This academic year, Relationships Education and Health Education will become statutory in all primary schools in England. This new subject will build on the non-statutory lessons we have previously taught in RSE (Relationships and Sex Education).
RSE is the life long learning about physical, moral & emotional development. It is the understanding of the importance of marriage for family life, stable & loving relationships, respect, love & care. It is also about the teaching of conception within the context of a loving relationship.
As a Catholic school, our mission is to support the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of all of our pupils, rooted in the wisdom and teaching of the Church. The education of children in human sexuality is an important, precious and privileged responsibility. The Church teaches us that this is very much a partnership with parents, in which parents are the ‘first educators’ of their children on these matters.
At St Mary’s, we have chosen to use the programme Life to the Full. The Life to the Full programme is based on ‘A Model Catholic RSE [Relationships and Sex Education] Curriculum’ created by the Catholic Education Service and was highlighted as a work of good practice by the Department of Education. Therefore, we have confidence that the programme is fit for purpose in supporting the growth and development of your child.
Life to the Full contains creative resources to engage, inform and inspire our children. This includes interactive video content, story-based activities, a range of teaching tools, original worship music and an accompanying programme of classroom prayers. Please see below for a link to the parent’s booklet.
Life to the Full is intended to be partnership between home, school and church. We know that parents are already wonderful first educators of their children, and we see our new programme, Life to the Full, as a means to further develop, support and enrich the partnership between home, school and church so that your child is fully supported.
Ten Ten understand the foundational role that parents have in educating and nurturing their children on these matters. As parents, you will have access to a parent portal where you can view the materials that will be taught; this gives you the opportunity to engage your children in discussion, activity and prayer before, during or after the learning in school. The parent portal has a school log in and password which is shared with all parents; please contact the school office if you do not have it.
We also use parts of the programme ‘Journey in Love’ which we have used for many years. It is approved by the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton and by the Catholic Education Service. We particularly use this material for the teaching of Puberty in Yr5 and also for the ‘Sex Education’ part of RSE where conception is taught, in Yr6. You will always be given an opportunity to view the material and talk with staff before this is shared with your children. In other year groups parts of Journey in Love may also be used to complement and add to the Ten Ten resources. Please see the attached parent’s guide on Journey in Love for more information.
Right to withdraw: Parents/carers have the right to withdraw their children from elements of Sex Education that are not in line with the National Curriculum for Science. They may not withdraw their children from any elements of Relationships Education and Health Education.
Please see the Relationships and Sex Education policy for more information.
Download the Life-to-the-Full-Parent-Booklet
Download the Journey-in-Love-Parent-guide
