RSHE at St Joseph’s
‘I have come that you might have life and have it to the full’
(Jn.10.10)
We are involved in relationships and sex education precisely because of our Christian beliefs about God and about the human person. The belief in the unique dignity of the human person made in the image and likeness of God underpins the approach to all education in a Catholic school. Our approach to RSHE therefore is rooted in the Catholic Church’s teaching of the human person and presented in a positive framework of Christian ideals.
Following the guidance of the Bishops of England and Wales and as advocated by the DFE, relationships and sex education will be delivered in accordance with the Church’s moral teaching.
We also acknowledge the need to address issues raised by the actual experience of pupils today. RSHE, therefore, will be placed firmly within the context of relationship as it is there that sexuality grows and develops.
The RSHE curriculum is all the planned activities which we organise in order to promote learning and personal growth and development. It includes not only the formal requirements of the National Curriculum, but also the curriculum offer which we as a school provide, to develop the independence and responsibility of all of our pupils, ensuring they are well placed to become educated citizens. Ten:Ten (Life to the Full), the chosen RSHE scheme of the school, has as its foundational premise the belief that we are made in the image and likeness of God and, as a consequence, gender and sexuality are God’s gift, reflect God’s beauty and share in the divine creativity
The DFE guidance defines RSHE as “lifelong learning about physical, moral and emotional development. It is about the understanding of the importance of marriage and family life, stable and loving relationships, respect, love and care.” It is about the development of the pupil’s knowledge and understanding of her/him as a sexual being, about what it means to be fully human, called to live in right relationships with self and others and being enabled to make moral decisions in conscience. The DFE identifies three main elements: “attitudes and values, personal and social skills, and knowledge and understanding”.
Through our RSHE policy we aim to:
- Establish a firm understanding that we are all created in the image of God and that it is God’s love that makes us unique and special;
- Promote a love for ourselves and our neighbour establishing ways that we can demonstrate our love for others;
- Give the children the knowledge and skills needed to keep themselves safe and develop healthy relationships with themselves, others and God.
High Quality RSHE
High quality RSHE is most effective when:
- It is part of broad and rich curriculum that engages children in a range of activities and experiences to develop their understanding of relationship and how to keep themselves safe;
- It is multi-sensory, encompassing simultaneous visual, auditory and kinaesthetic activities to engage core learning;
- It is systematic and follows a carefully planned programme which reinforces and builds on previous learning to secure children’s progress;
- There are opportunities to reinforce and apply acquired
knowledge and skills across the curriculum.
