25th September 2020
Dear Parents/Carers,
Relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education at St Marie’s
The Department for Education (DfE) has made the teaching of Relationships, Sex Education and Health Education curriculum a mandatory requirement for all primary schools in England. The teaching of this curriculum was meant to be compulsory for all schools from September 2020, however, COVID-19 stopped our consultation process and therefore we are aiming to have our new scheme up and running by January 2021.
The statutory curriculum focuses on healthy relationships and keeping children safe in the modern world. It also covers a wide range of topics relating to physical and mental health, wellbeing, safeguarding and healthy relationships. Learning about the emotional, social and physical aspects of growing up, it will give young people the information, skills and positive values to have safe, fulfilling relationships and will help them take responsibility for their own well-being.
Where are we up to?
So far, we have been working with the Diocese of Hallam and sought guidance from the Catholic Education Service.
Additionally, we have been working with all the Catholic schools in Sheffield on a joined-up approach to the teaching of relationships and sex education across our diocese.
We have already invested in a new scheme of learning linked to the teaching of relationships called ‘Life to the Full: A programme in Relationships, Sex Education (RSE) for Catholic Primary schools’ via Ten:Ten, a Catholic education organisation. Additionally, as a school, we have taken the decision to supplement this scheme with input from Big Talk Education as we have done in previous years to consolidate and embed children’s knowledge and understanding of this important topic.
‘Life to the Full’ will ensure these lessons take place in a safe learning environment and are underpinned by our school ethos and values which wholly align with those of the Catholic Church. A variety of opportunities will be provided for pupils to ask questions to further their understanding and to find out more about what affects them personally.
The programme of study incorporates videos and Power Points specifically created to promote discussion and inform students about RSE issues. Every resource is rooted in scripture and informs children firstly of the Catholic Churches teachings whilst also sharing other world views as per the statutory framework.
Before we formalise these schemes of learning into our new policy, we are keen to engage with our parents/carers. It is essential that we have the solid consensus across all stakeholders as to the curriculum content and delivery model.
Parental consultation
As a Catholic school, we provide the principal means by which the Church assists parents and carers in educating their children. We are committed to working in partnership with parents and carers thus we would like to formally consult with you.
We would like to invite you to view our draft RSE policy and associated documents which can be downloaded in the files below.
When you have had chance to read these documents, we would welcome your questions, comments and feedback which can be submitted via this online form.
The timescales for the consultation and implementation of the curriculum are shared below:
- Friday 25th September – Start of consultation.
- Sunday 25th October – Consultation end; please fill in the online form by this date.
- Wednesday 4th November – provisional date for parents/carers Q&A. The format of the event will be shared closer to the time and will take into account current COVID-19 guidelines.
- January 2021 - we plan to deliver our full curriculum as per our agreed policy.
- Summer 2021 - Parents Session delivered by BigTalk Education. The format of the event will be shared closer to the time and will take into account current COVID-19 guidelines.
- Summer 2021 - Specialist RSE delivered by BigTalk Education to whole school.
The delivery of the curriculum will not start until after the autumn term at the earliest, to allow us time to review the comments and feedback from parents and carers and make any changes that we feel are appropriate as a result of this consultation and allow for staff training to take place.
Ideally, we would like parent feedback from every class to be included in the consultation as we develop our approach across the school.
I would like to thank you in advance for your support of this important process.
Yours faithfully,
Mr Fernandes
Headteacher
