At Christ the King Catholic Primary School, any teaching or formation on human love and human development must be within the whole context of our faith in God who reveals himself in Jesus Christ, as it is through our love of God and of neighbour that we reciprocate God's love for mankind.  As the term 'Relationship' and Sex Education' (RSE) indicates, the emphasis is placed on the understanding and formation of respectful, loving relationships which exist between friends and within families.  High-quality, evidence-based and age-appropriate teaching of these subjects can help prepare pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life.

The focus in primary school should be on teaching the fundamental building blocks and characteristics of positive relationships, with particular reference to friendships, family relationships and relationships with other children and with adults.  This starts with pupils being taught about what a relationship is, what friendship is, what family means and who the people are who can support them.  From the beginning of primary school, building on early education, pupils should be taught how to take turns, how to treat each other with kindness, consideration and respect, the importance of honesty and truthfulness, permission seeking and giving, and the concept of personal privacy.  Establishing personal space and boundaries, showing respect and understanding the differences between appropriate and inappropriate or unsafe physical, and other contact - these are the forerunners of teaching about consent.

The Department for Education guidance states that 'children and young people need to know how to be safe and healthy, and how to manage their academic, personal and social lives in a positive way'.  It is about the development of the pupil's knowledge and understanding of her or him as 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.

Our programme enshrines Catholic values relating to the importance of stable relationships, marriage and family life.  It also promotes those virtues which are essential in responding to the God's call to love others with a proper respect for their dignity and the dignity of the human body.

At Christ the King Catholic Primary School, we use 'Life to the Full' as recommended for Catholic schools.  The RSHE Curriculum within 'Life to the Full' Programme is taught within the context of a Christian understanding of sexuality, with Gospel values at its heart, especially that RSHE is about the whole person: spiritual, moral, social and cultural.

'Life to the Full' is much more than a series of lessons.  It is an entire platform of creative resources that will engage, inform and inspire our children and, indeed, you as parents.  This includes interactive video content, story-based activities, employing a wide range of teaching tools, original worship music and an accompanying programme of classroom prayers.

In addition, there is an online parent platform so that you, as parent and carers, can engage with the teaching and deepen the experience of your child.  Here, you can view some of the materials your child will be studying in class, and there are supplementary home activities and prayers.

Please click here to access the online parent platform.

School Username:  ctk-bs35

School Password:  happy-days-5

Please click here to see our school Relationship and Health Education Policy or click here to see an Overview of the Life to the Full Programme.

A Reflection

For each of us, life is like a journey.

Birth is the beginning of this journey,

And death is not the end; but the destination.

It is a journey that takes us

from youth to age,

from innocence to awareness,

from ignorance to knowledge,

from foolishness to wisdom,

from weakness to strength and often back again,

from offence to forgiveness, from pain to compassion,

from fear to faith,

from defeat to victory and from victory to defeat,

Until, looking backward or ahead,

we see that victory does not lie at some high point along the way,

but in having made the journey, stage by stage.

(Adapted from an old Hebrew Prayer)