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Have you heard about RSHP learning before? The topics that can be covered in RSHP learning are things like friendships and relationships, finding out about our body, learning about puberty and as young people get older more detail about being healthy and safe when it comes to relationships and sexual health. There is also learning that helps children and young people think about the needs of babies and children and helps them reflect on what it might be like to be a parent or carer one day.  

On RSHP education, the United Nations says:

[Learning] starts in childhood and progresses through adolescence and adulthood, building knowledge and skills through a carefully phased process over time, like any other subject in the curriculum.

– UNESCO (2015) Emerging Evidence, Lessons and Practice in Comprehensive Sexuality Education A Global Review.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

If you want to know more about Health and Wellbeing in the curriculum of your child’s nursery or school you can go here:

education.gov.scot/media/5p4dvqvm/health-and-wellbeing-eo.pdf

Denominational schools have their own approach to school-based learning, you can find more here:

https://sces.org.uk/health-relationships/

To find out more about what learning on RSHP topics can look like for children and young people of different ages, at home and in nursery or school, we have provided summary information below.

Children in nursery and P1

At home, in early learning and at school children learn about their health and wellbeing. The topic area that nursery and school call Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood (RSHP) can seem like an odd title when we are thinking about children who are just 2- to 5-year-olds, so it is worth explaining what this means for our youngest children.

As you read this as a parent or carer you will see that a lot of this learning happens when you play and talk and read together day-to-day; this is how learning will be supported at nursery and in P1 too.

RSHP learning helps 2- to 5-year-olds to learn about families and friendships. Children can learn:

  • That all our families are different, and that members of their family provide care and love.
  • How to make and keep friendships, thinking about how they get along with other children, play together, co-operate and share. This can include learning about personal space and to recognise and respect how another person is feeling.
  • About the importance of kindness and showing kindness to others.

RSHP learning helps 2- to 5-year-olds to learn that every child is unique and special. Children can learn:

  • That people are individual and unique.
  • About the similarities and differences among children in their group.
  • To understand that treating someone badly if they are different from you, is not okay.

RSHP learning helps 2- to 5-year-olds to learn about their body. Children can learn:

  • Names for parts of their body and that parts of their body are private.
  • That keeping clean is important, this includes learning about hand washing and brushing teeth.

RSHP learning helps 2- to 5-year-olds to learn about their feelings and asking for help. Children can learn:

  • To recognise and express their feelings, including when they might feel safe or unsafe, happy, or worried.
  • To identify adults that they can go to if they have a question or a worry, introducing the idea of trust.

RSHP learning helps 2- to 5-year-olds to learn about where living things come from and who looks after them.Children can learn about:

  • The needs of plants and animals.
  • Pregnancy and looking after a baby.

The professional people who help and care for them, like nursery staff, teachers, doctors, or nurses.

Children in P2, P3 and P4

At home and at school children learn about their health and wellbeing. The topic area that schools call Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood (RSHP) can seem like an odd title when we are thinking about children who are just 6- to 8-year-olds, so it is worth explaining what this means for children that are in P2, P3 or P4.

You will know as a parent or carer that at this age children become more curious, and they are interested in their bodies and things like how babies are made. As you read this as a parent or carer you will see that a lot of this learning happens when you play and talk and read together day-to-day.

RSHP learning helps 6- to 8-year-olds to learn about families and relationships. Children can learn:

  • That all our families are different.
  • About all the adults in their lives that love and care for them; helping children to identify the adults they can trust and go to with questions or worries.
  • About making and having friends.
  • About the importance of respect for others and the importance of being kind.
  • That we are all unique and special; that some people have a disability; that some people are lesbian, gay or bisexual.

RSHP learning helps 6- to 8-year-olds to learn about growing up and their body. Children can learn:

  • That they are not limited by stereotypes, that they can be any kind of girl or boy they want to be.
  • That they can have friendships with both boys and girls.
  • About the names for parts of their body, looking after their body and keeping clean.
  • How their body changes as they grow, preparing children for the early changes that will come with puberty.
  • That parts of their body are private.

RSHP learning helps 6- to 8-year-olds to learn about how life (including human life) begins, pregnancy and birth. Children can learn about:

  • The life cycles of plants and animals.
  • How a baby is made (conception).
  • Pregnancy and how a baby is born.
  • What a baby needs and how to care for a baby.

In P2, P3 and P4 children will have lessons where they do their RSHP learning at school. But there are lots of opportunities to learn together at home and school through play, chatting, responding to questions, and reading books.

