of SCARF was written with guidance on designing an age-appropriate curriculum from the Sex Education Forum. This guidance is based on the international evidence about what constitutes comprehensive RSE. Schools have the flexibility to design and plan age-appropriate subject content, but the statutory guidance sets out core areas for health and wellbeing that are appropriate for primary and secondary aged pupils.
Schools are encouraged by the DfE statutory guidance to deliver puberty, including information about menstruation, and wet dreams, if we are also to prepare our boys, before its onset, in order to ensure pupils are prepared for changes they and their peers will experience (see Section 3 - SCARF and RSE content for further information).
Under the 'Developing Body' category of the statutory guidance, children should be taught: "The facts about the menstrual cycle, including physical and emotional changes, whilst the average age of the onset of menstruation is twelve, periods can start at
eight, so covering this topic before girls’ periods start will help them understand what to expect and avoid distress."
Within the section on primary sex education within the statutory guidance, it states that: "Sex education is not compulsory in primary schools, but we recommend that primaries teach sex education in years 5 and/or 6, in line with content about conception and birth, which forms part of the national curriculum for science."
The DfE statutory guidance also sets out core areas for health and wellbeing that are appropriate for primary and secondary aged pupils, but schools are ultimately free to design and plan an age-appropriate, developmental curriculum that meets the needs of their children. This gives flexibility as to what should be taught and when, making sure that everything is taught by the end of Year 6. Every school must consider the views shared by parents and others in the school community before deciding on the content of its curriculum. Ultimately it's for each school to decide this, based on the needs of its pupils, which can be determined through pupil voice and parent consultation. See FAQ’s 4.4 - 4.4, 5.1 for more information.
Our Whole-School SCARF: Preparation and Planning page can support with the development of your curriculum intent.
We recommend that you read our LGBT briefing. This highlights our approach to lessons that have LGBT content; it also lists lessons that address some of the issues relating to difference. A lot of these lessons focus on the fundamental British values of tolerance and respect for others who are different from ourselves; this is a statutory requirement of Relationships Education and part of the Ofsted Inspection judgements. Giving same-sex relationships equal status with heterosexual relationships is not promoting; instead, it ensures that these relationships are recognised in the curriculum, as they are in law.
Although there is no specific statutory requirement to teach about same sex parents or relationships, Section 68 of the 2025 guidance states:
"The government strongly encourages primary schools to teach about healthy loving relationships, and to include same-sex parents along with other family arrangements when discussing families."
It is statutory that children should learn, under the curriculum category of ‘Families and people who care for me’:
"That marriage and civil partnerships represent a formal and legally recognised commitment of two people to each other which is intended to be lifelong."
Same-sex marriage and civil partnerships have been legal for some years; this is also the case for the rights of same-sex couples to create families. Schools are responsible for deciding when they will introduce the teaching of LGBT identities to pupils.
SCARF is a values-led curriculum, that aims to ensure that no only do children see their famil set up reflected in the curriculum, but they have an opportunity to learn about other family set ups too, and so lessons across our sequential curriculum will refer to different relationships and family arrangements. This is fully integrated into lessons on families, marriage, civil partnerships, similarities and differences, stereotyping, prejudice, puberty, bullying, and diversity, in accordance with the DfE statutory guidance.
Should you choose to include references to same sex relationships in your Relationships Education curriculum, as provided in SCARF lessons, it will support you to meet many of the statutory requirements, and parents would not have the right to request that their child is withdrawn from those lessons.
We advise that you reference this in your RSE policy to support the inclusion of LGBT content in your curriculum, for example: "Our school has made the decision to ensure that it provides a safe, inclusive environment where children are safe to learn, free from bullying, by teaching a curriculum that acknowledges families of many forms."
We have a Family SCARF page for schools to share with all parents and carers. Parents don't need a SCARF login to access this page, please share the direct link with them. The page has lots of information to help them support their child and inform them about RSHE and SCARF too.
Our Working with Parents and Carers page has a variety of resources to help you create an open and supportive relationship with families across school, including information letters that can be sent home prior to the Growing and Changing unit, and leaflets that can be sent home after the unit has been delivered.
5. Tailoring SCARF to suit your school/pupils
SCARF has a variety of resources to support Pupil Voice, on our dedicated Pupil Voice page, aiding you to ensure that your use of SCARF is tailored to the needs of your pupils. We have a number of age-appropriate ways of consulting with children such as Anonymous Question Boxes, which can be adapted for use with children of all ages.
