In this section
Relationships, Sex and Health Education
Parents are invited to read the information below regarding the Relationships and Health Education policy and curriculum.
St Joseph’s RSHE Policy
St Joseph’s RSHE Guide for Parents
Parent Consultation Letter – June 2020
At St. Joseph’s, we deliver the Relationship, Sex and Health Education curriculum through the Life to the Full programme produced by Ten Ten and supplement it with additional resources to ensure coverage. By using this programme, staff and parents deliver a fully-integrated and holistic programme in that truly enables children to ‘live life to the full’ (John 10:10). There is an entire platform of creative resources that engage, inform and inspire children, parents and staff. This includes interactive video content, story-based activities and original worship music, all whilst employing a wide range of teaching tools and an accompanying programme of classroom prayers.
The RHSE curriculum is fully inclusive of all children, families and teaching staff. From the very start, the programme acknowledges that families are made up in different ways and it celebrates the family unit in whatever form it takes. The programme is flexible and we can build on this teaching, depending on the cohort, to ensure that every child is assured, and their family background is affirmed. The programme emphasises very strongly the dignity of every person as being created and loved by God.
Structure of the programme:
The programme adopts a spiral curriculum approach so that as a child goes through the programme year-after-year, the learning will develop and grow, with each stage building on the last.
Module One: Created and Loved by God explores the individual. Rooted in the teaching that we are made in the image and likeness of God, it helps children to develop an understanding of the importance of valuing themselves as the basis for personal relationships.
Module Two: Created to Love Others explores the individual’s relationship with others. Building on the understanding that we have been created out of love and for love, this Module explores how we take this calling into our family, friendships and relationships, and teaches strategies for developing heathy relationships and keeping safe.
Finally, Module Three: Created to Live in Community explores the individual’s relationship with the wider world. Here we explore how human beings are relational by nature and are called to love others in the wider community through service, through dialogue and through working for the Common Good.
EYFS:
In Me, My Body, My Health, children will learn about their uniqueness in real terms, including celebrating differences and individual gifts, talents and abilities. They will learn about looking after and using their God-given bodies and develop their vocabulary around this topic.
In Emotional Well-Being, children will learn about likes, dislikes and self-acceptance. They will learn how to describe different feelings, both good and bad. Finally through a real world example, children will learn that actions have consequences; that when we make mistakes we should say sorry and ask for forgiveness.
In Life Cycles children will explore the natural human cycle of life, focusing on what children can remember about their development so far and what they know will happen as they get older.
In Personal Relationships children will expand their vocabulary by applying names to different family/friend relationships, consider positive/negative behaviour in relationships and learn to look to Jesus as their role model for a good friend. Children will learn to resolve conflict and the importance of asking for forgiveness.
In Keeping Safe, children learn practical ways to stay safe inside and out, about bodily privacy (including the NSPCC PANTS message that ‘privates are private’) and the importance of talking to their ‘special people’ if anything troubles them. Children will also learn about medicine safety and the people who help us in emergencies
In Living in the Wider World, children will understand the responsibilities they have to people, places and the planet now and increasingly as they get older.
KS1:
Me, My Body, My Health encourages children to celebrate similarities and differences between people, including our God-given bodies and the things they enable us to do. Teaching also includes maintaining personal hygiene and the physical differences between boys and girls.
In Emotional Well-Being, children will develop their understanding and be able to talk about their own changing feelings and how other people’s feelings might differ from theirs. Children will learn how they can manage their feelings and about the consequences of their actions.
In Life Cycles, children will learn about the specifics of the human life cycle and celebrate how they have already changed and grown.
In Personal Relationships children will identify the ‘special people’ in their lives who they love and can trust. In further sessions, children will learn how to cope with various social situations and dilemmas, and the importance of saying sorry and forgiveness within relationships.
In Keeping Safe, children to tell the difference between good and bad secrets. This unit also explores the risks of being online by incorporating the ‘Smartie the Penguin’ resources from Childnet, and teaching on physical boundaries, incorporating the PANTS resource by the NSPCC. Children will also learn about the effects of harmful substances (including alcohol and tobacco), some basic First Aid, what makes a 999 emergency and what they should do if in an emergency situation.
Living in the Wider World helps children to learn about the different local and global communities that they are part of, and what rights and responsibilities come with belonging to these communities.
Lower KS2:
In Me, My Body, My Health, children will learn to celebrate similarities and differences, and to appreciate and look after their bodies as gifts from God. Teaching also covers specific physical and emotional changes during puberty, and that growing from boys and girls to men and women is part of God’s loving plan for creation.
Emotional Well-Being helps children to understand the difference between feelings and actions, how to manage them and what they can do to help themselves stay emotionally healthy. In this Unit, media is discussed as a ‘fake reality’ and God’s love for us is presented as a better basis for our self-confidence. Finally, children will identify unacceptable behaviours and learn to build resilience against negative feelings by practising thankfulness.
Life Cycles explores the miraculous nature of human conception and birth and offers an opportunity for thanksgiving.
Personal Relationships help children to develop a more complex appreciation of different family structures, develop healthy relationships with family and friends and learn some strategies to use when relationships become difficult. Teaching also covers how to recognise discrimination and bullying, both physical and emotional. Children will learn strategies to develop resilience and resist pressure.
Keeping Safe incorporates some of the NSPCC Share Aware resources, as well as teaching on bullying and physical, emotional and sexual abuse through a series of animated stories. Children will also learn in greater depth about the effects of drugs, alcohol and tobacco and how to make good choices concerning these as they get older. This unit also explores in more detail what to do in emergency situations.
In Living in the Wider World, children will learn some of the principles of Catholic Social Teaching from Together For The Common Good, which will help them to live in communities in the way God intends. Teaching includes the common good, the human person, social relationships and stewardship.
Upper KS2:
In Me, My Body, My Health, children will learn that celebrating differences between people is enriching to a community and know that their self-confidence should arise from being loved by God. They will learn about the physical changes that boys and girls go through during puberty and how they should respect and take care of their bodies as gifts from God.
Emotional Well-Being helps children learn about pressures that they may experience from themselves, others and the media. Children will develop ideas on how to build resilience through thankfulness, use simplified techniques to manage their thoughts, feelings and actions and cope with new or difficult feelings such as romance and rage. This unit also covers how children may be affected by what they see online, including pornography.
In Life Cycles, children will learn about God’s design for creating new life through a more nuanced understanding of menstruation, fertility, conception, fetal development in the womb and childbirth.
The unit on Personal Relationships aims to equip children with strategies for more complex experiences of relationships and conflict. This includes sessions that help children to identify and understand how to respond to spoken and unspoken pressure, the concept of consent and some practical demonstrations of this and further teaching on how our thoughts and feelings have an impact on how we act.
Keeping Safe builds on the NSPCC Share Aware resources used in Lower Key Stage Two, equipping children to make safe and sensible decisions about what online content they should/shouldn’t share, cyberbullying and how to report and get help if they encounter inappropriate messages or material. This unit also looks into the real world and considers the four types of abuse: sexual, physical, emotional and neglect. Children will know how to spot each type of abuse and who they can go to for help. This unit also explores how drugs, alcohol and tobacco can negatively affect people’s lifestyles and the body’s natural functioning, discuss how to make good choices even in pressured situations, and teach essential First Aid such as DR ABC and the recovery position.
Living in the Wider World teaches children some of the principles of Catholic Social Teaching from Together For The Common Good, which will help them to fulfil their purpose of making a difference in the world around them. Teaching includes the common good, the human person, social relationships and stewardship.