Building Healthy, Respectful Relationships
Understanding relationships is essential for children’s wellbeing and future success. At 1decision, our Relationships learning area provides a carefully sequenced, age-appropriate progression that builds pupils’ knowledge, confidence and respect year on year.
Pupils develop an understanding of relationships in their lives, learning to recognise healthy and unhealthy behaviours. As they progress, they explore personal boundaries, including safe and unsafe touch, building confidence to speak up and seek support if needed. In upper Key Stage 2, pupils are introduced to puberty and, where a school chooses to deliver it, sex education. Immersive video scenarios and embedded assessments support decision making, identify gaps and ensure children are prepared for positive relationships.
Click below to review the knowledge organisers for this area.
In Year 1, children begin to develop an early understanding of positive relationships in everyday life. They explore their ideas about how people show care, kindness and respect at home and at school. Children begin to recognise behaviours that help build positive relationships and those that may upset others. They learn simple ways to treat others kindly and begin to understand how trusted adults can help when they need support with friendships or feelings.
In Year 2, children deepen their understanding of positive relationships by exploring emotions and how they influence the way people treat one another. They learn to recognise and name a range of feelings and understand that emotions can be expressed through words and actions. Pupils develop empathy by considering situations from another person’s point of view and why it is important to care about others’ feelings. They also begin to recognise bullying behaviours and explore ways to respond and seek help.
In Year 3, children broaden their understanding of positive relationships by exploring respect, personal boundaries and how their actions affect others. They learn the importance of caring about other people’s feelings and how empathy supports healthy relationships. Pupils develop their understanding of appropriate and inappropriate touch, personal boundaries & body autonomy. They also learn the correct names for body parts and understand who they can ask for help if they feel worried or uncomfortable.
In Year 4, children re-establish what they already know about positive relationships before building on this through more complex learning. They revisit behaviours that support healthy relationships and begin to understand how relationships can change as people grow. Pupils explore different types of relationships, including families, and consider how people support one another. They also develop their understanding of healthy and unhealthy relationships and learn how to ask for help from trusted people.
In Year 5, children further develop their understanding of relationships by exploring the changes that occur during puberty and how these can affect their bodies, emotions and interactions with others. They learn about the importance of respect, privacy and personal boundaries as they grow. Pupils also revisit a range of relationship topics, reflecting on the views of adults & children beyond the school setting through discussion and activities about respectful & healthy relationships.
In Year 6, children consolidate and extend their understanding of respectful & healthy relationships as they prepare for greater independence. They explore how relationships may change as people grow & recognise behaviours that support positive interactions. Pupils evaluate situations that may affect relationships and develop strategies to respond responsibly & seek support when needed. Where schools choose to deliver sex education, pupils will also learn about human reproduction and how conception occurs.