‘Growing and Changing Together’ Policy 2014-2015
1. Introduction – Context
At Cheetham CE Community Academy we recognise the need to „support young people
through their physical, emotional and moral development.‟1 We also recognise that children
should be taught how to „respect themselves and others and move with confidence from
childhood through adolescence into adulthood.‟2 Therefore after consultation with staff,
parents and governors we have decided to adopt a nationally accredited programme
„Growing and Changing Together‟ developed by Manchester Healthy School team. This
programme of study fulfils the legal requirements set out in the DfEE guidance 0016/2000.
This will be part of our Long Term PSHE plan and be delivered to children in Years 4-6. This
policy forms an appendix to our PSHE policy and should be read in conjunction with it
2. Legal/ National Requirements
a)
National Curriculum Science – Sex Education (statutory)
The formal elements of „Growing and Changing Together‟ in the National Curriculum Science
Orders across all key stages are mandatory for all pupils of primary and secondary age and
cover the biological aspects of „Growing and Changing Together‟ (see section 10.
Implementation)
b)
National Curriculum PSHE – ‘Growing and Changing Together’ (non-statutory)
It is widely recognised that sex education should be more than solely science if it is to meet
children‟s needs. The national Sex and Relationship Education Guidance (DfEE, 0116/2000)
advises schools on the themes that should be covered in „Growing and Changing Together‟ to
support pupils through their physical, emotional and moral development. This includes:
 Being taught to respect their own bodies
 Their responsibilities to others
 Building positive relationships with others involving trust and respect
 The importance of committed long term and loving relationships, including marriage
 The importance of managing risk
 Hygiene issues
 Cultural difference and diversity in relation to aspects of „Growing and Changing
Together‟
In addition, the 1996 Education Act, the Learning and Skills Act 2000, together with the Sex
and Relationship Guidance, state that:
 All schools must have an up to date policy that describes the content and organisation of
„Growing and Changing Together‟ provided outside the National Curriculum Science
Order. It is the school governing body‟s responsibility in consultation with the Head
teacher, to ensure that the policy is developed and made available to parents for
inspection.
 All maintained primary school governing bodies of must decide whether „Growing and
Changing Together‟ should be included in their school‟s curriculum and, if so, what the
educational provision should consist of and how it should be organised. They must keep
a written record of their decisions.
All parents have the „right to withdraw‟ their children from all or part of the school‟s „Growing
and Changing Together‟ programme except the formal „Growing and Changing Together‟
elements found in the statutory National Curriculum Science (see section 10.
Implementation). If parents/carers want their children to withdraw from the ‘Growing
and Changing Together’ taught sessions then they will have to put this in writing to the
Principal, even if they expressed this last year.
c)
Additional relevant legislation: The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations
2007, including Provision of Goods and Services to Lesbian and Gay Men /Young People
The teaching in „Growing and Changing Together‟ should meet the needs of all young people
whatever their developing sexuality or family circumstances. Schools should adhere to this
guidance dealing sensitively and appropriate with issues around sexuality.
For more information see:
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www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/equality/sexualorientation/regulations2007/guidancefors
chools/
d)
Section 28
This Act was repealed in November 2004. All schools and teachers must deal openly and
honestly with issues related to homophobic bullying and sexual orientation, e.g. lesbian and
gay sexuality
e)
OFSTED
Under Section 10 of the Schools Inspections Act 1996, OFSTED is statutorily required to
evaluate and report on the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils at any
school they inspect and this also includes evaluating and commenting on a school‟s Sex and
Relationship Education Policy. SRE provision will be examined in terms of the well being duty
on schools.
3. School Background
Cheetham CE Community Academy has over 500 pupils from all over the world. 98% of
pupils speak English as their second language and thus teachers are well experienced in
teaching EAL. 96% of the school population are Muslim and the school has noted the differing
languages, cultures and religion in its staffing make up. Yet whilst there is a strong religious
bond, socially and culturally the school population is extremely diverse. We also pray, eat
and fast and celebrate our religious occasions together. We deliver our „Growing and
Changing Together‟ unit in a manner which is sensitive to the needs of children from diverse
cultural and religious backgrounds. We also recognise that „Growing and Changing Together‟
has an important role to play in terms of fostering community cohesion, by teaching about
appropriate relationships, respect for others and celebrating diversity.
