"In faith and love, we learn and grow."  

Intent

RSE is the lifelong learning about physical, moral and emotional development.  It is taught in the context of our Catholic faith.  The subject covers the understanding for the importance of marriage for family life, stable and loving relationships, respect, love and care.  It is also about the teaching of sex, sexuality and sexual health.  Our intent for RSE is to support our parents or carers in the education of their child, recognising that they are the prime educators.  Our teaching reflects the law including the Equality Act 2010.  We will ensure that RSE is accessible for all pupils including those with Special Educational Needs and/or disability.

Implementation – A Journey in Love

“My commandment is this: love one another, just as I have loved you.”  John 15:12

We follow a scheme of work called, “A Journey in Love,” to teach RSE.  This has been approved by the Diocese and the programme teachers that:

• The journey begins at the moment of our conception God is at the heart of love
• Puberty can be an extremely confusing time for children, our message will be that even in this confusion, God is still there
• The sacrament of marriage publicly declares the commitment of each spouse to the other permanently in the acknowledgement that it is God-given

The programme is made up of 4 areas:

• Social and Emotional
• Physical
• Spiritual

Each area is broken down into:

• Content and information for the teacher
• Key questions to consider
• Suggested activities
• Pause and reflect
• Prayer

Curriculum content by year group

Reception

Aim

To explore the wonder of being special and unique.

Learning objectives

To recognise the joy of being a special person in my family.

To recognise that we are all different and unique.

To celebrate the joy of being a special person in God’s family.

Year 1

Aim

To focus on families and growing up in a loving, secure and stable home.

Learning objectives

To recognise signs that I am loved in my family.

To recognise how I am cared for and kept safe in my family.

To celebrate ways that God loves and cares for us.

Year 2

Aim

To describe how we are growing and developing in diverse communities that are God-given.

Learning objectives

To recognise the joy and friendship of belonging to a diverse community.

To describe ways of being safe in our communities.

To celebrate ways of meeting God in our communities.

Year 3

Aim

To describe and give reasons for how we grow in love, in caring and happy friendships where we are secure and safe.

Learning objectives

To describe and give reasons how friendships make us feel happy and safe.

To describe and give reasons why friendships can break down and how they can be repaired and strengthened.

To celebrate the joy and happiness of living in friendship with God and others.

Year 4

Aim

To make links and connections to show that we are all different.  To celebrate these differences as we appreciate that God’s love accepts us as we are now and as we change.

Learning objectives

To describe how we all should be accepted and respected.

To describe how we should treat others making links with the diverse modern society we live in.

To celebrate the uniqueness and innate beauty of each of us.

Year 5

Aim

To show a knowledge and understanding of how we grow in awareness of the physical and emotional changes that accompany puberty; sensitivity, mood swings, anger, boredom etc and grow further in recognising God’s presence in our daily lives.

Learning objectives

To show knowledge and understanding of emotional relationship changes as we grow and develop.

To show knowledge and understanding of the physical changes in puberty.

To celebrate the joy of growing physically and spiritually.

Year 6

Aim

To develop an understanding of what stable, caring relationships are and the different kinds there may be, focusing on Catholic teaching, children will also know and understand about the conception of a child within marriage.

Learning objectives

To develop a secure understanding that stable and caring relationships, which may be of different types are at the heart of happy families.

To explain how human life is conceived.

To show an understanding of how being made in the image and likeness of God informs decisions and actions when building relationships with others, including life-long relationships.

Although sex education is not compulsory in primary schools, it is recommended that primary schools have a sex education programme tailored to the age and physical and emotional maturity of the pupils.  At St Hugh’s, sex education is only ever undertaken after a detailed consultation with parents where we share the lesson materials in advance to enable parents.  Parents have the right to withdraw their children from Sex Education, although they do not have the right to withdraw their children from content that is included in the national curriculum for Science