Useful information for parents regarding the PSHE Curriculum
As part of our PSHE curriculum, it is a statutory legal requirement that we teach children the following objective:
· that each person’s body belongs to them, and the differences between appropriate and inappropriate or unsafe physical, and other, contact
This is designed to teach pupils how to stay safe from sexual abuse, without giving explicit information or telling scary stories or even using the term “sexual abuse.”
In the lesson, children have learned or revised the ‘PANTS’ acrostic, which stands for:
· Privates are private
· Always remember your body belongs to you
· No means no
· Talk about secrets that upset you
· Speak up, someone can help
More information about the Underwear Rule, including a short film and a parent guide can be found at www.nspcc.org.uk/underwearrule
Please be aware that in all classes, if the children identify parts of the body by name, we will teach and encourage the use of the correct terminology for those body parts. This is good practice for safeguarding so that children have the vocabulary to report any concerns they have.
More specific content for each class is described below:
Reception The children will learn the PANTS rule |
Year 1 The children will understand and revise the PANTS rules from the NSPCC. They will learn the parts of the body that should not be touched and situations where they might need to be (e.g. a doctor needing to do an examination). The children will learn about ‘good’ touch (such as wanted affection; safety and medical) and ‘bad’ touch. They will learn about how to get help if they need it. |
Year 2 Children will be able to: • revise the PANTS rule • know the difference between safe, unsafe and unwanted touch • know situations where someone may need to touch your private parts (e.g to keep you clean or healthy) • know how to say ‘no’ assertively |
Year 3/4 • revise the PANTS rule • Understand that they have the right to protect their personal body space; • Recognise how others' non-verbal signals indicate how they feel when people are close to their body space; • Suggest people they can talk to if they feel uncomfortable with other people's actions towards them • Understand when to keep something secret or confidential and when they should tell Read the book Some Secrets Should Never be Kept (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y13KGEq5C8&t=62s) from 0.28 seconds. |
Year 4/5 · The children will revise the above and learn about strategies to keep themselves safe if someone makes them feel uncomfortable. · The children will learn that deliberately taking photos of someone underneath their clothing (ie upskirting) is a crime |
Year 5/6 · The children will revise the above · The children will learn about the criminal nature of some forms of touch. This will include an age appropriate, non-explicit reference to female genital mutilation (although this is not named in the lesson – it is referred to as a procedure that some cultures do to girls which is said to make them into a woman. |