The Cheetham ward is affected by high levels of unemployment and mental health issues.
We believe that has „Growing and Changing Together‟ an important role to play in raising the
aspirations of children and fostering a positive self image and self esteem.
4. Ethos and Values
Mission Statement
In partnership, the governors, staff, parents and pupils of Cheetham CE Community Academy
aims to value, respect and celebrate the diversity of the whole school community.
Every pupil should receive their full entitlement to learn about ‘Growing and Changing
Together’ regardless of their gender, race, ethnicity, faith or sexual orientation. Our ‘Growing
and Changing Together’ curriculum acknowledges and celebrates diversity, within school and
the wider community.
Our school seeks continual improvement by providing opportunities for and listening to pupil,
parent and staff voices. In this we seek the views of others so that we can shape the future
direction of the school. We consult with parents, staff and pupils on the provision of ‘Growing
and Changing Together’
We aim to provide a welcoming, caring, healthy, safe and stimulating environment where we
can develop respect for ourselves as individuals and for others so that we all may form
healthy and fulfilling relationships. Our ‘Growing and Changing Together’ curriculum includes
work on healthy relationships, respect for self and others, and self esteem.
The „Growing and Changing Together‟ curriculum will reflect the values of our school as a
diverse C of E School, and will be taught in the context of relationships. In addition „Growing
and Changing Together‟, will promote children‟s self-esteem and emotional well-being and
help them to form and maintain worthwhile and satisfying relationships, based on respect for
themselves and for others, at home, school, work and in the community.
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The „Growing and Changing Together‟ curriculum reflects the values of our school. It is
designed to raise children‟s self esteem, help them understand their feelings and how to
manage them, encourage healthy and safe choices, help children learn to respect themselves
and others.
Through consultation with parents and staff, we aim to be culturally sensitive both in terms of
content and delivery. We recognise that children (both male and female) need to know about
puberty before the onset of physical changes. Any lessons which involve discussion about
body parts and changes will be taught in single sex groups. Teachers will also be advised to
include information about religious cleansing rituals during lessons about hygiene and
wherever possible a Muslim member of staff will support with the delivery of this.
We respect the views of our parents and carers. Before this unit is taught, staff will send a
letter to inform parents and carers when lessons will begin. Parents and carers can request a
resource pack in order to see what is being taught and support their child at home. If any
parents do object to the lessons about body changes they do have the right to withdraw their
children from those lessons and we can provide materials for parents to use with to approach
the issues with their child if they so wish.
Though children will learn about external and internal body changes which take place during
puberty, they will not learn about sexual intercourse at any point. The school nurse will
support with the delivery of some lessons and will also be available if parents wish to discuss
any issues with her. Use of correct scientific vocabulary for body parts will be encouraged.
All those who contribute to the growing and changing together curriculum will act within the
agreed values and legal frameworks. We will take care to ensure that personal beliefs and
attitudes of staff will not influence the teaching of this topic.
5. Curriculum Organisation
„Growing and Changing Together‟ will be taught in Years 4, 5 and 6 as part of our PSHE Long
Term Plan. The programme will be taught in the Spring term, when children have had time to
settle into their class and get to know their teacher and classmates. (As mentioned before
parents will be informed before the lessons take place). There will be six lessons for each
unit. These will either be taught weekly for half a term or blocked in and delivered over a few
weeks. The lessons build on each other and will progress in terms of knowledge and skills
which are taught over the three years. Over the six lessons six main themes will be covered
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Personal Identity, self esteem and confidence.
Friendships and relationships.
Growing up.
Body Changes.
Hygiene.
Personal Safety.
