RSHE 2026: Addressing Harmful Sexual Behaviour — and How Calling It Out Supports Schools

These are framed clearly as safeguarding and prevention issues, requiring both explicit teaching and a whole-school approach.

Alongside these expectations, programmes such as Loudmouth’s Calling It Out provide practical support to help schools meet these requirements in a structured, evidence-informed way.

Harmful sexual behaviour: a broad definition

The new compulsory guidance makes clear that harmful sexual behaviour is not limited to extreme cases. It explicitly includes a wide range of behaviours:

“Harmful sexual behaviour… includes all types of sexual harassment and sexual violence… [and] age-inappropriate sexual language.”

This establishes that schools must address both serious incidents and everyday behaviours, including language, peer interactions and online conduct.

How Calling It Out supports this

The programme is designed around this continuum, helping pupils recognise that harmful behaviour is not always obvious. The drama covers lots of different examples from WhatsApp chats, humour, and catcalling. The storyline explores:

• everyday sexism and misogyny
• inappropriate comments and “banter”
• escalation towards more serious harm

This directly supports schools to operationalise the guidance’s broad definition.

Prevention is a core expectation

The guidance is explicit that RSHE must be preventative:

“Effective teaching will support prevention of harms by helping young people understand and identify when things are not right.”

This shifts the focus from reacting to incidents towards early identification and prevention.

How Calling It Out supports this

The programme focuses heavily on:

• recognising early warning signs
• building confidence to challenge behaviour
• developing bystander skills and ways to safely make a difference and support others

This aligns closely with the expectation that pupils can “identify when things are not right”, not just understand definitions.

Sexual harassment and sexual violence: explicit curriculum content

The guidance requires schools to teach about harmful sexual behaviour, including harassment and violence, within a legal and safeguarding framework:

“The concepts and laws relating to harmful sexual behaviour…”

and:

“all types of sexual harassment and sexual violence among young people”

This means pupils must understand:

• what these behaviours are
• their impact and consequences
• how to respond and seek help

How Calling It Out supports this

Calling It Out addresses sexual harassment and violence in an age-appropriate, accessible way, covering:

• consent and boundaries
• peer-on-peer abuse
• reporting and support pathways

Crucially, it helps pupils move from knowledge to action, which is often where schools need additional support.

Misogyny and harmful attitudes

The 2026 guidance introduces a stronger emphasis on challenging harmful gender attitudes, particularly those influenced by online spaces.

This includes addressing cultural drivers of harm, such as:

“misogynistic influencers who normalise sexual harassment and abuse”

This signals a shift towards tackling root causes, not just behaviours.

How Calling It Out supports this

The programme explicitly explores:

• gender stereotypes and power dynamics
• online influences and toxic narratives
• the normalisation of misogyny and the pressure on boys and young men to conform to these

It creates space for critical discussion, helping pupils question and challenge harmful beliefs. They can speak to the characters and challenge and empathise with the impacts on girls and women and the pressures on boys and young men.

Preparing pupils for safe, respectful relationships

The guidance emphasises that RSHE should equip pupils to make informed, ethical decisions: “Children and young people need knowledge and skills… to make informed and ethical decisions about their… relationships.”

It also highlights the importance of character and values:

“Effective teaching will support young people to cultivate positive characteristics including… respect… kindness… and trustworthiness.”

How Calling It Out supports this

The programme is grounded in:

• respect and empathy
• clear understanding of consent
• communication and boundary-setting

By using interactive methods (e.g. drama-based learning) and strong everyday narratives it helps embed these values in a way that is memorable and behaviour-focused, not just theoretical.

A safeguarding and whole-school responsibility

The guidance is clear about schools’ duties:

“This is statutory guidance… Schools must have regard to the guidance.”

This requires a whole-school approach, including:

• consistent messaging
• staff confidence
• effective responses to incidents

How Calling It Out supports this

Beyond pupil sessions, Loudmouth’s approach supports schools by:

• reinforcing consistent safeguarding messages
• complementing existing RSHE plans
• providing specialist expertise, training and resources on sensitive topics

This helps schools ensure their provision is robust, consistent and aligned with statutory expectations.

Conclusion

The 2026 RSHE guidance sets a clear direction:

• Harmful sexual behaviour must be understood as a broad continuum
• Prevention and early identification are essential
• Sexual harassment, violence and misogyny must be explicitly addressed
• Schools must take a whole-school safeguarding approach

Programmes like Loudmouth’s Calling It Out play a key role in helping schools meet these expectations. By combining clear messaging, pupil engagement and practical skill-building, they support schools to move beyond compliance and towards meaningful cultural change.

To book Calling It Out call us on 0121 446 4880 or email enquiry@loudmouth.co.uk