Faith perspectives can be included in RSE alongside information about the law and medical facts. It is important that different types of information are identified as such, i.e. description of a faith position or belief, or legal or medical facts.
There are lots of faith schools already providing high quality and inclusive RSE.
- The Catholic Education Service model RSE programme for primary school includes factual information about the human body, e.g. ‘The names of the main parts of the body, including identifying and correctly naming genitalia (e.g. penis and vagina)’ and clearly identifies a separate section: ‘Religious understanding of human relationships’
- Cardinal Newman Catholic Secondary School, Luton – teachers have been trained on gender and sexual orientation in order to tackle homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying, and so that teachers are equipped to respond to students’ questions in the PSHE curriculum. A school ethos group supported this initiative and the school is proud to be welcoming to all in their community. See: https://vimeo.com/313182508
A schools’ RSE policy is a good place to explain how their RSE programme contributes to the ethos and values of the school. The importance of respectful behaviour and positive, caring relationships is integral to the ethos and values of perhaps every school in the country.
Share