Prioritising RSHE in secondary schools – How to make more time and space for RSHE and why it matters

Why RSHE must be a priority, and not an add-on

High quality RSHE (Relationships, Sex and Health Education) is not just about delivering statutory content. When done well, it equips young people with the skills to navigate real life, including emotional regulation, critical thinking, empathy, resilience and making healthy choices. These skills influence pupil behaviour, relationships and readiness to learn, with knock-on effects on wider school priorities such as attendance, wellbeing and safeguarding.

The 2025 RSHE guidance emphasises whole-school approaches to wellbeing, relationships and behaviour. Schools report that embedding RSHE across the curriculum, form time and assemblies, rather than confining it to one lesson per week. improves student engagement, confidence and sense of belonging.

The benefits of prioritising RSHE

Schools that prioritise RSHE in this way consistently report tangible improvements:

• Improved attendance as pupils develop a stronger sense of belonging
• Better emotional regulation, meaning students are more settled and ready to learn across all subjects
• Better behaviour, with fewer sanctions needed 
• More effective safeguarding, driven by a clearer understanding of healthy and unhealthy behaviours
• Increased staff confidence, enabling all adults to handle sensitive conversations with greater consistency 

While these outcomes may not always be as immediately measurable as exam results, they underpin academic success. Pupils who feel safe, supported and understood are better able to engage with learning, manage pressure, and succeed over time.

Common barriers to prioritising RSHE

Despite its importance, many schools face a variety of challenges when it comes to protecting time for RSHE:

• Assessed subjects often take precedence.
• RSHE may still be perceived as an ‘extra’ rather than an essential part of a student’s education, particularly when outcomes appear less tangible
• Many teachers are not RSHE specialists and may feel uncertain about addressing sensitive or controversial topics.

• A lack of shared understanding of what a whole-school approach to RSHE actually looks like
• Difficulty aligning efforts and advocating for meaningful, long-term change

How schools can make time and space for RSHE

Buy-in and leadership

Concern: I’m only one person, I can’t do everything!

A good place to start when considering how to make more space for RSHE is buy-in. RSHE cannot sit with one individual alone. While PSHE or Personal Development leads play a vital role, RSHE should be understood as part of wider, strategic school priorities.

It is essential that key stakeholders, including senior leaders, governors, staff, parents and students, understand why RSHE matters. When its contribution to safeguarding, wellbeing, behaviour, attendance and also inspection outcomes is clearly articulated, it becomes far easier to justify protected time.

RSHE should sit firmly within a school’s Personal Development strategy and be planned collaboratively. 

Effective collaboration includes:

• Senior leaders championing RSHE as a whole-school priority
• PSHE or Personal Development leads coordinating content 
• Staff leading form time working alongside PSHE leads to ensure consistent messaging and planned alignment with curriculum RSHE
• The Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) being actively involved, recognising RSHE as a key preventative safeguarding measure

When these roles work in isolation, RSHE can feel fragmented and easily sidelined. When they work together, it becomes embedded, coherent and sustainable.

Buy-in is not about adding more to one person’s workload. It is about building a shared understanding and shared responsibility across the school community.

Using evidence and data 

Concern: I’m struggling to get buy-in!

Schools can strengthen the case for RSHE by using evidence beyond exam data:

• Pupil voice and feedback
• Staff observations
• Safeguarding trends
• Behaviour and attendance data

Student voice, in particular, is a powerful advocacy tool when seeking buy-in from senior leaders and governors.

Even without formal assessment, schools have observed tangible outcomes: improved student wellbeing and emotional literacy, reduced behavioural incidents, increased student confidence in raising safeguarding concerns, greater staff confidence, and more positive engagement with RSHE overall. 

Embedding RSHE across the school, making it visible, relevant, and supported by confident staff, creates a culture where the subject has lasting impact on relationships, wellbeing, and life readiness.

Embedding RSHE across the school

Concern: Our timetable is already so full – we don’t have any extra time!

