Safeguarding is at the Heart of the New RSHE Guidance

The Department for Education has released updated RSHE guidance, due to become statutory in 2026 (with schools encouraged to begin preparing now). Safeguarding is placed firmly at the centre of the new expectations.

For busy leaders, the sheer volume of updated content can feel daunting. This blog summarises the key safeguarding-related changes for Years 4-6, backed by direct quotes from the guidance and accompanying publications. All with some ideas on what content to focus on, some key actions for school leaders to consider...and how Loudmouth can support you!

1. Safeguarding Is Now Explicitly at the centre of RSHE

The Government’s own written statement makes a clear link between RSHE and safeguarding.

“This updated guidance provides a practical framework that enables schools to teach RSHE in a way which puts children’s wellbeing and safeguarding at its heart. The guidance is clear about the importance of ensuring that all lessons are age-appropriate.”(House of Commons Written Statement, 2025)

For school leaders, this means that RSHE is explicitly more than a curriculum strand, it is a core safeguarding tooland should be planned in direct alignment with school’s KCSIE responsibilities, local safeguarding priorities, and pastoral systems.

Loudmouth can help you to implement the important changes. Our long running Helping Hands programme has helped thousands of pupils with safe, trauma informed and appropriate education. 99% of those evaluated said that the session helped them to feel safe and 100% of staff would recommend the programme to other schools.

2. Abuse Recognition and Reporting Remains a Core Statutory Requirement

The requirement for primary pupils to learn how to recognise and report abuse is unchanged, but the emphasis is now stronger. The statutory RSHE guidance states that pupils must be taught:

“…the knowledge they need to recognise and to report abuse, including emotional, physical and sexual abuse. In primary schools this can be delivered by focusing on boundaries and privacy, ensuring young people understand that they have rights over their own bodies.” (DfE, Relationships Education – Primary)

This remains one of the clearest links between RSHE and safeguarding in the primary phase. For Years 4–6, this means your curriculum must help children:

• understand their body rights
• recognise unsafe or inappropriate behaviour
• know how to seek help and who from

Our Helping Hands programme provides a gentle way for pupils to understand their rights about their own bodies. 94% of pupils who took part in Helping Hands could name at least 4 key tips for staying safe including how to safely spot and report abuse.

3. Boundaries, Privacy and Safe Contact Are Foundations for Later Consent Education

The guidance emphasises that consent education happens in the secondary phase, but the building blocks must begin in primary.

“Establishing personal space and boundaries… understanding the differences between appropriate and inappropriate or unsafe physical, and other, contact – these are the forerunners of teaching about consent…” (DfE, Relationships Education – Primary)

For Years 4 and 5 in particular, this means putting increased focus on:

• respecting personal space
• recognising “unsafe” contact (online and offline)
• building vocabulary children can use when seeking help

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4. Helping Pupils Recognise Unsafe Relationships, Including Emerging Online Exploitation

The Education Hub’s DfE summary makes also makes it clear that preventative education is needed and that children need to understand about abusive behaviour.

“A fresh focus on helping all children identify positive role-models and challenge harmful ideas… making sure kids know how to be safe and recognise what counts as abusive behaviour so they can ask for help if they need it.” (DfE Education Hub, 2025)

Children are expected to be able to

• recognise unsafe or manipulative behaviour
• understand that abuse is never their fault
• know how to tell a trusted adult
• understand that unsafe relationships can happen online or offline

Teachers can find it difficult to teach about abusive, unsafe or manipulative behaviour with primary aged pupils. Parents may have concerns about material being too advanced or not being age appropriate. Helping Hands can help schools to introduce the topics and meet the new guidance in a way that supports your pupils, colleagues and parents.

5. A Much Stronger Focus on Online Safety, Data and Digital Critical Thinking

The 2025 update brings a major expansion of online safety content – much of which is highly relevant to Year 6 pupils already navigating social media, gaming platforms or group chats.

“The new guidance also includes content on helping pupils to critically engage with what they see online and recognise their rights — for example in relation to privacy, consent and personal data … including the importance of location settings.” (PSHE Association, 2025)

This represents a significant shift: children should not just learn “how to stay safe” online, but how to critically question what they see and understand the systems behind it (data use, monetisation, manipulation). Schools will need to ensure RSHE aligns with computing, digital citizenship and safeguarding training.

Our Screen Time programme helps students to make sense of online content and to critically engage and be curious about what they are seeing. Students who took part in Screen Time sessions shared how the programme helped them to feel less upset or jealous about social media posts now that they are aware that not all online content is true. 72% of students said that the session helped them to feel confident or very confident to spot signs of mis and disinformation.

7. What This Means Practically for Years 4, 5 and 6

Below are some ideas for topics that you could cover from Years 4 – 6 to help meet the new guidance.

Year 4

• Establishing boundaries and body rights
• Understanding unsafe contact
• Identifying trusted adults
• Managing early digital interactions (messages, group chats, gaming behaviour)

Year 5

• Privacy, safe sharing, images, digital footprint
• Beginning to recognise manipulation or pressure online
• Understanding how websites use data
• Knowing how to report concerns

Year 6

• More advanced online risks: deepfakes, scams, AI chatbots, fake accounts
• Recognising early grooming behaviours (age-appropriate)
• Challenging harmful online ideas and stereotypes
• Understanding rights around personal data and consent
• Preparing children for the transition to secondary (where sexual harassment and online exposure risks increase)

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8. Key Actions for Leaders

• Audit your current RSHE programme against the new online safety additions.
• Update policies to reflect safeguarding-centred RSHE.
• Speak to your computing/DSL teams to align curriculum content.
• Prepare parent communication explaining new topics (e.g., deepfakes, scams, data privacy).
• Plan staff training: DSLs, teachers and support staff will need confidence to handle disclosures and discussions about new online harms.

We can work with you to embed our programmes into your RSHE and meet the new guidance with memorable, impactful education that keeps your students safe, supports your staff and reassures parents.

Want to talk more about how we can help you meet the safeguarding needs of the new RSHE guidance? Contact us on 0121 446 4880 or email enquiry@loudmouth.couk