UKS2 Module Three: Created to Live in Community explores the individual’s relationship with the wider world. Here we explore how human beings are relational by nature and are called to love others in the wider community through service, through dialogue and through working for the Common Good:

Unit 1 – Religious Understanding deepens pupils understanding and appreciation of the three-part community of love, the Trinity, with the endpoint of discussing the Trinity as it might be communicated in a church setting. Children will learn that the Trinity demonstrates the perfect loving community, and we are called to emulate this self-giving and self-sacrificing love in our communities.

Building on learning from Lower Key Stage Two, Unit 2 – Living in the Wider World teaches children some of the principles of Catholic Social Teaching from Together For The Common Good, which will help them to fulfil their purpose of making a difference in the world around them. Teaching includes the common good, the human person, social relationships and stewardship.

UKS2 Module Two: Created to Love Others explores the individual’s relationship with others. Building on the understanding that we have been created out of love and for love, this module explores how we take this calling into our family, friendships and relationships, and teaches strategies for developing healthy relationships and keeping safe:

Unit 1 – Religious Understanding explores the nature of God’s call to love others. Children will study and reflect imaginatively on the story of Zacchaeus’ conversion and explore ways in which they can hear God’s call in their lives.

Through a series of short sketches from presenters Zoe and Joey, Unit 2 – Personal Relationships aims to equip children with strategies for more complex experiences of relationships and conflict. This includes sessions that help children to identify and understand how to respond to spoken and unspoken pressure, the concept of consent and some practical demonstrations of this and further teaching on how our thoughts and feelings have an impact on how we act.

Unit 3 – Keeping Safe builds on the NSPCC Share Aware resources used in Lower Key Stage Two, equipping children to make safe and sensible decisions about what online content they should/shouldn’t share, cyberbullying and how to report and get help if they encounter inappropriate messages or material. The third session in the Unit moves into the real world and considers the four types of abuse: sexual, physical, emotional and neglect. Children will know how to spot each type of abuse and who they can go to for help. 

The final three sessions in this Module explore how drugs, alcohol and tobacco can negatively affect people’s lifestyles and the body’s natural functioning, discuss how to make good choices even in pressured situations, and teach essential First Aid such as DR ABC and the recovery position.

UKS2 Module One: Created and Loved by God explores the individual. Rooted in the teaching that we are made in the image and likeness of God, it helps children to develop an understanding of the importance of valuing themselves as the basis for personal relationships:

Unit 1 – Religious Understanding explores the Gospel story of the ‘Calming of the Storm’ (from Matthew, Mark and Luke). Over five story sessions, children will consider experiences of change, growth and development, and the trust that they can have in the person of Jesus through times of trial and tribulation. This is the religious and spiritual foundation for the exploration throughout the rest of the work covered in Module 1: Created and Loved By God. 

Teaching across the rest of the Units in this Module is based on our own TV drama series, Paradise Street. Please read ‘How to Lead Paradise Street sessions’ before leading these.

In Unit 2 – Me, My Body, My Health, children will learn that celebrating differences between people is enriching to a community and know that their self-confidence should arise from being loved by God. They will learn about the physical changes that boys and girls go through during puberty and how they should respect and take care of their bodies as gifts from God. Genitals are also mentioned here, but not named and identified. You might like to revisit the LKS2 1.2.3 Appendix 2 Parts of the Body worksheet as an extension activity.

Continuing through the Paradise Street series, Unit 3 – Emotional Well-Being helps children learn about pressures that they may experience from themselves, others and the media. Children will develop ideas on how to build resilience through thankfulness, use simplified CBT techniques to manage their thoughts, feelings and actions and cope with new or difficult feelings such as romance and rage. The final session in this Unit covers how children may be affected by what they see online, including pornography.

KEY DECISION: Talking about Pornography. This session addresses the risks that children face from seeing pornographic images and videos online. On the one hand, this is very much a lesson about ‘internet safety’ and therefore falls under the statutory Health Education curriculum. However, some schools and parents may also consider that this falls under the non-statutory Sex Education curriculum. We encourage schools and their parents to make their own decision about this – talk to your Programme Coordinator about this.