We also have a SCARF Wellbeing survey which can be used to identify any mental health issues. The SCARF pupil wellbeing measurement tool uses the validated Stirling Children’s Wellbeing Scale and enables you to benchmark the mental wellbeing of your pupils, alongside guidance and recommendations for action planning, based on the insights provided by the report.
As well as consulting with parents and carers about your school's RSE programme, it's also good practice also to consult with pupils. The Sex Education Forum (SEF) provides a free toolkit, which is signposted on our Pupil Voice page too.
The suggested half-termly units have been produced to help you deliver an age-appropriate spiral curriculum that meets statutory requirements for both Relationships Education and Health Education.
SCARF half-termly units provide regular opportunities across the year to cover certain topics; children can be introduced to and revisit key themes about body and emotional knowledge, safety, boundaries, and respectful relationships, ensuring comprehensive coverage of PSHE and RHSE for all year groups.
However, you have the freedom to adapt this and determine your own age-appropriate, developmental curriculum which meets the needs of your pupils, in consultation with parents and the school community. To help you create a more tailored curriculum, we've created a flexible planning tool. This enables you to create your own bespoke programme by changing the order of the lesson plans; we've also created a range of additional resources that support you further in tailoring your programme .
Find out more about the SCARF flexible planning tools in our Preparation and Planning section of Whole school SCARF under Part 2: Planning your PSHE (including RSHE) curriculum.
SCARF lessons are designed to be approximately 45 minutes of teaching time per week. Weekly teaching of SCARF provides regular and consistent opportunities for children to learn and revisit key themes, and provides a solid foundation for their PSHE and RSHE curriculum. This can support children’s emotional wellbeing along with promoting positive behaviours and healthy relationships, promoting a positive school culture and helping children to acquire the life skills needed to thrive.
Where units have more lesson plans than weeks in the half term, you can:
- Teach more than one lesson that week
- Check that a lesson hasn’t been taught the lesson in the previous year, e.g. the lesson ‘Secret or Surprise’ appears as an option for either Y3 and Y4 - P4 and P5 in Scotland.
- Use the pre-unit assessment to help determine which lessons to prioritise
- Use pupil voice- ask the children to rank the lessons in order of preference using a diamond nine activity.
There's also a clear link between children's mental and physical wellbeing, and their attainment. A whole-school approach to mental wellbeing, involving teachers, pupils and parents/carers working together impacts strongly on pupils' wellbeing, behaviour and learning. Further evidence of this is provided by PHE (now the Health Security Agency) in their publication Promoting children and young people’s emotional health and wellbeing: A whole school and college approach.
For more information on how to embed SCARF across school take a look at our Whole-School SCARF.
Schools with mixed-age classes use SCARF very successfully. SCARF lesson plans have a degree of flexibility and opportunities to differentiate built into them; teachers report to us that they don’t have any problems working through, for example, the Y1 and Y2, Y3 and Y4, then Y5 and 6 half-termly units on a two-year rolling programme. We also provide a two-class rolling programme. Take a look at our SCARF and mixed-age planning guidance for support in using our resources for such groups in your school.
We recommend that you use the pre-unit assessment, located within the half-termly unit pages, to assess how the children are progressing and to decide which lessons from the previous years may need to be covered prior to teaching the current year’s lesson. If required, lessons from previous year groups could be covered to provide a foundation for the content children need to know for their age and level of development and maturity.
It may also be useful to ask the children to rank the lessons in order of preference using an activity called the diamond nine as part of your decisions about this. You could also use an 'Ask-it basket' or anonymous questions box to find out what they want to learn about or what questions they have. Film no.14 explains this in our RSE guidance and support materials section. The Pupil voice page, located in Part 1 of the Preparation and Planning section of Whole-school SCARF brings together wider guidance for consulting with pupils.
We recommend the Amaze resources, which are free to access. You can explore the Amaze videos to find the right ones to suit your class. Resources from Amaze can be useful for showing all the different ways couples can create families*. All the videos that Amaze create are inclusive, showing a variety of skin tones and gender.
*Please note that the word queer is used several times in this film clip. The word queer is sometimes used as a derogatory term, in the way that the word gay is sometimes used. Both queer and gay, if used in the wrong context, are regarded as homophobic.
However, many people from the LGBTQ+ community have reclaimed the word queer because it helps define them and their identity. Find out more information about LGBTQ+ terminology. If you choose to show the last video it will be valuable to discuss the term queer with them and to think about the use of language, which - if used in the wrong context - can be seen as derogatory.
The key point learning point is that if someone is not sure which word people use to identify themselves, they should ask, rather than deciding for themselves the label.
