Relationships and sexuality education (RSE) is a statutory requirement in the Curriculum for Wales framework and is mandatory for all learners from ages 3 to 16.

In schools we have an important role to play in creating safe and empowering environments that support learners’ rights to enjoy fulfilling, healthy and safe relationships throughout their lives. This is critical to building a society which treats others with understanding and empathy, whatever their ethnicity, social economic background, disability, or sex, gender or sexuality.

The Welsh Government believes all children and young people have the right to receive high-quality, holistic and inclusive education about relationships and sexuality. High-quality, holistic and inclusive RSE is associated with a range of positive and protective outcomes for all learners and their communities and can, for example:

• help increase learners’ understanding of and participation in healthy, safe, and fulfilling relationships
• help young people recognise abusive or unhealthy relationships and seek support
• help reduce all bullying, including homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying, and increase safety and well-being for all learners
• help all learners make informed decisions about sexual intimacy and reproductive health
• help promote equality and equity of sex, gender and sexuality
• increase awareness, knowledge and understanding of gender-based and sexual violence

RSE aims to enable learners to:

• support their health and well-being
• develop healthy, safe and fulfilling relationships of all kinds, including those with family and friends, and in time, romantic and sexual relationships
• navigate and make sense of how relationships, sex, gender and sexuality shape their own and other people’s identities and lives
• understand and support their rights and those of others to enjoy equitable, safe, healthy and fulfilling relationships throughout their lives and advocate for these

RSE in the curriculum focuses on three broad strands:

• Relationships and identity: helping learners develop the skills they need to develop healthy, safe, and fulfilling relationships with others and helping them to make sense of their thoughts and feelings.
• Sexual health and well-being: helping learners to draw on factual sources regarding their sexual and reproductive health and well-being, allowing them to make informed decisions throughout their lives.
• Empowerment, safety and respect: helping to protect learners from all forms of discrimination, violence, abuse and neglect and enabling them to recognise unsafe or harmful relationships and situations, supporting them to recognise when, how and where to seek support and advice.

As a right respecting school we understand the importance of learning RSE and how it should highlight the right to:

• non-discrimination (Article 2)
• be heard and involved in decision-making (Article 12)
• freedom of expression (Article 13)
• follow your own religion (Article 14)
• have privacy (Article 16)
• access information to make informed decisions (Article 17)
• not be harmed and should be looked after and kept safe (Article 19)
• experience the highest attainable health, access to health facilities, and preventative health care (Article 24)
• education that prepares children to understanding others (Article 29)
• protection from sexual abuse and exploitation (Article 34)
• get special help if they have been abused (Article 39)