Though the „Growing and Changing Together‟ curriculum will not be taught explicitly in other
age groups some of these themes such as hygiene, safety, self esteem, stages of life and
friendships will be taught through other aspects of PSHE and science. These will be
consolidated and built upon during the „Growing and Changing Together‟ units.
6. Definition
According to the Education Guidance, „Growing and Changing Together‟ is “lifelong learning
about physical, moral and emotional development. It is about the understanding of the
importance of marriage for family life, stable and loving relationships, respect, love and care.
7. ‘Growing and Changing Together’ in relation to Islam
The „Growing and Changing Together‟ curriculum will be taught in a sensitive manner and we
believe it is also important to teach our children about growing and changing in relation to
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Islamic acts of cleanliness, purification and changes in the body. We believe it is important
that our children learn and understand this in relation to the Qu‟ran and Sunnah. In the older
year groups, we will remind the children that it is important to remember the 10 points of Fitra
(Sahih Al – Muslim) such as having a ghusal.
Body changes in the Sunnah and Hadiths
“These changes are from Allah (SWT) an
d with them come a great
responsibility; they are now adults in front of God.”
Cleanliness in the Sunnah and Hadiths
This hadiths show us that the important of wudhu (ablution) in Islam. In Islam the Arabic term
for purity is Taharah. Al Qur'an insists that the believer should maintain a constant state of
purity. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
“Cleanliness is half of faith (Praise be to Allah)”.
"Once I went up the roof of the mosque along with Abu Huraira (RA): He performed ablution
and said, "I heard the Prophet (S) saying, 'On the Day of Resurrection, my followers will be
called Al-Ghurr-ul-Muhajjalun from the traces of ablution and whoever can increase the area
of his radiance should do so by performing ablution in the most perfect manner.”
(Sahih Al-Bukhari, Vol. 1, Hadith No. 138)
8. Aim and Objectives
Aim:
 Contributing to the foundation of PSHE, the school‟s „Growing and Changing
Together‟ programme aims to „inform children and young people about relationships,
emotions, personal safety and hygiene, and should „enable them to develop personal
and social skills and a positive attitude to health and well-being‟.
Objectives:
The school‟s „Growing and Changing Together‟ programme will:
 Provide information which is relevant and appropriate to the age and maturity of the
pupils;
 Include the on-going development of communication and social skills
 Encourage the exploration and clarification of values and the development of positive
attitudes.
 Reflect and celebrate the diversity within our school
 Support children to understand what constitutes a healthy relationship, to have this
modelled by staff, and to know where to get help if they are worried
 Particularly aim to increase the self esteem and raise the aspirations of our female
pupils
9. Policy, Leadership and Management
Governors, in consultation with the head teacher, have a statutory responsibility for „Growing
and Changing Together‟ in their school. Governing bodies, together with the PSHE
coordinator, are expected to involve parents, pupils, staff, health professionals and other
agencies to ensure that the school‟s „Growing and Changing Together‟ programme addresses
the needs of the community, education, health priorities and the needs of the pupils
themselves. The policy will be reviewed with parents/carers every 2 years.
10. Implementation
a)
Before delivering ‘Growing and Changing Together’ sessions
Before staff deliver any „Growing and Changing Together‟ sessions to the children they need
to ensure the following steps have been completed:
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1) Make sure that this policy is up to date and if not make the coordinator aware of this. If the
policy is not up to date, then it will have to be reviewed by the coordinator, staff,
parents/carers and governors before delivering any sessions.
2) Staff need to ensure that they have read this policy and you are confident with the
contents.
3) In late Spring/early Summer, the coordinator will send letters to parents/carers in years 1-6
to inform them of what is being taught over the coming term. If parents/carers want their
children to withdraw from the ‘Growing and Changing Together’ taught sessions then
they will have to put this in writing to the Principal even if they expressed this last
year.
4) In late Spring/early Summer, the coordinator will set up a meeting for parents/carers to
discuss any questions or concerns. One meeting will take place for children in years 1-3 and
for children in years 4-6. This will be done delivered with a member of the Healthy Schools
team.