The RSE elements of SCARF are based on the SCARF values of Safety, Caring, Achievement, Resilience and Friendship. We believe that all children deserve to be safe, cared for and to learn the skills they need to develop healthy relationships. We feel there is a natural fit between these values and the ethos of faith schools.
The themes within the RSE elements of SCARF help children from all backgrounds to build positive and safe relationships, and to thrive in modern Britain. Schools of religious character must deliver Relationships Education as described in the statutory DfE guidance (2025). The guidance also states that schools can teach a distinctive faith perspective on relationships too, whilst being clear what is opinion or belief and what is information regarding the law and legal rights.
For example, in relation to protected characteristics (such as sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation or religion or beliefs) the 2025 RSHE guidance, sections 73 and 74, states that:
“RSHE should be sensitive to the religious background of pupils, and schools must ensure they comply with the relevant provisions of the Equality Act 2010, under which religion or belief are amongst the protected characteristics.
All schools may teach about faith perspectives on these topics. In particular, schools with a religious character may teach their distinctive faith perspective on relationships, and balanced debate may take place about issues that are contentious…Schools should be clear when they are delivering content that reflects religious belief.”
Ofsted’s latest guidance for schools (2025) also states that:
“All primary and secondary schools should be able to demonstrate that no form of unlawful discrimination is tolerated and that pupils show respect for those who share the protected characteristics. Depending on the circumstances, schools may need to take specific steps to prevent kinds of prejudice or discrimination… from taking hold in some groups of pupils, in line with the DfE guidance on RSHE.”
Find more information on SCARF and Protected Characteristics here.
Many schools reference the importance of safety when specifying how they provide education to children, and how they keep them safe. If a school fails to address diversity in its curriculum, then it leaves its pupils vulnerable to teasing and bullying because they are ‘different' or because they are perceived to be different, which could impact safeguarding. We are a diverse and multi-cultural society, home to people from different backgrounds, race, faith and gender. More and more we are learning, working, socialising and mixing with a broader group of people and we must be open to the different perspectives, opinions and needs that this brings.
Our resources are used by many faith schools who see that our values reflect those represented in those of their faith. Further useful reading regarding faith schools, children and families from a religious or belief background and RSE can be found in these documents:
- Church of England - Flourishing for all
- Church of England - Living in Love and Faith
- British Muslims for Secular Democracy – Advice for schools
- The Muslim Council for Britain - RSE: Constructive Engagement
- PaJes- Supporting Jewish Schools - Guidance for Schools to be compliant with RSE Guidance
- Hampshire County Council – Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service inc. RSE resources
- A PAVEE Perspective - Travellers' Attitudes to sexual relationships and sex education
- Catholic Education Service - Good practice in developing a school RSE policy
Children with SEND may not have the cognitive ability to access some of the SCARF lesson content, but it's also important to recognise that children's bodies will still be developing in line with their age. They need information to help keep them safe and also help them to understand how and why their bodies will develop. This means that the statutory requirements should be taught to all children by the end of Y6 in an age-appropriate, accessible way. You may find it useful to support the SCARF lessons with further visual resources. We have recommended some organisations (below) which have resources aimed at children with SEND. You'll find that some will suit your pupils more than others:
- Health Ed Co have a number of resources you might find useful to support the lessons including: Female and male reproductive organs
- Learn and Thrive has a range of resources to help you to adapt your RSE programme for pupils with SEND
- My Education World also produces puberty resources such as male and female puberty magnetic boards
- The FPA also offer videos (NB: not all of these are age-appropriate but the sections on puberty and menstruation and wet dreams will be useful): Kylie's private world and Jason's private world
- NHS Leeds has produced this resource, Puberty and Sexuality for Children and Young People with a Learning Disability helpful to use alongside SCARF. It's aimed at 9–18-year-olds so will be suitable from Y4 onwards.
- Widgit have worked in partnership with the NSPCC to create a puberty symbols guide for parents and carers of children and young people who have learning disabilities, which would be suitable for pre-teaching and over teaching too.
- The RESIDE project has produced a set of films and activities covering various aspects of RSHE for use with children and young people with intellectual disabilities. There is no age guidance but many films will be suitable for Key Stage 2. Always check the suitability of the resources first before showing them to your pupils.
- Learn and Thrive has created an RSE resource called Learning for Life for those with learning difficulties, which has freely available films. It's aimed at 11-25 year olds, with some being suitable to use with Upper Key Stage 2. Always check the resources first for suitability before showing them to your pupils.
- NHS Autism Central - pulls together various guides from trusted sources about how adults can to talk to autistic children about puberty and relationships.
