RSHE Curriculum
Intent
At St. Benedict’s RSHE is an embedded part of our broad and balanced curriculum and we are aware of the close links with safeguarding, RE, SMSC and British Values. RSHE contributes to all aspects of school life and encompasses the gospel values that we aim to promote. Our intention is to promote pupil’s personal,, spiritual and health education as well as their emotional development and well being. We aim to promote this through strong links and connections with Catholic teaching and gospel values. The intemt of RSHE is to deliver a curriculum which is accesable to all and that will maximise the outcomes for every child. We want our pupils to become healthy, responsible members of society. We aim to help children understand how they are developing personally and socially and to know that their own health, both physical and mental, is central to who they are. We want them to grow into outstanding citizens.
We provide pupils with the knowledge and understanding of healthy relationships and positive health outcomes that they will need in order to reach their full potential as individuals and as part of a wider community. We want them to understand and live out positive healthy relationships through to adulthood. Pupils are encouraged to develop a positive sense of self worth. We aim for children to have a respect and love for their own bodies and minds and for those around them so that they will continue to nurture this through their lives.
Crucially, we believe that this is central to the Catholic ethos of our school. RSHE at St Benedict’s is rooted in the teaching that were are all made in the image and likeness of God. Children should develop an understanding of the importance of valuing themselves as the basis for taking care of the bodies that God has given them.
Implementation
RSHE is implemented in different ways at St Benedict’s. Through the wider curriculum and through our programme, ‘Life to the Full,’ children are taught discrete lessons on relatioships and health education from EYFS up to Y6. Sex education is taught through the ‘Journey in Love’ programme. The teaching of relationships and health is rooted in Christian and Gospel values. ’Life to the Full´ examines health with a Catholic Lens through the teaching of three core modules:Created and Loved by God, Created to Love Others and Created to Live in Community’ Through these umbrella themes, children are taught the statutory objectives. They will learn aspects such as respecting their own bodies, strategies to support emotional well being such as thankfulness, the impact of the internet and social media on emotional health. They will learn how to cope with strong and intense feelings.
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. 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 module explores how we take this calling into our family and friendships and teaches strategies for developing healthy relationships and keeping safe. Created to live in the Community explores the individual.’s relationship with the wider world. Here, the children explore how human beings are relational by nature and are called to love others in the broader community through service, through dialogue and through working for the common good.
RSHE is also taught through other subjects and through themed weeks in school. Objectives are covered through areas such as Science where pupils are taught about,for example, the importance of healthy eating and the risks associated with poor diet.
During our ‘Journey in Love’ and ‘Life to the Full’ programmes, pupils learn about their changing bodies and the impact of puberty so they are able to understand the physical and emotional changes that will take place. Internet Safety Week allows pupils to explore the benefits and risks associated with time spent online and learn how to keep themselves safe. During Anti Bullying Week, children explore the theme of bullying through various texts in English lessons. St Benedict’s celebrates World Mental Health Day and Children’s mental Health Week each year with a range of activities related to positive mental health. Weekly assemblies and visitors to school enable pupils to address many aspects of their physical and mental well being. All our pupils undertake regular visits to our local care home, something that promotes the mental well being of residents and children alike.
St Benedict’s is dedicated to provoding extra curricular activities that promote positive health and our pupils take part in a wide variety of sporting activities designed to keep them fit and active. Reluctant pupils are actively encouraged to take part.
Impact
The impact of teaching RSHE Education at St Benedict’s is that all pupils will leave us with the knowledge and understanding that their body was made in God’s likeness and therefore they have a responsiblily to take care of it in the best way that they can. They will also appreciate that others around them were also created in God’s image and they therefore have a collective responsibility for the health and well being of those in their community. We want pupils to take this ethos through their secondary education and beyond.
Teaching RSHE through the ‘Life to the Full’ programme will give children the knowledge, understanding, values and skills that they will need in order to reach their potential as individuals and within their wider community. Pupils will be able to take part in a range of activities through and beyond their curriculum. In doing so, they will recognise their own worth and become increasingly aware of their place within the world. They will be able to go on to form effective, fulfilling and safe relationships that are an essential part of their futures.
