The aim of RSHE (Relationships, Sex and Health Education) and Wellbeing at Westminster is to provide all pupils with a holistic curriculum that transcends individual lessons, enabling valuable messages to become a part of whole-school life, supporting pupils into adulthood. To achieve this goal, all pupils follow a spiral curriculum, designed so that important themes outlined in the statutory guidance Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education (DfE, 2020), our RSE policy and beyond are revisited throughout a pupil’s time at Westminster: key messages are reinforced and built upon each year at developmentally appropriate stages.

The curriculum is divided into three main themes:

1. Health and Wellbeing – puberty, mental health, resilience, keeping active, and healthy eating.
2. Relationships – respectful and healthy relationships (both on- and off-line), kindness and sex education.
3. Living in the Wider World – career planning, financial literacy and exploring our rights and responsibilities.

Our aim is to help pupils to:

• respect differences of attitudes and opinions;
• challenge discrimination and stereotypes;
• develop resilience to be able to recover from setbacks and challenging periods in their lives;
• build the capacity to forge positive relationships in their lives;
• understand intimacy, including romantic and sexual intimacy;
• know how to access support and advice around all aspects of health (sexual, mental or physical);
• have a basic understanding of the law (including the Equality Act 2010) as relates to relationships, consent and sexual activity.
• understand the reasons for delaying sexual experience and for any sexual activity to be protected;
• have an understanding of STIs;
• have knowledge of contraception;
• avoid being pressured into unwanted sexual activity;
• use social media appropriately, lawfully and positively;
• manage strong feelings (including those of sexual attraction);
• develop a support network of reliable friends and adults.

Delivery of timetabled lessons for all year groups is taught by teachers who have on-going professional development training across a range of topics which fall under the aegis of RSHE, and who are also experienced teachers of other subjects at Westminster. Class sizes for these lessons are kept modest in size (usually 10 to 15 pupils), in order to allow for discussion and to foster an even more approachable setting given the nature of the subject.

The content of the lessons is created by two leads (one for the Upper School and one for the Lower School), each of whom tailors resources to be age appropriate for each year group, in line with the topics on the spiral curriculum. Pupil feedback from surveys conducted at the end of each half term also helps to ensure that content and topics help to fill any gaps in knowledge and tackle misconceptions across themes. These resources are then disseminated to those allocated to teach the course across the School.

The delivery of material is also supplemented by external providers throughout the course of the academic year, as well as supported through tutorial time. The Head of Wellbeing and the Heads of Year liaise to ensure that tutorial material is appropriate and in line with the spiral curriculum for each given year group. The Heads of Year in turn ensure that their tutor team is well equipped to deliver follow-up content. This allows for a multifaceted approach to the delivery of the same topic, allowing for reflection and more opportunity to discuss with a plethora of different staff members.

Contact the Head of Wellbeing
emma.blakemore@westminster.org.uk

Staffing and Provision
The School’s Surgery is housed in the heart of the School and is staffed from 8.30am to 5.00pm by the School Nursing Sister, School Nurse and Medical Receptionist, as well as being supported by the Matrons who are all first aid qualified; outside of hours, support is available directly from the Matrons. Additionally, for boarders, the School Medical Officer (SMO) provides bi-weekly surgeries for pupils. The SMO also advises the School on important matters of policy and provides advice to the School on individual cases where necessary.

• For day pupils, the Surgery provides emergency care when needed as a supplement to the day pupils’ own GP provision.
• For boarders, the Surgery hosts the pupils’ GP surgery, supported as it is by two clinics a week hosted by the School’s GP.

The accommodation comprises two consulting rooms and a room to house pupils in need of rest, as well as bathroom and dispensing facilities. In addition, the boarding houses have separate rooms adjoined to each matron’s accommodation.

Pupil Health Updates
At the start of every term it is important for the School Nursing Sister to know whether pupils have received any form of medical treatment during the holidays and whether they are taking any new medication when they return to School.

• If a pupil has received any medical treatment or medication, please email the School Nursing Sister with details.
• If a pupil is unwell, please do not return them to School until they are fully recovered. In the case of diarrhoea and / or vomiting, pupils must not return to School until 48 hours after the last bout of illness.

Gillick Competency and Fraser Guidelines
Many of the pupils at Westminster are between the ages of 12 and 16 years: the Fraser Guidelines prevail. Gillick competency and Fraser guidelines refer to a legal case which looked specifically at whether doctors should be able to give contraceptive advice or treatment to under 16-year-olds without parental consent. But since then, they have been more widely used to help assess whether a child has the maturity to make their own decisions and to understand the implications of those decisions.

Contact the Surgery
surgery@westminster.org.uk