- National Autistic Society - Sex education - a guide for parents – “a guide for parents, recognises that it can be difficult to talk to your child about sex and sexuality, particularly if they are autistic. It may take [children] a little longer to process or pick up on certain concepts. They may struggle with understanding ‘appropriate’ behaviour when it comes to sex and relationships. To help…with this, [NAS] have put together some ideas for talking to your child about puberty, sex, sexuality and relationships, as well as links to some useful resources.”
- Autism and Puberty - Child Mind Institute – article on helping adults to support autistic children in navigating puberty, and safe behaviours. Has audio link that can be listened to.
We can also adapt our workshops to suit learners with SEND. Contact your local SCARF Team to see what's available.
SCARF’s values of Safety, Caring, Achievement, Resilience and Friendship, which underpin all its content, align strongly with the key principles of SMSC. Effective SMSC helps everyone in school - adults and children alike - to think about who they are and the kind of world they aspire to create.
SCARF supports you in teaching this valuable area of children's learning, enabling children to make appropriate choices as they navigate the rich, varied, often complax and ever-evolving life in modern Britain- and the world.
See our SCARF and Supporting SMSC page for resources, planning and guidance on this.
Many schools use a metacognitive approach to teaching and learning.
SCARF supports schools doing this both through its curriculum content and related guidance about teaching and learning strategies. SCARF schools - find out more about SCARF and a metacognitive approach.
Yes. SCARF has collaborated with UNICEF UK to create guidance that shows how SCARF supports schools in meeting the Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA).
We've created mapping tools to show how SCARF supports the three strands of the award. This is available to all schools. Find out more about SCARF and UNICEF UK's RRSA.
6. Answering children's questions
You could signpost the parent to our parent information page which is suitable for parents of 8-11-year-olds. It was originally written for Y6 parents, but based on parent feedback we make it available for parents of younger children, too. Parents don't need a SCARF log in to access this page, schools should just copy and share this direct link with them: https://www.coramlifeeducation.org.uk/RSE-for-Y6-and-P7. This page contains lots of information to help them support their child.
The decision about whether to help an 8-year-old child understand how an egg and sperm meet depends on their understanding of what they've already been taught as the foundations for this information, such as learning about healthy relationships, consent, puberty and how reproduction occurs. A parent may wish to use the resources suggested above to help them answer this question. We also have a suggested booklist at the bottom of this parent page. The book Let’s Talk About Where Babies Come From, by R H Harris, is a good resource to start with, if the parent is beginning their journey in talking to their child about this.
We have a template letter that informs parents of the changes to the statutory status of the subject, which can be found on the Managing your Parent Consultation page - step 2. The letter can be adapted to suit your school’s needs. It's a statutory requirement for you to consult and then share with parents your RSE policy, which should include a statement about their rights to withdraw a child from non-statutory sex education.
7. SCARF staff training and pupil workshops
In some regions of the UK, we have teams of educators who can deliver specially designed workshops covering puberty, relationships, human reproduction (including conception) and being safe. Some educators also model teaching SCARF lessons, to support teacher skills and confidence.
Statutory RSHE guidance (2019) states that the contribution of external agencies should be to enhance and not replace the teaching of the subjects by an appropriate member of staff. Therefore we encourage you to look at how you can build the confidence and skills of your staff to deliver RSE. Some of our educators also model teaching SCARF lessons, including RSE, to support teacher skills and confidence. Please contact your local delivery partner to arrange this, or contact us directly to explore options.
Please take a look at our training page. We run a variety for different training courses, webinars and workshops. We also offer bespoke RSE-related training, tailored to your school's needs. Please contact us directly to arrange this.
Examples of our RSE training offers
- Developing a school culture to prevent sexual harassment and abuse
- Managing your RSE parent consultation
- SCARF and implementing PSED from the EYFS Framework
- Introduction to effective PSHE education
8. SCARF free trial or subscribe
SCARF online resources offer exceptional value for money. Prices quoted are for an annual subscription, enabling teachers to access over 365 easy-to-use curriculum-based PSHE, Relationships and Health Education lesson plans, planning and assessment tools. There are no hidden or additional costs, so schools benefit from updated and additional content within their subscription. View SCARF pricing.
Schools booking SCARF workshops, where available in their local area, continue to receive a year's subscription to SCARF at no extra cost, worth up to £730.
We offer a free six-week trial that gives you access to a complete half-term set of primary school resources, focusing on positive relationships and includes key SMSC and British Values elements.
Our SCARF resources are developed by teachers for teachers. Over 46,000 subscribe to SCARF as their chosen provider of PSHE. Find out more here.
Read some of our case studies from SCARF schools or contact us for a 1:1 walk-through. The SCARF team are always here to help.