RSE and Health Education
St Gerard’s Catholic Primary School
Vision Statement for RSE
At St. Gerard’s, our vision is to equip our children with the skills to live healthy, safe and responsible lives. We are committed to the education of the whole child (spiritual, physical, intellectual, moral, social, cultural, emotional) and we believe that Relationship and sex education (RSE) and Health Education is an integral part of this education.
Our RSE and Health Education curriculum allows them to build confidence, resilience and self-esteem whilst developing their ability to manage feelings in a positive and effective way, identify and manage risk and build and maintain good relationships. These are all vital skills for living in the wider world.
Intent
At St. Gerard’s, we follow ‘Life to the Full Plus’, a holistic programme in relationship education that truly does enable children to ‘live life to the full’ (John 10:10). The programme is much more than a series of lessons. It is a platform of creative resources that will engage, inform and inspire our children. This includes interactive video content, story-based activities, employing a wide range of teaching tools, original worship music and an accompanying programme of classroom prayers.
In addition there is an online parent platform so that you, as parent and carers, can engage with the teaching and deepen the experience for your child.
‘Life to the Full Plus’ is intended to be a partnership between home, school and church. This allows us to further develop, support and enrich the partnership between home, school and church so that your child is fully supported by the whole community.
Programme Content
Module 1 Created and Loved by God
Units Religious Understanding Me, My Body, My Health, Emotional Well-Being
Life Cycles
Module 2 Created to Love Others
Units Religious Understanding
Personal Relationships
Keeping Safe
Module 3 Created to Live in Community
Units Religious Understanding
Living in the Wider World
The programme adopts a spiral curriculum approach so that as your 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
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
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 unit explores how we take this calling into our family, friendships and relationships, and teaches strategies for developing heathy relationships and keeping safe.
This religious understanding is then applied to real-world situations relevant to the age and stage of the children.
Module Three: Created to Live in Community
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.
Implementation
At St Gerard’s Relationship and sex education (RSE) and Health Education is taught through a variety of creative teaching and learning strategies, that will encourage the children to participate and develop a secure understanding of each module. Opportunities are provided for all children to develop critical thinking and core relationship skills which are and rooted in a Catholic vision of education and the human person
We cover the statutory elements of the RSE curriculum.
We cover the statutory elements of the RSHE curriculum.
There are 4 key decisions which each school has to make when teaching some elements of RSE.
Following consultation with parents/governors/staff and children the following key decisions have been made:
Key Decision 1: Genitalia
Genitalia is not named in the Early Years Foundation Stage, private parts are merely referred to as ‘privates’. However, in Key Stage One, a decision must be made about whether to introduce the scientific names of genitalia to Years 1 and 2. At St Gerard’s, we have made the decision not to teach this explicitly and will continue to refer to private parts as ‘privates’ as used in the NSPCC ‘Pants’ materials.
We begin to use the correct biological names within Key Stage 2. The teaching focuses on teaching that private parts are exactly that – private. It is not a biological quiz, but an approach to help children respect themselves and each other. We want our children to be able to confidently articulate about private body parts so they are better equipped to identify experiences of feeling uncomfortable if any form of safeguarding concerns or harm takes place. Again, the NSPCC ‘Pants’ message will be reinforced.
Key Decision 2: Puberty
We have provided two sessions on puberty and changing bodies. At St Gerard’s we will begin to introduce body changes associated with puberty in Year 4. We will continue to teach about puberty in greater depth, including menstruation, in Years 5 and 6.
Key Decision 3: Talking About Sex
The third key area for consideration is whether to include a session in Upper Key Stage Two which answers the question: ‘Where do babies come from?’
Teaching about sexual intercourse to primary school children is not part of the statutory curriculum. We will teach the scientific understanding of how babies are made (sperm and egg). We cover the first element of Making Babies through the unit in the Life to the Full Y5/6 scheme of work.
Key Decision 4: Talking About Pornography
The final key decision concerns talking about pornography. We will not be covering this term specifically in lessons but will be teaching about the broader issues covering staying safe online and will focus on teaching about ‘internet safety’ and therefore falls under the statutory Health Education curriculum. Our focus will be on teaching the children to stay safe and to recognise what may be harmful or inappropriate online so they will know how to act to keep themselves safe. We recognise that children may come across inappropriate material online and we need to prepare them to keep them safe. We will also teach children about the dangers of sharing images.
Impact
Life to the Full is intended to be partnership between home, school and church. We know that you already do a fantastic job and we see our new programme, Life to the Full Plus, as a means to further develop, support and enrich the partnership between home, school and church so that your child is fully supported.
By the end of their academic journey at St Gerard’s, our children will demonstrate confidence and awareness about relationships, sex and health education in an independent and safe way. Learners will develop a good understanding about safety and risks in relationships. They will be prepared for the physical and emotional changes they undergo during puberty. Relationship and sex education (RSE) and Health Education will promote children’s wellbeing and will prepare them for the challenges, opportunities, and responsibilities of adult life. The Relationship and sex education (RSE) and Health Education curriculum will have a positive impact on learners’ health and wellbeing and their ability to achieve, and this will play a crucial part in meeting these obligations.
Parent Information:
To login and access resources please go to the below website and speak to a teacher for login details to the parent portal.
Parent portal
As part of your subscription to “Life to the Full” and “Collective Worship”, all parents will be able to access the Online Parent Portal with the following login credentials:
Ten ten home page
View the parent information page.
Please go to the website below for the NSPCC PANTS guide for parents:
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/pants-underwear-rule/
View our RSE Gallery
