Curriculum
At MPS we have an ambitious curriculum in place, which aims to engage and inspire our young learners. A complete curriculum review took place in 2024 to ensure that the Montgomery Primary School Curriculum provides a progressive wealth of learning experiences, including a breadth and depth of teaching in each individual subject area, relevant educational trips and a range of exciting visitors to school. Further reviews have taken place to ensure we are offering the best curriculum options for the children of MPS.
Curriculum maps are available termly and are shared with our parents at the start of term (also available by navigating to the the Classroom tab on the menu bar above and then select the relevant year group from the drop down menu).
Our focus on developing the children's Reading, Writing and Maths will continue this year with increased rigour. Parents will receive termly academic reports on their child's progress and attainment in these subject areas. We appreciate parental support in helping us improve our children's love of books in the upcoming terms.
If you have any queries about our new curriculum, please do not hesitate to contact the Headteacher, Abbie Fairbairn who will be happy to discuss these.
RSHE Curriculum
RSE Consultation Autumn 2026
The DfE has updated its guidance on the teaching of RHSE and this is statutory from September 2026. This complements the ‘Keeping children Safe in Education 2026’ requirements. RHSE is plays a crucial role in safeguarding children.
As a school, we have decided in the light of this new guidance to use CORAM SCARF resources for both PSHE and RSE (because the overlap and changes in required content around relationships and health education and the specific sex education (in addition to the required science content - humans and other animals) meant that having separate schemes made the overall curricula incoherent. CORAM has a dedicated team which will ensure that our resources and teaching are fully compliant and updated to meet the new guidance – and any subsequent updates.
The key point to note is that like our current curriculum, parents may only withdraw children from the optional lesson in year 6 about conception. All other lessons come under relationships, puberty and ‘humans and other animals’ units (all of which are now statutory under the RHSE or Science curricula).
What we teach
A summary of what we will be taught in relationships education through SCARF:
4-5 year-olds: being the same and different, our special people, different families, different homes, our feelings, being unique and special, being kind, caring and friendly, keeping safe, keeping healthy, resilience, life stages and growing from young to old.
5-6 year olds: explores themes around families and their special people, the importance of respecting others including those that are different from us, recognising that genitals are private and their correct names; develops understanding of the difference between surprises and secrets (good or bad secrets) and when not to keep bad adult secrets; helps develop judgement of what kind of physical contact is acceptable or unacceptable and how to respond to this (including who to tell and how to tell them).
6-7 year olds: looks at the process of growing from young to old and how people’s needs change; explores the opportunities that increasing independence can bring. Along with this comes the growing need to respect themselves and others and that this respect extends to keeping themselves and others safe.
7-8 year-olds: introduces themes about change, including menstruation and bereavement, healthy and unhealthy relationships (friendships), how images in the media do not always reflect reality and the impact of this on people’s thoughts and feelings; the nature and consequences of discrimination; the importance of protecting personal information online; understanding risk and building resilience; making informed choices; resisting pressure and recognising when and how to ask for help.
8-9 year-olds: builds on the themes covered in previous years, looking more closely at body changes as they approach and move through puberty including: menstruation and human reproduction; conflicting emotions; what positively and negatively affects their physical, mental and emotional health; understanding good and not-so-good feelings; recognising and challenging stereotypes; consequences of their actions; pressures to behave in an unacceptable, unhealthy or risky way and that marriage is a commitment freely entered into by both people
- 9-10 year-olds: builds on the themes covered previously and in greater depth, looking more closely at: body changes and feelings during puberty; how their changing feelings can affect those they live with; what makes relationships unhealthy; exploring risky behaviour in more detail; different types of bullying including homophobic and transphobic; how to keep their personal information private online (and why this is important), and how to use social media safely.
10-11 year-olds: builds on and reinforces all the themes of the previous years, with new content built into the lesson plans looking at: body image and the media; forced marriage; female genital mutilation (FGM); sexual intercourse*; HIV**; and managing pressure online.
* May be withdrawn
** part of this lesson covers content from which a child may be withdrawn
Your Right To Withdraw Your Child From Sex Education:
'All materials should be available to parents, as described in the section on openness with parents on page 33. Parents have a right to request that their children are withdrawn from sex education (pupils can opt back in from three terms before they turn 16) and schools should ensure parents are aware of sex education content within lessons in advance.' DfE Guidance July 25 p 5
At Montgomery Primary School, puberty is taught as a statutory requirement of Health Education and covered by our PSHE Programme. We conclude that sex education refers to Human Reproduction, and therefore inform parents of their right to request their child be withdrawn from the RSE lessons that explicitly teach this i.e. Year 6 - conception and birth and the parts linked to conception and birth in the lesson about HIV
The school will inform parents of this right by the class teacher in the weeks before the unit begins. This may be done via school email or in hardcopy. Parents may request to see specific lesson plans and resources before exercising their right to withdraw their child (in year 6 as mentioned above). As with all lessons where learning has been missed the school will endeavour to ensure that they cover the materials at a later date, to ensure the children are prepared correctly to keep themselves safe.
LGBTQ
At Montgomery Primary School, we value and respect ALL people. The updated guidance is clear that we must teach that all individuals should be treated with respect and dignity. As a school we will:
Teach about healthy loving relationships. Include same-sex parents when discussing family structures. Present a range of family types positively to avoid stigma.
The SCARF curriculum for PSHE emphasises acceptance of all children and families. It does not 'promote' LGBTQ 'lifestyles' but it does explain that some people in society are LGBTQ. The new guidance states that we should not teach as fact that all individuals have a gender identity [separate from sex] but that children should be taught about the protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 (using age appropriate language). All LGBTQ materials are available to parents on request.
Your views:
Whilst we recognise that there will be differences of opinion, we would like to consult you in order to come to a consensus about how and when curriculum content is covered. We would like to know the best way to share our curriculum with you and your thoughts on the resources that we will use. However, what is taught, and how, is ultimately a decision for the school and consultation does not provide a parental veto on curriculum content as schools are legally required to teach the National Curriculum.
https://www.coramscarf.org.uk/family-scarf/parents-and-schools-together/talking-with-your-child-about-rse
The draft policy is below.
Please use this form to respond to the consultation.