In 2025, Relationships Sex and Health Education (RSHE) remains a vital part of the primary school curriculum in England. It provides children with essential life skills, helping them to build healthy relationships, understand their bodies, and stay safe in an increasingly complex world. The latest Department for Education (DfE) guidance, updated in July 2025, makes one point very clear. Schools should work in close partnership with parents and carers, keeping them informed and involved at every stage.
Transparency is no longer just good practice. It is now an expectation. Parents should understand what their children are learning, how it is being taught, and what their rights are. Schools that embrace open communication not only meet statutory requirements but also build stronger relationships with families and create a more supportive environment for pupils.
Why Transparency Matters in RSHE
The updated statutory guidance emphasises that parents should be actively involved in RSHE. When schools are transparent about lesson content and teaching approaches, they empower parents to have informed, meaningful conversations with their children at home. This consistency helps to reinforce key messages, ensuring children hear the same accurate, age-appropriate information in both settings.
- Children gain confidence from consistent, supportive messages.
- Parents feel reassured and included in their child’s learning journey.
- Teachers experience fewer misunderstandings and greater trust from the school community.
Ultimately, openness around RSHE strengthens the partnership between home and school. The 2025 guidance recognises this as essential for safeguarding and personal development.
What the 2025 RSHE Guidance Requires
The July 2025 statutory RSHE guidance sets out clear expectations for parental engagement. Importantly, it does not expect teachers to share the entire curriculum in one sitting. Instead, it promotes a balanced, manageable approach that still offers genuine transparency.
- Representative samples. Schools should present parents with a selection of curriculum materials that show the approach, tone, and key topics taught in RSHE. This may include lesson plans, visual resources, and teaching slides from different year groups.
- Further requests. If a parent asks for more detail, schools should consider how to share additional resources appropriately. This might involve in-school viewing opportunities, secure online access, or printed extracts.
- Multiple engagement opportunities. Parents should be offered different ways to learn about RSHE, such as information evenings, online webinars, or drop-in sessions.
- Alternative access. If a parent cannot attend a scheduled session, schools should provide alternative arrangements such as recorded presentations or one-to-one discussions.
- Withdrawal rights. At primary level, parents can request to withdraw their child from sex education that sits outside the national science curriculum. They cannot withdraw their child from relationships education or health education, which includes puberty. While not statutory, it is good practice for the headteacher to meet with parents to discuss any withdrawal request and explain the implications.
This approach ensures parents are informed without overwhelming teachers while meeting all requirements of the DfE’s 2025 RSHE guidance.
Practical Ways to Engage Parents
A key part of building trust is making it easy for parents to access information about RSHE. Effective and achievable approaches include:
- Annual RSHE information evening. Showcase a sample of resources from different year groups and explain how lessons are tailored to be age-appropriate.
- Online curriculum walk-throughs. Create a short video where the RSHE lead outlines the year’s key topics and make it available on the school website or secure portal.
- Printed overviews. Provide term-by-term outlines of RSHE topics, highlighting sensitive areas in advance.
- Parent and child activities. Share optional discussion prompts so families can explore RSHE themes together at home.
- Feedback forms. Collect parent feedback after curriculum previews. This shows parents their opinions matter and helps refine delivery.
When schools are proactive and flexible in sharing RSHE content, trust grows and engagement improves.
Common Misunderstandings About RSHE
Even with clear communication, misunderstandings can arise. Addressing these directly helps parents feel reassured.
- Parents can withdraw their child from anything in RSHE. Not true. At primary level, withdrawal is only allowed for sex education outside the national science curriculum.
- Schools must give parents every lesson plan immediately. Not the case. Schools should show representative samples but must be prepared to share more if requested.
- RSHE teaches inappropriate material to young children. Incorrect. RSHE is always age-appropriate, gradual, and aligned with statutory outcomes. Sensitive topics are introduced carefully with safeguarding in mind.
By addressing these myths early, schools can reduce conflict and build stronger parental trust.
Creating a Culture of Openness
Transparency in RSHE is not a one-off meeting. It is a culture that schools embed by:
- Keeping RSHE policies up to date and available online.
- Communicating regularly about upcoming topics.
- Welcoming parent questions in an open and constructive way.
- Providing more than one way for parents to access information.
This ongoing commitment reassures parents that RSHE is not hidden or controversial but an essential part of preparing children for life.
The Bigger Picture and Why RSHE Needs Parental Partnership
Children today face challenges that previous generations did not. From online safety to changing social dynamics, young people need knowledge and skills that prepare them for modern life.
Parents are their child’s first educators, but they cannot do it alone. RSHE equips children with the tools to navigate friendships, emotions, health, and safety. By working together, schools and parents ensure these lessons are consistent and reinforced both at school and at home.
Final Thoughts
Being transparent with parents about RSHE is more than a statutory requirement. It is the foundation of effective, trusted teaching. The 2025 guidance provides schools with a clear pathway. Share representative samples, be open to requests for more, provide multiple ways for parents to engage, and ensure withdrawal rights are explained.
Schools that embrace this approach not only comply with the law but also build trust, strengthen partnerships, and create supportive environments where children can thrive.