5) Parent workshops will be planned to provide additional support for parents in conjunction
with the Healthy School team and the Parent Coordinator
6) The coordinator will contact the school nurse to organise the planning and delivery of
„Growing and Changing Together‟ sessions and when they will take place
b) Curriculum
The minimum statutory requirement „Growing and Changing Together‟ is that schools must
deliver the National Curriculum for Science to all children within school:
National Curriculum Science
Key Stage 1

Animals, including humans, move, feed, grow,
use their sense and reproduce

Children should recognise and name the main
external parts of the human body

That humans can produce offspring and these
grow into adults

Children should recognise similarities
Key Stage 2

That the life processes common to humans and
other animals include nutrition, growth and
reproduction

About the main stages of the human life cycle,
including puberty.
In addition to the Science National Curriculum, PSHE provides an appropriate vehicle for
„Growing and Changing Together‟. A planned and co-ordinated approach to PSHE can
provide an appropriate framework for „Growing and Changing Together‟ to take place
providing pupils with a consistent message.
The context
There is a progression of knowledge between each year which will equip the children for what
they will learn in Science in later years.
Year 4
The children learn about their own external body parts, in single sex groups
Year 5
The children recap their external body parts and learn about their internal body changes, in
single sex groups.
Year 6
The children recap their external and internal body parts and in addition they will learn about
the external and internal body parts of the opposite gender. Once again this is in single sex
groups. In addition to this, there are discussions based around changing feelings and
managing feelings within the context of friendships, school and life at home.
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c)
Language
In years 1-3 it is important that staff respect the use of „family names‟ if children ever refer to
the names of intimate body parts. From year 4 onwards, it is important that staff teach and
use the scientific names for intimate body parts and not family names or „slang‟. As
mentioned before all lessons about body changes will be taught in single sex groups.
The language used should be
Year 4
puberty, penis, testicles, vagina and breasts
Year 5
puberty, penis, testicles, vagina, breasts, ovaries, urethra, eggs, sperm, sperm tube and
womb, cervix, fallopian tube, periods.
Year 6
penis, testicles, vagina, breasts, ovaries, eggs, sperm and womb. The school nurse will
introduce the term „wet dreams‟
d)
Resources
There are several resources to help teach the „Growing and Changing Together‟ curriculum.
In years 4, 5 and 6 the school nurse will use body board to illustrate body parts and names. It
has been decided that staff will not use the DVD provided for the children in years 4, 5 and 6
e)
Dealing with difficult questions
In order to pre-empt any potential difficult questions from pupils, all staff will use ground rules
and boundaries, covering behaviour within the lessons, and what is and is not appropriate to
ask or discuss. These will always include:





Respect
Confidentiality (with provisos for safeguarding)
No personal questions
No disclosures about self or others
Questions must be relevant to the content of the lesson
Throughout the curriculum, we will use an „ask it basket’ to allow children to ask questions
anonymously. This is just for children in years 4, 5 and 6 and these questions will be
answered with the school nurse. All questions will be screened by staff for appropriateness
before being answered to the whole class. Pupils will be made aware that not all questions in
the „ask it basket‟ will be answered, only those which are age appropriate.
All staff will take a consistent approach to age inappropriate questions. As a guide, a question
is age inappropriate where it is not covered in the growing and changing together curriculum
for the year which the child is in and/or if the question is about something which could NOT
be directly affecting the child.
If a question is deemed age inappropriate we will take the following action:
 Acknowledge the child‟s question
 Explain that the answer to their question is not covered in the curriculum in the year
that they are in
 Explain that this will be covered either in a later year in primary school, or when they
reach high school
 Encourage the pupil to speak to their parent, carer or another trusted adult
f)
Dealing with difficult topics
We recognise that „Growing and Changing Together‟ covers sensitive topics, and we will
address these in a manner consistent with the ethos and values of our school.
1. Wet dreams/menstruation
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These puberty changes are covered in terms of a normalising approach, i.e. supporting
children to understand that these changes happen to everyone and are not to be ashamed of.