Children in P5, P6 and P7

At home and at school children learn about their health and wellbeing. The topic area that schools call Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood (RSHP) is part of this learning.

As a parent or carer, you know that children at this age are curious. They are interested in how people get on, learning about their bodies and will have questions about sex. While learning at school is important, children are also dependent on their parents and carers to look after them, love and care for them and help them learn behaviours and values for life.

RSHP learning helps 9- to 11-year-olds to learn about relationships. Children can learn:

  • What makes then unique and what makes people alike and what makes us different.
  • About making and having friends.
  • That they are not limited by stereotypes, that they can be any kind of girl or boy they want to be.
  • About loving relationships and being attracted to others.
  • About respect for others and the importance of being kind – in our face-to-face relationships and online.
  • About equality, that everyone should have a fair and equal life regardless of their sex, sexual orientation or being transgender.

RSHP learning helps 9- to 11-year-olds to learn about being safe. Children can learn about:

  • Social media and being safe and smart online.
  • Feeling safe and unsafe.
  • Different kinds of abuse and neglect that can happen to a child, what we can do to protect ourselves, who we can go to with worries, and learning that children are never to blame for abuse.
  • What we mean by consent.
  • Who they can go to for help and support.

RSHP learning helps 9- to 11-year-olds to learn about growing up and how their body is changing. Children can learn about:

  • Looking after their body and keeping clean.
  • Puberty and how the bodies and emotions of both girls and boys change.

RSHP learning helps 9- to 11-year-olds to learn about sex, conception, pregnancy, birth and being a parent/carer. Children can learn about:

  • What ‘having sex’ is.
  • How adults plan and prevent pregnancy: learning about contraception and condoms.
  • How a baby is made (conception), pregnancy and how a baby is born.
  • Being a parent and thinking about what kind of parent they would be.

One question often asked is why learn about sexual intercourse in primary school. In a recent report the Children’s Commissioner in England reported that by age 11, 27% of children had seen pornography; the purpose of RSHP learning is to offer clear information that explains sex is something adults do in a loving relationship. This is perhaps something you would want to talk about more in a chat with us. In P5, P6 and P7 children will have RSHP lessons at school. But there are lots of opportunities to learn together at home and school through play, chatting, responding to questions, and reading books.

Young people in Secondary School: S1 to S6

At home and at school young people learn about their health and wellbeing. Learning about Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood (RSHP) at school is part of Personal and Social Education.

At secondary school learning starts in S1 and S2, then continues with respect for the young people’s growing maturity through their S3 and S4 years. Then, for young people who are at school in S5 or S6 or at college, there are opportunities to continue learning as they reflect on becoming young adults.

Even though young people become increasingly self-sufficient, young people of secondary school age are still dependent on their parents and carers to look after them, love and care for them and help them learn behaviours and values for life.

RSHP learning helps young people at secondary school to learn about relationships. They can learn about:

  • Loving relationships and being attracted to others.
  • Making relationships work.
  • Respect for others and the importance of being kind – in our face-to-face relationships and online.

RSHP learning helps young people at secondary school to learn about growing up and their body. They can learn about:

  • Puberty and how the bodies and emotions of both girls and boys change as they grow – this includes learning about menstruation (periods) and masturbation.

RSHP learning helps young people at secondary school to learn about emotional wellbeing. They can learn about:

  • Feeling emotional.
  • Looking after themselves and others.
  • Body image and the pressures on young people.

RSHP learning helps young people at secondary school to learn about being safe. They can learn about:

  • Social media and being safe and smart online.
  • What we mean by consent.
  • Abuse in relationships – considering grooming, sexual exploitation, partner control, coercion and violence.
  • Pornography – what it is and what harm it does.
  • Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).
  • Who they can go to for help and support, including Sexual Health Services.

RSHP learning helps young people at secondary school to learn about sex and sexuality. They can learn about:

  • The age of consent.
  • The pressures young people can feel about having sex.
  • That some people are lesbian gay, bisexual or transgender.
  • That sex should be pleasurable.
  • Getting pregnant, contraception and condoms.

RSHP learning helps young people at secondary school to learn about gender. They can learn about:

  • Gender stereotypes.
  • Equality.
  • That they can be any kind of boy or girl they want to be.
  • Feminism.
  • Sexual harassment.

RSHP learning helps young people at secondary school to learn about being a parent/carer. They can learn about:

  • Being a parent and thinking about what kind of parent they would be.
  • How having a baby changes the parent’s life.
  • Important thing about child development including the importance of nurture and play for babies and children.