HRSE | St Bridget's Catholic Primary School

Our Vision

HRSE at St. Bridget’s is integral to all we do, teach and learn. It is important and valued and as a Catholic school, it is embedded in the ethos of the school as defined in the Mission Statement and the Aims of our School. The intention of the HRSE curriculum is to enable our children to become healthy, independent and responsible members of society. This teaching helps children to understand how they are developing personally and socially, and tackles many of the moral, social and cultural issues that are part of growing up. We provide our children with opportunities for them to learn about rights and responsibilities and appreciate what it means to be a citizen of a diverse and ever changing society. Our children are encouraged to develop their sense of self-worth by playing a positive role in contributing to school life and the wider community. HRSE is an important part of the school day where children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural curiosity is stimulated, challenged and nurtured. We are aware that the delivered curriculum must reflect the needs of our children and is accessible to all. It is tailored to meet specific needs. There are always occasions when staff may feel it necessary to teach HRSE as a result of an issue which has arisen in class. We expect teachers to equip children with a sound understanding of risks and with the knowledge and skills necessary to make safe and informed decisions in life, including the online world.

Our Aims

Through our HRSE teaching we will:

Nurture mutual trust and respect
Develop understanding and tolerance
Develop an awareness of social, economic, political and ecological issues
Develop positive attitudes to health and encourage the development of healthy life choices
Foster self-respect and self-esteem among all members of the community
As a Catholic school, develop a respect for God and each other through the ethos of the school community and the teaching of the Gospels
Prepare children for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life
Within the school community, give children opportunities to work on feelings and to practice personal and interpersonal skills

At St Bridget’s Catholic Primary School and Nursery, we also aim to promote healthy, independent and responsible members of society. We encourage all our children to play a positive role in contributing to school life through fundraising events and involvement in community activities. Our pupils are given opportunities in HRSE lessons and assemblies to develop confidence, self-motivation and an understanding of their rights and responsibilities within our diverse society.

Our Curriculum

The HRSE curriculum will be implemented through the TenTen scheme of work ‘Life to the Full.’ However, there are always occasions when teachers may feel it necessary to teach HRSE as a result of an issue arisen in their own class, school or within the local community/world. HRSE is integral to the development of children’s values in order for them to become positive citizens in a forever changing world. Not only is HRSE taught as a discrete subject, or as a result of spontaneity, but it is also taught via assemblies and through other subjects such as RE, History, Geography, English, Maths and Science, as well as through outdoor educational visits, community work and activities. It is embedded into all we do at our school.

Life to the Full is a scheme of work in Relationships and Health Education for Catholic Primary Schools, which embraces and fulfils the new statutory curriculum. The Curriculum is broken into three strands, health and wellbeing, relationships and living in the wider world. Taught with a spiral approach to learning, starting in EYFS, it follows the children through to Year 6. It will revisit themes, at an age appropriate stage throughout their school life, gradually extending thinking, expanding knowledge and developing skills. The distribution of the lessons complements key campaigns throughout the year such as anti-bullying week, Internet Safety Day and Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week. Our approach to teaching HRSE helps our children to develop resilience, determination, perseverance and learn how to problem solve.

The impact of our HRSE curriculum provides our children with a chance to reflect, learn and apply these crucial skills taught within the program and beyond.

To recap, through our curriculum, we teach our children to:

Stay safe physically, mentally and online
Understand how to be healthy
Build self-esteem, resilience and problem-solving strategies
Understand how to develop and maintain positive and healthy relationships
Have respect for themselves and others

The scheme of work also includes opportunities to link to British Values and SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development).

Enrichment

Our curriculum is enriched by assemblies and is taught within the wider curriculum. We have members of the community visiting our school to embed HRSE statements and our school displays reinforce our HRSE curriculum. We celebrate awareness days and key events during the year (as noted above) to enhance children’s understanding of HRSE statements. This provides our children with learning and understanding of world-wide issues. We hold an annual Health and Safety Week where our focus is on promoting healthy eating, being hygienic and taking care of ourselves and others. Children at our school have the opportunity to meet members of our local community who help us such as the Police and nurses.

Outside our HRSE curriculum our school’s values contribute towards the development of our children. Our teaching approach places great emphasis upon collaboration and cooperation. Group work is a key element of teaching and learning within each class and contributes to positive caring relationships within our school. As part of our HRSE and citizenship work, the children are encouraged to develop independence and a sense of responsibility for themselves and others.

Our children are encouraged to show leadership in our school through school council, sports Leaders, digital leaders, Head Boy and Girl, Beacons for each class and our Buddies, also giving our children a voice.

The entire teaching is underpinned with a religious understanding that our deepest identity is as a child of God – created, chosen and loved by God.

The programme is fully inclusive of all pupils and their families.

We believe that a St Bridget’s child will leave our school prepared for the next stage in their education as well as for adult life.