Relationships and Sex Education (R.S.E)
St Patrick’s currently follows the Catholic Education Service Model RSE Curriculum document. The curriculum is delivered through our Science and R.E lessons and dedicated lesson time given to RSE.
‘A Journey In Love’ is the RSE scheme that we use at St Patrick’s. It is the recommended programme of study for Catholic schools for Relationships and Sex Education, and has been written so that year on year the children build on their knowledge and awareness. It also supports the Religious Education, PSHE and Science curriculum taught within the school.
As with all aspects of learning, children are naturally curious and many will have questions related to their lessons. Opportunities to discuss questions form part of the lessons and again these are treated with care and understanding. A Journey In Love highlights the importance of parental input and children will be told to discuss their lessons at home.
Can I withdraw my child from RSE?
There is no right to withdraw pupils from Relationships Education at primary school, which covers subjects such as family, friendship and safety or from teaching information that is a statutory part of the Science Curriculum. Parents retain the right to withdraw their child from the sex education parts of Relationships and Sex Education classes taught in primary school. These are covered in Journey in Love in Yr 5 & 6 as outlined in the Journey in Love RSE documents below.
Government Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education document
Updated Journey in Love Catholic RSE Curriculum
Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (P.S.H.E)
How we deliver PSHE at St Patrick’s Catholic Primary
St Patrick’s is committed to providing a comprehensive personal development program for our children that teaches them personal, social and emotional lessons as well as providing a Catholic framework for moral values. We make use of a number of resources, including Life to the Full plus, Bounce Back and Twinkl PSHE, which cover health and wellbeing, relationship and social development and living in the wider word. Specific elements related to sexual development are taught though the recommended scheme ‘Journey in Love’ which is endorsed by the Diocese of Brentwood.
Overview of coverage of Life to the Full plus (Ten Ten resources)
Mental Health and Wellbeing
ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant)
Our trained ELSA member of staff is Mrs Gonzalez, she is a very experienced Teaching Assistant who has been specially trained to take on the role of an ELSA. The ELSA project is overseen by Educational Psychologists in order to ensure reflective practice and develop the effectiveness of the programme. In the ELSA programme children, for whom the school feels it would be of benefit, are invited to participate. Initially there is a ‘getting to know you’ phase before the intervention itself is begun. Each session is carefully planned and individually tailored to meet the child’s needs and develop their emotional literacy. Children enjoy participating and research has shown this to be a highly effective resource with positive outcomes for children.
CAMHS & BCCS
There are times when children may benefit from ongoing professional support; if appropriate, the school may work with the parents to make a referral to Brentwood Catholic Children’s Society (BCCS) for counselling or the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) for more specific professional input. We have a BCCS counsellor in school one day per week to work with children and parents on a range of issues.
Both agencies work with parents, schools and children to address specific mental health or wellbeing needs
External Services for mental health and wellbeing
External links to mental health charities and family support can be found here.