A key lesson from schools with an effective RSHE provision is that it works best when treated as more than just a lesson in the timetable. RSHE shapes students’ daily experience:  how confident they feel, their emotional literacy and their trust in staff to share concerns.

Prioritising RSHE does not always require additional lessons. Many schools strengthen their RSHE provision by making better use of existing structures such as:

• Using form time, assemblies, enrichment and pastoral sessions strategically
  
• Providing short, discussion-led resources for tutors
  
• Sharing resources and joining up approaches across the school
  

Supporting staff confidence

Concern: Staff don’t feel confident teaching RSHE or having difficult conversations!

Investing in staff confidence is essential to prioritising RSHE. When staff feel equipped to model healthy relationships and respond appropriately to students’ questions, concerns and disclosures, students are more likely to engage with RSHE content and feel confident raising safeguarding issues. 

We can build teacher confidence by:

• Increasing CPD time for RSHE 

Targeted CPD plays a key role in building this confidence and supporting consistent, effective practice across the school. We know that directed CPD time can be tricky to find in busy school schedules and timetables are often already full. However, when senior leaders and key stakeholders are fully on board, as outlined in the earlier section on buy-in, it becomes much easier to prioritise and plan this time.

Working with SLT to build CPD opportunities for all staff, whether they deliver content through the curriculum or work pastorally with pupils (e.g., tutors), ensures staff feel better equipped to teach RSHE and handle difficult conversations confidently and consistently.

• Making the curriculum visible and practical 

Frequently, RSHE is being delivered by non-specialists and so it is easy for staff to see this subject as an additional strain on their already full workload. Providing accessible resources, such as centralised overviews, links to lesson plans, guidance sheets, discussion prompts and signposting to trusted external organisations, ensures teachers are prepared to handle sensitive topics and to facilitate meaningful conversations. 

Student voice and engagement

Concern: Our students are not engaged in RSHE!

Students should be at the heart of all school decisions and this is especially true for RSHE. RSHE is constantly evolving, so it’s crucial to be responsive to what’s happening in the real world and in young people’s lives. Schools that actively listen to pupils and involve them in shaping content see higher engagement with this subject.

This can include:

• Regularly asking students what they want to learn more about
• Gathering feedback on RSHE provision and how they feel about it, not just once but as an ongoing conversation
• Involving students in planning assemblies, projects, or other initiatives that connect learning to real-world issues

By making student voice a continuous part of RSHE planning, schools ensure that content is relevant, engaging and responsive to the needs and interests of young people.

Parent communication and engagement

Concern: Parents might not support RSHE or request withdrawals!

Open communication builds trust and reinforces learning. Schools should:

• Share what students are learning in a variety of ways for parents 
• Explain the rationale behind lessons and the wider Personal Development strategy
• Welcome conversations with parents and confidently address concerns

Alignment across the school, including clear communication with parents, is crucial. Sharing what students are learning via newsletters, social media and information evenings builds trust and encourages conversation at home which strengthens the impact of RSHE. Consistent messaging ensures pupils receive coherent guidance, while parents understand the rationale behind lessons and the wider personal development strategy.

It can feel daunting to open up communication with parents around RSHE, especially when schools worry about the right to withdraw. However, these conversations should be welcomed. Schools should feel confident explaining the why behind the lessons and content being taught. We cannot hide behind withholding information: transparency helps build trust, understanding and support for RSHE across the whole school community.

Summary of our top tips for making space for RSHE

• Get buy-in from leaders, staff, parents, and students.
• Align all roles so RSHE is consistent, coherent and embedded school-wide.
• Embed RSHE across the curriculum, form time, assemblies and enrichment.
• Use evidence: pupil voice, safeguarding and behaviour data, to get buy-in and show impact.
• Invest in staff confidence through CPD and accessible resources.
• Listen to students and involve them in shaping content.
• Communicate openly with parents and explain the ‘why’ behind content.

For schools looking to explore how RSHE can be embedded across the whole school, our blog on what a whole-school approach to RSHE looks like in practice provides practical ideas and examples. Read more here.