Relationships and Sex Education

What is Relationships and Sex Education (RSE)?

At Manchester Enterprise Academy we believe in ‘A Fantastic Future for All’ of our students and our Relationships and Sex Education curriculum supports this ethos. RSE is about the emotional, social and cultural development of pupils, and involves learning about relationships, sexual health, sexuality, healthy lifestyles, diversity and personal identity. RSE is not about the promotion of sexual activity. Relationships and Sex Education has been a statutory curriculum subject for all secondary schools since 2020. 

As part of our students’ education, we promote wellbeing and personal development through a comprehensive RSE education programme, as part of our Fantastic Futures curriculum. We believe that RSE gives young people the knowledge, understanding, attitudes and practical skills to live safe, healthy and productive lives, meeting their full potential. 

We believe that promoting the health and well-being of our pupils is an important part of their overall education. We believe that it is necessary for young people to learn about personal safety and relationships, in an age-relevant and age-appropriate way. 

RSE at MEA provides an opportunity for all students to:

  • Learn about themselves and others; 
  • Understand how to be safe and healthy, now and into their futures;
  • Understand how to manage their academic, personal and social lives in a positive way; 
  • Learn about wellbeing and mental health;
  • Develop resilience; 
  • Become equipped with the knowledge and capability to take care of themselves and know where to receive support if problems arise.

What do students learn about in RSE?

  • Different types of relationships, including friendships, family relationships, intimate relationships, dealing with strangers;
  • Their legal rights and responsibilities relating to the relationships with others, including relating to equality; consent and sexual harassment and forms of abuse;
  • How to recognise, understand and build healthy relationships, including self-respect and respect for others, commitment, boundaries, consent, and how to manage conflict
  • Healthy relationships and e-safety; 
  • How to recognise unhealthy relationships, abuse and the law;
  • How relationships may affect health and wellbeing, including mental health;
  • Diversity and identity;
  • Factual knowledge around sex, sexual health, sexuality and identity.

Right to Withdraw

If you would like to find out more about RSE, the Parental Right to Withdrawal and Parental Consultation or access further support; please contact Mr King, or view the RSE policy which is located here.

The statutory guidance for RSE and Health Education came into effect in all secondary schools in 2020, including academies, free schools, and independent schools. The statutory guidance means that: 

  • Parents are able to withdraw their child (following discussion with the school) from any or all aspects of Sex Education, other than those which are part of the science curriculum, up to and until three terms before the age of 16. 

  • Parents will not be able to withdraw their child from any aspect of Relationships Education or Health Education. 

  • Students have a right to opt into sex education from their 15th birthday, specifically three academic terms before they turn 16.

