The ‘wellbeing’ section of the draft curriculum says it wants to provide children with a “balanced, inclusive, age and developmentally-appropriate understanding of human development and sexuality”. It will include new areas of learning such as consent, digital wellbeing and diversity of family structures, as well as a renewed focus on relationships, emotions and feelings.

Teachers will be supported to make professional judgments on the needs of the children in their class and learning related to puberty may be taught “as appropriate” from third and fourth class upwards.

In addition, children will spend less time on so-called patron’s programmes, or denominational education, but will learn about religions, beliefs and world views as part of a new area of social and environmental education.

The reduction in time spent teaching religion alongside other reforms will give schools more “flexible time” – seven hours a month – to allow schools to focus on priority areas of learning decided by individual schools.