St Ambrose Barlow Catholic Primary School
St Ambrose Barlow Catholic Primary School

Relationships and Sex Education (RSE)

In June 2019, the Government released the final guidance document of what schools will need to deliver around RSE as part of the basic school curriculum. This guidance replaced the SRE guidance of 2000. The new statutory requirements came into effect from September 2020.

As a minimum, schools are required to cover the themes and topics below by the end of the primary phase:

Relationships education

  • Families and people who care for me
  • Caring relationships
  • Respectful relationships
  • Online relationships
  • Being safe

Physical health and mental well being

  • Mental wellbeing
  • Internet safety and harms
  • Physical health and fitness
  • Healthy eating
  • Drugs alcohol and tobacco
  • Health and prevention
  • Basic first aid
  • Changing adolescent body

Delivery

St. Ambrose Barlow Catholic Primary School currently delivered these topics as part of their timetabled RSE (Relationships and Sex Education). The content also complements national curriculum subjects such as Science, PE and Computing. St. Ambrose Barlow Catholic Primary School has a written policy in place for RSE and this is freely available to parents and stakeholders. This policy reflects the needs of the children, parents and the community the school serve.

Right to Withdraw

There is no right of parental withdrawal from Relationships Education or Health education elements. Parents do have the right to withdraw from some or all of the sex education, outside of the mandatory requirements i.e. that stated in the science national curriculum. As such, we will seek permission from parents before undertaking this element of the curriculum, and we hope that you give us your consent.

RSE at St. Ambrose Barlow Catholic Primary School

At St. Ambrose Barlow Catholic Primary School we have subscribed to an online RSE Programme provided by a Catholic company called Ten:Ten. Ten:Ten are an award-winning theatre, film and educational organization working in Catholic Primary Schools throughout the UK. The program provided by Ten:Ten is called Life To The Full. It is being promoted by the Birmingham Diocesan Education Service.

Life to the Full is a fully resourced Scheme of Work in Relationships and Health Education (RHE) for Catholic primary schools which embraces and fulfils the new statutory curriculum. Taught with a spiral approach to learning, in which pupils will revisit the same topics at an age-appropriate stage through their school life, the programme includes teaching about personal health, physical and emotional wellbeing, strong emotions, private parts of the body, personal relationships, family structures, trusted adults, growing bodies, puberty, periods, life cycles, the dangers of social media, where babies come from, an understanding of the Common Good and living in the wider world. The entire teaching is underpinned with a religious understanding that our deepest identity is as a child of God – created chosen and loved by God. The programme is fully inclusive of all pupils and their families.

The programme includes:

  • Approx. 60 lesson plans for Years 1 to 6 (EYFS to follow in 2020/21);
  • High-quality videos created by Ten Ten specifically for UK-based Catholic primary schools;
  • Programme of prayer and worship music to accompany the scheme of work;
  • Assessment Activities;
  • Guidance for Programme Coordinators;
  • Teaching training sessions;
  • Programme Pathways for a variety of school timetables;
  • Online Parent Portal for links to home.