The government does stress that not all of these characteristics have to be taught about in every year group and schools should use their professional judgement to plan their curriculum appropriately.
Here at Copley, our PSHE/RSE lessons are taught using the programme SCARF.
Scarf is used in addition to various other ways we teach respect and diversity across school for example through literacy, assemblies, groups and sporting activities.
Look at the document to the right to see how SCARF ensures appropriate coverage of each protected characteristic before the children leave school in year 6.
Protected Characteristics
The national curriculum recognises how important it is for children to understand the world in which they live in. They want children to live alongside and show respect for a diverse range of people. A way in which schools can ensure they are providing children with the knowledge and skills to do this is through the teaching of protected characteristics.
It is extremely important for us here at Copley, that our children grow to be respectful, ambitious and empathetic pupils who respect the world in which they live in.
The 9 protected characteristics are:
- Age
- Disability
- Gender reassignment
- Marriage and civil partnership
- Pregnancy and maternity
- Race
- Religion or belief
- Sex
- Sexual orientation