Year 7 students study the following topics: 
  • The features of identity, including diversity and stereotypes, and sexuality and gender identity.  
  • The importance of respecting others. 
  • The characteristics of positive and healthy relationships (in all contexts, including online) and how these relationships might contribute to human happiness. 
  • How to recognise who to trust and who not to trust, how to judge when a friendship is making them feel unhappy or uncomfortable, managing conflict and how to manage these situations and how to seek help or advice from others, if needed. 
  • What sorts of boundaries are appropriate in friendships with peers and others (including in a digital context) and that each person’s body belongs to them, and the differences between appropriate and inappropriate contact 
  • How to talk about emotions accurately and sensitively, using appropriate vocabulary. 
  • Rights and responsibilities relating to relationships with others. 
  • How aspects of health can be affected by choices they make, both positively and negatively. 
  • Ways to recognise, manage and respond to social pressures, including peer pressure and how to recognise the early signs of mental wellbeing concerns. 
  • Different types of bullying (including cyberbullying), the impact of bullying, responsibilities of bystanders to report bullying and how and where to get help for themselves or others. 
  • How to manage conflict within friendships and other types of relationships, including with others online and offline. 
  • How to identify harmful behaviours online (including bullying, abuse or harassment) and how to report, or find support, if they have been affected by those behaviours. 
  • Understanding what consent is, including coercion and manipulation and ways to obtain help and support for themselves and others. 
  • The changing adolescent body, including the physical and emotional changes which occur during puberty and menstrual wellbeing and facts about the menstrual cycle. 
  • Consent, including the age of consent. 
  • Recognising risky behaviour online and offline and developing resilience towards these. 
  • An understanding of the legal, social and physical impact of smoking, drugs and alcohol misuse, including the physical and psychological consequences of addiction. 
  • Developing an understanding of what wellbeing and healthy lifestyles are, including the importance of all aspects of health, including stress, sleep, diet and exercise. 
  • How to maintain healthy eating and the links between a poor diet and health risks. 
Year 8 students study the following topics: 
  • Factors which may affect mental and emotional health, both positively and negatively , including how to critically evaluate when something they do or are involved in has a positive or negative effect on their own or others’ mental health. 
  • The characteristics and evidence of what constitutes a healthy lifestyle, maintaining a healthy weight, including the links between an inactive lifestyle and ill health. 
  • Common types of mental ill health (e.g. anxiety and depression). 
  • The differences between healthy and unhealthy relationships, including domestic violence and coercion. 
  • Understanding body image and self-esteem and how to recognise, manage and respond to pressures around body image. 
  • How the internet can also be a negative place where online abuse, trolling, bullying and harassment can take place, which can have a negative impact on mental health. 
  • Developing a deeper understanding of online and offline risks and personal safety, including internet safety and online harms, online risks and identifying harmful behaviours online, and how to report and find support for themselves and others 
  • The laws around sexting, grooming and online harassment and the consequences of these behaviours. 
  • The impact of bullying and cyberbullying and that some types of behaviour within relationships are criminal, including violent behaviour and coercive control.  
  • The harm that alcohol and drug addiction can cause, both personally and socially, including short-term and long-term. 
  • The benefits of diversity.  
  • How stereotypes, in particular stereotypes based on sex, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation or disability, can cause damage. 
  • Why social media, some computer games and online gaming, for example, are age restricted. 
Year 9 students study the following topics: 
  • Developing digital resilience, including considering their rights, responsibilities and opportunities online, including that the same expectations of behaviour apply in all contexts, including online. 
  • Key issues as privacy; cyberbullying cyber stalking; ‘Fear of Missing Out’, including how social media and digital media can have both positive and negative impacts on self-esteem and emotional wellbeing. 
  • Laws relating to behaviour online, including sexting, sharing of and viewing material and keeping healthy online, including online behaviours such as image and information sharing. 
  • The legal rights and responsibilities regarding equality and that everyone is unique and equal. 
  • Understanding of different types of committed, stable relationships, including marriage, issues relating to forced marriage and the characteristics of positive and healthy relationships. 
  • Criminal exploitation, for example, through gang involvement or ‘county lines’ drugs operations. 
  • How to recognise radicalisation and grooming, both online and offline, including the signs of grooming and ways to seek help and support for themselves or others. 
  • How to identify harmful behaviours online (including bullying, abuse or harassment) and how to report, or find support, if they have been affected by those behaviours. 
  • Types of behaviour within relationships that are criminal, including violent behaviour, sexting and harassment. 
  • A deeper understanding of LGBT Identities, discrimination, hate crime and hate speech, including the impact that this has on individuals, communities and society. 
  • The characteristics and evidence of what constitutes a healthy lifestyle, maintaining a healthy weight, including the links between an inactive lifestyle and ill health, including cancer and cardiovascular ill-health. 
  • Deeper insight to the harms caused by alcohol misuse, smoking and legal and illegal drugs, including: the facts about legal and illegal drugs and their associated risks, the link between drug use, and the associated risks, including the link to serious mental health conditions. 
  • The law around substance misuse, including relating to the supply and possession of illegal substances. 
Year 10 students study the following topics: 
  • Intimate and sexual relationships, including sexual health. 
  • How the media may portrayal unrealistic or idealised concepts of families or intimate relationships. 
  • The range of different types of relationships, and the characteristics and legal status of different types of long-term relationships, including the characteristics of healthy relationships and consequences of different types of abuse, including domestic violence and coercive control. 
  • The roles and responsibilities of parents with respect to raising of children, including the characteristics of successful parenting and challenges relating to teenage pregnancy. 
  • How to recognise the characteristics and positive aspects of healthy one-to-one intimate relationships, which include mutual respect, consent, forced marriage and arranged marriages. 
  • That there are a range of strategies for identifying and managing sexual pressure, including understanding peer pressure, resisting pressure and not pressurising others and that that there are a range of strategies for identifying and managing sexual pressure, including understanding peer pressure, resisting pressure and not pressurising others. 
  • The facts about the full range of contraceptive choices, efficacy and options available and he facts around pregnancy including miscarriage. 
  • That there are choices in relation to pregnancy and where to get further help. 
  • How the different sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDs, are transmitted, how risk can be reduced through safer sex. 
  • The importance of and facts about testing and screening, including how to access these services. 
  • Facts about prevalence of some STIs, the impact they can have on those who contract them and key facts about treatment. 
  • How the use of alcohol and drugs can lead to risky sexual behaviour and how to get further advice, including how and where to access confidential sexual and reproductive health advice and treatment. 
  • How people can actively communicate and recognise consent from others, including sexual consent, and how and when consent can be withdrawn (in all contexts, including online). 
  • That specifically sexually explicit material e.g. pornography presents a distorted picture of sexual behaviours, can damage the way people see themselves in relation to others and negatively affect how they behave towards sexual partners. 
  • How to end relationships, and manage conflict within intimate relationships, including where to seek help, support and guidance for themselves or others.  
  • Gender identity, equality and diversity. 
  • Violence against women and girls and the impact of domestic abuse. 
  • Hate crime, hate speech and the impact and consequences (including legal) of hate crime. 
Year 11 students study the following topics: 
  • The importance of health and wellbeing as young adults, exploring rights, responsibilities and strategies which link to positive physical, emotional, mental and social health and how ow the relationship between greater responsibility, pressure and independence can have on health and wellbeing. 
  • Understanding of the importance of healthy lifestyle choices on health and wellbeing, including the impact of poor diet, physical inactivity, sleep and nutrition has on aspects of health. 
  • To understand what stress is and how to manage stress, including stress which results from relationships with others. 
  • How idealised images of bodies and the pressure to conform, can adversely affect body image and self-esteem. 
  • Ways to take responsibility for monitoring personal health and wellbeing, including sun safety, self-examination and screening. 
  • How to reduce the risk of contracting or passing on sexually transmitted infections and what taking responsibility for sexual health is.