Supporting pupils to build healthy, respectful relationships

Helping children and young people develop healthy relationships has never been more important. As pupils navigate an increasingly complex world – shaped by social media, online content and changing expectations around relationships – schools have a vital role in helping them understand safety, respect and trust in relationships from an early age.

The Department for Education's updated statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) guidance reflects these changing realities, with new expectations for teaching from September 2026. To help you prepare, Oak has worked closely with our curriculum partner, Life Lessons, to update our RSHE resources so they align with the new guidance and support you to deliver it with confidence.

Across primary and secondary, our lessons have been refreshed to help you teach topics that impact your pupils today. In primary, refreshed lesson resources help children build the foundations of healthy relationships, introducing concepts such as boundaries and ideas such as their ‘personal bubble, respect for other people's bodies and recognising trusted adults they can turn to for help. As pupils move into secondary, these foundations develop into learning about healthy intimate relationships, recognising risky sexual behaviour, and understanding how to build relationships based on communication, respect and consent.

Like all Oak lessons, the resources are designed to reduce planning time while giving you practical guidance, safeguarding support and carefully sequenced content, so you can focus on what matters most: supporting your pupils to thrive.

Explore the curriculum

• Primary RHE curriculum and teaching resources
• Secondary RSHE curriculum and teaching resources

Supporting sensitive conversations

As pupils get older, RSHE teaching increasingly involves sensitive and complex issues. Our secondary lessons are designed to help you approach these topics clearly, calmly and safely.

The teaching resources support your pupils to understand what healthy intimate relationships look like, including the importance of communication, boundaries and ongoing consent. They also help pupils recognise unhealthy or controlling behaviours and understand where to seek support.

Some lessons address risky sexual behaviour and harmful sexual behaviour in an age-appropriate way, including the relevant legal and safeguarding context. The aim is to equip you with the language, structure and guidance needed to lead challenging conversations.

Addressing real-world risks and emerging issues

The updated guidance places greater emphasis on the realities of pupils’ lives, particularly online.

Our lessons help you explore how social media can cause conflict to escalate, how pupils can take responsibility for their online behaviour, and when they should step away or seek help. They also address the risks posed by artificial intelligence chatbots, including false intimacy, misinformation and harmful advice.

Other updated content supports teaching about personal safety in public spaces, online influence, women’s health, water safety and sun safety. Each topic is approached with clear explanations and practical support, helping you connect statutory expectations with situations your pupils may encounter.

As schools prepare for September 2026, both the Department for Education and Oak have highlighted the importance of equipping teachers with the resources to deliver the updated guidance.

Education Minister, Georgia Gould, said: “Misogynistic views are not innate, they are learned, and we are using every possible tool to achieve our mission of halving violence against women and girls. From this September, every school will be required to teach our new RSHE guidance – helping challenge and tackle harmful myths and behaviours early. Oak National Academy's new resources mean teachers have everything they need to have these conversations safely, confidently, and with the support of high-quality, expert-backed materials.”

John Roberts, CEO of Oak, said: “We can't run from difficult topics, otherwise young people are left to navigate them alone. The new RSHE guidance will bring a lot of sensitive discussions into classrooms. That's a good thing. Teachers are well placed to hold these conversations safely and productively. But they need support to do it well. Oak's new resources have been designed to meet exactly that need, helping schools transition to the new guidance with confidence and clarity.”

Resources designed around your teaching

We know that strong RSHE depends on confident, well-supported teachers. That’s why our lessons include ground rules, teacher guidance, signposting, content warnings and safeguarding information where appropriate.

Whether you are reviewing your whole-school curriculum or preparing an individual lesson, the resources are there to reduce planning pressure and help you focus on your pupils’ needs – so you have the support you need when the updated guidance comes into effect in September. If you’d like to discuss implementation in your school or have any questions, get in touch with me.