The school nurse will discuss „wet dreams‟ in Y6
2. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender sexuality
This ties in with our school mission statement, of celebrating diversity in all its forms. We aim
to be inclusive of all children, regardless of their emerging sexuality or family background.
g)
Use of Visitors
Our school nurse is involved in co-delivering the „Growing and Changing Together‟ curriculum
and is expected to work within the schools „Growing and Changing Together‟ policy and
under the instruction of the head teacher, however when they are in their professional role
such as the school nurse in consultation with an individual pupil they should follow their own
professional codes of conduct (this is the case irrespective of who is paying them).
h)
Working with other agencies
The school nurse will be involved in delivering the curriculum, particularly when body changes
are being taught. Please ask Mrs Carter or any of the SMT if you need to contact the school
nurse to plan when she will offer support, this should be organised well in advance to ensure
she is available and lessons can run smoothly. The nurse will also be available to answer any
questions parents may have. Parents should ask Mrs Carter or any of the SMT if they wish to
speak with the nurse.
Staff have been trained to deliver the programme by a member of the Healthy Schools team
who developed the programme. They will also support teachers, particularly new teachers
with delivery and may team teach with them. Any other agencies should not be involved
without consultation with the Headteacher and/or the Healthy Schools Co-ordinators.
i)
Working with Parents
We will consult with parents and offer an awareness raising session annually, facilitated by
healthy schools. The sessions will cover the content of the curriculum, and the right to
withdraw. In the situation where children are withdrawn from „Growing and Changing
Together‟ lessons, the school has a responsibility to find alternative provision for those
children.
We respect the views of our parents and carers. Before this unit is taught, staff will send a
letter to inform parents and carers when lessons will begin. Parents and carers can request a
resource pack in order to see what is being taught and support their child at home. If any
parents do object to the lessons about body changes they do have the right to withdraw their
children from those lessons and we can provide materials for parents to use with to approach
the issues with their child if they so wish.
j)
Dealing with the Media
In dealing with the media, in the first instance members of the school community should refer
enquiries from the press to the Headteacher. The Headteacher may at their discretion,
contact Manchester City Council press office (0161 234 3729).
11. Monitoring, Assessing and Reviewing (refer to section 9 in PSHE Policy)
To ensure that the policy is adhered to and is effective, it will need to be monitored, reviewed
and evaluated regularly. The school will need to implement systems to ensure this takes
place and amend policies and processes in light of reviews and evaluations. The whole
school community should be consulted and given the opportunity to review and assess the
policy, this includes pupils, parents, staff and other staff members i.e. mentors etc, (refer to
section 2. Legal /National Requirements).
12. Relationship with other policies
a)
PSHE
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„Growing and Changing Together‟ sits within of the PSHE curriculum and as such should be
planned, delivered, co-ordinated, assessed and monitored in line with the school‟s PSHE
Policy.
b)
Anti-bullying
This should be linked to the school‟s broader policy on anti-bullying. An effective „Growing
and Changing Together‟ programme will including raising awareness about lesbian and gay
sexuality, therefore an anti-bullying policy needs to include strategies to tackling homophobic
bullying in school.
c)
Safeguarding/Child Protection
If any disclosure occurs during a „Growing and Changing Together‟ session or concerns are
raised, teachers will follow the school‟s procedure for Safeguarding/Child Protection.
d)
Confidentiality
Children have rights under the Children‟s Act 1989 and can thus expect to be treated
sensitively regarding seeking information and advice. However, staff should not give
guarantees of confidentiality where the safety and welfare of a child is at risk.
13. Breaches of the Policy (refer to section 11, in the PSHE Policy)
All staff are under a contractual obligation to uphold the policy as with all other school
policies.
14. Date and Review of the Sex and Relationship Education Policy
The governors agreed this policy in April 2015 and it will be reviewed in partnership with staff,
parents/carers and students again in April 2016 6unless there are changes in National or
Local Guidance.
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Produced in conjunction with the Manchester Healthy Schools Partnership.
For further support on Sex and Relationship Education contact 0161 882 2303
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