All year groups follow the PSHE/ RHE Scheme of Work. Teachers teach the core content explicitly. However, aspects of PSHE are not exclusive to lessons alone and are discussed as and when talking points or questions may arise.

Resources from Ten:Ten Life to the Full Plus programme are used in our SOL. The programme is based on the structure of ‘A Model Catholic RSE Curriculum’ by the Catholic Education Service. This is underpinned by the belief in the unique dignity of the human person made in the image and likeness of God.

Mental health and wellbeing resounces for our children in Y4-6 are developed from the Primary Quo Vadis programme.

Links to PSHE/RHE curriculum are taught in RE- SMSC (All About Me, Keeping Safe, Relationships, Celebrating Differences, The World Around Me)

Links to PSHE/RHE are taught in Science. (All About Me, Keeping Healthy)

Ongoing Parental Consultation

Parents are able to view the Ten Ten resources via the parent portal. Please be aware that lessons will be adapted by teachers to best suit the needs of the class. Video resources may not be used forsome lessons or shown in their entirety depending on the needs of the class.

https://www.tentenresources.co.uk/parent-portal/

Username: st-edmund-sl6

Password: jolly-day

In addition, Y6 parents are invited to a parent workshop prior to giving/witholding consent for your child to take part in an age appropriate 'sex and relationships' lesson. Resources used with the children will be shared with parents in this very open session each year. This year's session will be held on 26th June at 4:30pm.

We urge you to share any comments, questions or concerns you may have about our PSHE/RHE scheme of learning with the Headteacher jennifer.camp-overy@st-edmund.org.uk or PSHE/RSE Lead Mrs Faruki olivia.faruki@st-edmund.org.uk 

FAQ (provided by Ten Ten)

FAQ: Our family aren’t actually practicing Catholics, does this matter?

We trust that parents who have sent their children to Catholic schools will be sympathetic to their school’s Catholic ethos. Just as the Catholic faith is central to Catholic schools, so it is with the ‘Life to the Full’ and ‘Life to the Full Plus’ programmes, and we ask that families support it in the same way they do throughout daily school life.

Our assumption is that children, families and the teachers leading these sessions will come from a wide variety of backgrounds and belief structures, so our programme is sensitive to their needs, and fully inclusive of all.

In addition we hope you will agree that the curriculum content of ‘Life to the Full’/ ‘Life to the Full Plus’ and all of the values and virtues developed within it are incredibly valuable and worthwhile regardless of faith status.

FAQ: What if my child comes home and asks difficult questions that I don’t know how to answer?

As a parent, you already have all the skills at your disposal to respond to curve-ball questions! However, when the subject content is sensitive it can feel more difficult, or even at times uncomfortable. Of course, our job is not to tell you how to parent your child, but here are some pointers that other parents have found helpful:

• Be honest. Information based on an untruth can lead to confusion and a sense of embarrassment when children realise they haven’t been told the truth.
• Never feel pressured to answer something immediately. You can always say, “Let me come back to you on that” and check in with your partner, or another parent or friend for advice. 
• “You’ll learn about that when you’re a bit older” can be an acceptable response. Children will know there is more to learn, just as they know there is more to learn about Maths beyond Year 1. Most children are happy with a response which acknowledges there is more to learn, but that they will learn about it at a later date.
• Never shame or embarrass children for the questions they ask. Most often, children are genuinely curious about topics such as puberty, and the chance to air their queries and exploratory thoughts should be pressure and judgement-free. Shame and embarrassment has too often been associated with education around sex and relationships – you might even have experienced this yourself – and this is the opposite of what we are trying to achieve through ‘Life to the Full’ and ‘Life to the Full Plus’.

Our aim through this programme is to build children up as they discover the people they were called by God to be.

FAQ: Is my child going to learn about sex?

It is not mandatory that primary schools teach about sexual intimacy, however some schools – in careful consultation with parents – might choose to.

At St Edmund Campion this is taught in the Summer Term of Y6 to children where consent has been provided by parents. Y6 parents are invited to a workshop session with Y6 teachers prior. In that meeting, the video and teaching materials which will be shared with children, are shared with parents. Parents are given the opportunity to withdraw their child from this teaching should they choose. This is dealt with very sensitively by school staff.

FAQ: Can I withdraw my child from the lessons?

In primary schools in England, the new statutory curriculum is called Relationships and Health Education. Parents do not have the right to remove their children from Relationships Education or Health Education lessons.

However, some primary schools may also choose to teach aspects of ‘Sex Education’, which means teaching about sexual intimacy.  Parents retain the right to withdraw children from ‘Sex Education’ lessons in primary schools, but not that which is taught as part of the Science curriculum.

FAQ: How can I best support my child throughout this programme?

The best way to support your child’s learning is through using the Parent Portal.

This will advise you on the content they have been studying in school so that you can continue conversations at home. It also suggests home learning activities to help you bring these topics up in specific ways.

Another fantastic way that you can support your child is through prayer. We have provided details in the Online Parent Portal of Unit prayers that children will be using in school. You can integrate these into your home prayer life to help reinforce the common messages and values of each Unit.

FAQ: Does the programme contain LGBT content?

Many parents are keen to know if the programme contains LGBT content and what that is. Here’s a brief summary of our approach:

• Life to the Full is inclusive of all children, families and teaching staff;
• From the very start, the programme acknowledges that families are made up differently (including single-parent families, blended families, step-parents, carers, etc) and it celebrates the family unit in whatever form it takes;
• Individual schools can build on this teaching, depending on the cohort, to ensure that every child is assured, and their family background is affirmed;
• In Upper Key Stage Two, the presenters on film say that some children have “two mums and two dads” as part of a list of different family set-ups. (Children at St Edmund Campion are already aware of this due to our learning about Protected Characteristics)
• Another session in Upper Key Stage Two, ‘Build Others Up’, is an anti-bullying resource framed by the protected characteristics. The protected characteristics of sex, sexual orientation and gender reassignment are not explicitly named within the session’s film. Later in the session, children are presented with a number of scenarios to discuss and sort. Some of the scenarios concern discrimination, bullying of the protected characteristics of sex and/or sexual orientation. For schools using Life to the Full Plus there are also four Classroom Short videos mentioning sexual attraction, sexual orientation and gender identity. You can find out more about the ‘Build Others Up’ session and associated Classroom Shorts in the Parent Portal.
• The only reference to sexual intimacy is in the optional UKS2 session ‘Making Babies: Part 2’. In this session, sexual intimacy is discussed within the context of a heterosexual marriage.

This teaching is in line with the statutory guidance from the Department for Education.

Protected Characteristics and British Values