At St Margaret Clitherow’s Catholic Primary School we work hard to ensure our children build strong, positive relationships with themselves, their peers and the adults around them. As well as relationships with each other, we give our children every opportunity to develop a personal relationship with God and know that they are made in his image and likeness. Our Relationship and Sex Education curriculum ‘Life to the Full’ supports us with this.
Life to the Full is a comprehensive programme of study produced by the Catholic educational organisation, Ten Ten Resources. It is based on the structure of ‘A Model Catholic RSE Curriculum’ by the Catholic Education Service. This model was highlighted as a work of good practice by the Department of Education and is able to support the growth and development of all children.
The curriculum content is taught over a one-year cycle, consisting of three modules, one module is taught in each term. The programme is tailored to meet the needs of our children; it is much more than a series of lessons.
‘Life to the Full’ provides our pupils with a platform of creative resources that engage, inform and inspire. Content includes story-based activities, video content, worship music and accompanying classroom prayers. It is designed to be a partnership between home and school. In addition to the content that is delivered to the children in school, the programme also provides parents and carers with an online platform to support you in assisting and enriching your child’s understanding.
Whole School Curriculum content is as follows:
Module One: Created and Loved by God
Created and Loved by God explores the individual, it is rooted in the teaching that we are made in the image and likeness of God. This module helps children to develop an understanding of the importance of valuing themselves as the basis for all personal relationships.
In these sessions, we explore:
Early Years Foundation Stage:
• Our uniqueness in real terms
• Celebrating differences, talents and abilities
• Looking after and using our bodies
• The necessity of when and how to say sorry
• Jesus’ forgiveness and growing up as God’s plan for us
Key Stage One:
• We are uniquely made by a loving God
• We have differences and similarities
• Key information about staying physically healthy
• Understanding feelings and emotions, including strong feelings such as anger
• The cycle of life from birth to old age
Lower Key Stage Two:
• Understanding differences
• Respecting our bodies
• Puberty and changing bodies
• Strategies to support emotional wellbeing Including practicing thankfulnesss
• The development of pupils’ understanding of life before birth
Upper Key Stage Two:
• Appreciation of physical and emotional differences
• A more complex understanding of physical changes in girls’ and boys’ bodies
• Body image
• Strong emotional feelings
• The impact of the internet and social media on emotional well-being
• A more scientific understanding of life in the womb and how babies are made • Menstruation
Module Two: Created to Love Others
This module explores the individual’s relationship with others, it builds 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; it teaches strategies for developing heathy relationships and keeping safe.
In these sessions, we explore:
Early Years Foundation Stage:
• Different family/friend relationships
• Features of positive/negative behaviour in relationships
• The importance of saying sorry and forgiveness within relationships
• Practical ways to stay safe inside and out
• Staying safe around medicines
• People who help us in emergencies
Key Stage One:
• ‘Special people’ in their lives who they love and can trust
• Coping with various social situations and dilemmas
• The importance of saying sorry and forgiveness within relationship
• The risks of being online
• The difference between good and bad secrets
• Teaching on physical boundaries
• The effects of harmful substances
• Some basic First Aid
Lower Key Stage Two:
• Different family structures
• Activities and strategies for developing healthy relationships with family and friends
• Techniques for managing thoughts, feelings and actions
• Online safety
• Teaching on bullying and abuse
• The effects of drugs, alcohol and tobacco
• The crucial role of First Aid in emergency situations
Upper Key Stage Two:
• Strategies for more complex experiences of relationships and conflict
• How to identify and respond to spoken and unspoken pressure
• The concept of consent
• Further teaching on how our thoughts and feelings impact on how we act
• Risks of sharing and chatting online
• A more complex understanding of different forms of abuse
• How drugs, alcohol and tobacco can negatively affect people’s lifestyles
• Essential First Aid such as DR ABC and the recovery position
Module Three: Created to Live in Community
Finally, module three explores the individual’s relationship with the wider world. Here we discuss how human beings are relational by nature and are called to love others in the wider community through service, dialogue and working for the Common Good. The children apply this religious understanding to real-world situations, such as the community we live in, and through exploring the work of charities which work for the Common Good.
In these sessions we explore:
Early Years Foundation Stage:
• Children will learn that God is three in one: Father, Son and Holy Spirit
• Know that they are loved and called to love others
• Learn about the different communities they are part of and the responsibilities they have to them
Key Stage One:
• Children understand that God is love: Father, Son and Holy Spirit
• Learn that being made in His image means being called to be loved and to love others
• Learn about the various communities they belong to: home, school, parish, the wider community, the nation and the global community
• Know that God calls us to live in community with one another
Lower Key Stage Two:
• Children will develop a deeper understanding that God is love as shown by the Trinity
• Understand that the human family reflects the Holy Trinity in mutual charity and generosity
• Know that the Church family comprises of home, school and parish
• Catholic Social Teaching on what it means to work for the Common Good
Upper Key Stage Two:
• Children will know that God is Trinity – a communion of persons
• Learn that the Church is the body of Christ
• Develop a deeper and richer understanding of Catholic social teaching
• Learn how certain charities reach out to the wider community with love
Mrs Nestor ~ RSE Lead
