RSE Leadership Programme: Reflections so far!
After 19 years at the forefront of Relationships and Sex Education (RSE), few people understand the challenges and opportunities of delivering high-quality RSE in specialist settings better than Rachael Baker. A qualified teacher, experienced SEND practitioner, and now SEND Specialist RSE Consultant at Split Banana, Rachael has dedicated her career to helping educators create meaningful, age-appropriate, and inclusive RSE for learners with SEND.
As part of the UK's first-ever Relationships and Sexual Health Leadership Programme for specialist schools, Rachael shares her reflections on the journey so far. Having joined the Split Banana team to help design and deliver this pioneering year-long programme, she is working alongside educators to develop the next generation of outstanding RSE leaders!
Reflections from Day 1:
It was a crisp morning in late November and fifteen people met to do something which hadn’t been done before. The venue was a meeting room in a lovely park, and the people were teachers and educators from Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) schools and settings across Hampshire and Sussex.
The event: Split Banana’s inaugural RSE Leadership Programme, an in-person, year-long training programme for RSE leads, bringing together Split Banana’s award-winning brand of no-nonsense Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) with specialist SEND expertise and know-how. The course is designed to build confidence, develop skills and give participants the tools and experiences to become a specialist leader of RSE in SEND schools.
This course is unique: it spans a whole academic year, it comprises three full days of face-to-face training, with insight tasks carried out in participants’ own settings, and online keynote sessions with subject experts in between. It takes place in-person, enabling participants to bond and get to know one another, and as the course focuses on a geographical area, participants make meaningful ongoing connections, forming a community of practitioners that can continue to support one another into the future.
A lot of really extraordinary teacher training does take place online nowadays, and this model has many positives, of course. But there is something refreshing and valuable about the experience of being together in person. People crowded around a piece of paper, discussing and scrawling their thoughts down; group activities taking place in a shared space rather than a virtual breakout space; and the facilitators being able to personally engage with and hear the voices of the participants – that just can’t be replicated through the laptop.
“I feel like it’s a really open space. Being able to discuss things that are happening in our settings has been really useful, as well as hearing examples and things that are going on elsewhere.”
“Being able to build connections and talk through things with people in similar situations helps me understand that I’m doing the right thing.”
Teachers in SEND settings really need and value specialist RSE training, and so often report how important it is to train with people who understand their learners and the challenges of educating in SEND settings. Special schools are special, and delivering a meaningful and accessible RSE curriculum to our learners with SEND can be uniquely challenging, and enormously impactful, and so massively rewarding.
So far, we have explored creating safer learning spaces, and best practice in the SEND RSE classroom, considered the impact of SEND-inclusive RSE and reflected on young people’s experiences of RSE provision. We have reflected on some of the history of RSE, and the current RSE guidance, and explored how to prioritise content, to build a meaningful, accessible and relevant curriculum. We have identified ways to consult with learners with SEND to hear their views, and have had an insightful keynote session with SEND specialist teacher Gillian Ellis.
“RSE is a really challenging thing to deliver and I need to know I’m doing the right thing. Being part of the RSE Leadership Programme is a confidence booster for me.”
“It gives you the support and understanding you need to help yourself to grow in the role and
help myself become confident in what there is to teach.”
The remaining days of the course will incorporate exploring methodology for learners with SEND, designing and developing a skills-based curriculum, adapting planning and resources, advocating for whole school RSE, and cascading learning to colleagues. The course brings Split Banana’s ambitious and inspiring RSE to the learners in SEND schools by empowering teachers and RSE leaders to advocate for quality, timely, young person-centered RSE for all.
“I’m quite a fresh PHSE Lead, so it’s lovely to get everyone’s perspectives from different age ranges and needs, as well as Split Banana’s insight from mainstream teaching. This helps us to adapt our curriculum at the school which has impact across the board.”
“It has been unbelievably helpful!”
Reflections from Day 2:
There is something very special about bringing people back together on a longer training programme. However brilliant the content in the training room is, there is some magic that happens in the space between. Artists call in negative space, but it is so positive. The down time gives space for thoughts to ferment, and the learning to be trialled in practice. It gives time to develop understanding, and formulate questions, and reflect.
And so it was with great delight that we welcomed back our cohort of RSE practitioners to day 2 of Split Banana’s SEND specialist RSE Leadership programme training. This in-person, year-long training programme for RSE leads in SEND schools brings together Split Banana’s award-winning brand of no-nonsense relationships and sex education with SEND specialist RSE expertise and know-how.
Since we were last together our participants have carried out an insight task in schools, exploring inclusive consultation methods to gather the views of their learners with SEND. They have also benefited with a keynote session with SEND expert Gillian Ellis, and had chance to begin to embed their learning from day one into their RSE offer in school. Coming back together was really positive, and sharing the learning from their time in school in the interim added so much to the fabric of the day.
This day comprised opportunity to share reflections on the consultation task, and then featured three distinct chapters, giving participants the opportunity to explore three key areas of RSE through three tried and tested strategies for best practice. Beginning with a reflection on how Split Banana would approach the topic in mainstream, we then compared successful methodology for SEND settings, giving participants an adaptable and inclusive toolkit of ideas to take back to their classrooms and colleagues.
“It has been great to have the opportunity to find out about how the concepts are approached in mainstream and then to explore what it looks like in SEND settings. Being able to think about both helps to find the best ways to approach with a wide range of young people.”
We explored the use of characters and storytelling as a model to teach relationship skills, using visual resources and models to teach about sex and intimacy, and using facilitation techniques to teach about digital ethics. These core areas of RSE are deliberately chosen for the challenge they present, and so often we hear from participants that it is these tricky topics that they or their staff team find most difficult. The strategies are grounded in evidence and designed to support educators to deliver the meaningful and accessible RSE that their learners with SEND so desperately need and want.
Our final round was full of positivity, confidence and empowerment. Our participants left brimming with ideas, and several were even planning to get together in the interim to continue their discussions in their own settings. Before we meet again in June, we will have another keynote session, and another insight task to complete, this time to develop, create and try out a curriculum element which they will then share with the group. They will also benefit from an hour of one-to-one strategic support on an aspect of their RSE provision with SEND specialist Rachael Baker.
“This is an insightful and useful course, which included take away learning strategies that
I can adapt for my learners’ needs right away.”
Our final session in June will focus on bringing the school community together to collaboratively deliver RSE, including advocating for whole school RSE, and cascading training to colleagues, as well as planning how the group will continue to develop their community of practice after the end of the programme. With the updated statutory RSE guidance coming into force in September, there has never been a better time to invest in your RSE leadership – why not join us next year?
“It is extremely helpful to be able to have sessions spaced out throughout the year with ongoing support so that we have time to think and try to implement things, and then come back together to discuss and add more to our toolbox. The year long programme is more effective than having everything all together as I feel it will have more impact in the future.”
We will be running two versions of the leadership programme again in 2026 – 27 in three locations. In London and Portsmouth we will be running a version for mainstream schools and colleges, and in Bristol we will be running a version for Youth Practitioners working with young people with SEND.
Interested in joining a Leadership Programme?
In 2026-27 we are running three more programmes:
📍London – Leadership Programme for Mainstream Schools and Colleges
📍Portsmouth – Leadership Programme for Mainstream Schools and Colleges
📍Bristol – Leadership Programme for Youth Practitioners working with SEND young people aged 14–25
Want to find out more?
📞 Book a call with Matilda
Do you want us to run a leadership programme in your area?
Get in touch: hello@splitbanana.co.uk