In Unit 4 – Life Cycles, children will learn about God’s design for creating new life through a more nuanced understanding of menstruation, fertility, conception, fetal development in the womb and childbirth. An optional session talks about sexual intercourse within the context of marriage being God’s plan for the place of sex within a relationship.

KEY DECISION: Talking about Sex. This is a very sensitive topic and the session should only be run if it has been approved and agreed by the school’s governing body in consultation with parents. Teaching about sexual intercourse is not part of the statutory curriculum. The session can be omitted without detracting from the journey of the overall programme. A separate parents-only version of this session has also been provided to allow parents the opportunity to introduce these matters at their own time and choosing. This lesson upholds and supports the teaching of the Catholic Church on sex and marriage whilst also discussing other types of relationships.

LKS2 Module Three: Created to Live in Community explores the individual’s relationship with the wider world. Here we explore how human beings are relational by nature and are called to love others in the wider community through service, through dialogue and through working for the Common Good:

Unit 1 – Religious Understanding explores in greater detail the community aspect of the Trinity and encourages children to think about what the Trinity means to them and how as they were made in God’s image, they too are created to live in community. 

In Unit 2 – Living in the Wider World, children will learn some of the principles of Catholic Social Teaching from Together For The Common Good, which will help them to live in communities in the way God intends. Teaching includes the common good, the human person, social relationships and stewardship.

LKS2 Module Two: Created to Love Others explores the individual’s relationship with others. Building on the understanding that we have been created out of love and for love, this module explores how we take this calling into our family, friendships and relationships, and teaches strategies for developing healthy relationships and keeping safe:

Unit 1 – Religious Understanding tells the parable of The Prodigal Son, showing that God loves us, and nothing we can do will stop Him from loving us. Children will also learn about different types of sin, and the importance of forgiveness in relationships.

The sessions in Unit 2 – Personal Relationships help children to develop a more complex appreciation of different family structures, develop healthy relationships with family and friends and learn some strategies to use when relationships become difficult. Teaching also covers how to recognise discrimination and bullying, both physical and emotional. Children will learn strategies to develop resilience and resist pressure.

Unit 3 – Keeping Safe incorporates some of the excellent NSPCC Share Aware resources, as well as teaching on bullying and physical, emotional and sexual abuse through a series of animated stories. Through the animated expert Dr Datfa, children will also learn in greater depth about the effects of drugs, alcohol and tobacco and how to make good choices concerning these as they get older. The final session of the Module explores in more detail what to do in emergency situations.

LKS2 Module One: Created and Loved by God explores the individual. Rooted in the teaching that we are made in the image and likeness of God, it helps children to develop an understanding of the importance of valuing themselves as the basis for personal relationships:

Unit 1 – Religious Understanding explores the Gospel story Jairus’ daughter in various creative and reflective ways. Through story and discussion, children will learn that they are designed for a purpose and how they should live in light of this. A second session unpacks the Sacraments of Baptism and Reconciliation as a foretaste of heaven and a wonderful part of our relationship with God.

In Unit 2 – Me, My Body, My Health, children meet animated character, AJ, who will reappear throughout this scheme of work. In this Unit, children will learn to celebrate similarities and differences, and to appreciate and look after their bodies as gifts from God. Teaching also covers specific physical and emotional changes during puberty, and that growing from boys and girls to men and women is part of God’s loving plan for creation.

KEY DECISION: Puberty. We advise waiting until Year 4+ for the two sessions on Puberty and Changing Bodies, but recommend that a decision is made locally about the best time and place for the teaching of these sessions. Refer to the school’s RSE Policy and the school’s Programme Coordinator to establish this.

Unit 3 – Emotional Well-Being helps children to understand the difference between feelings and actions, how to manage them and what they can do to help themselves stay emotionally healthy. In this Unit, media is discussed as a ‘fake reality’ and God’s love for us is presented as a better basis for our self-confidence. Finally, children will identify unacceptable behaviours and learn to build resilience against negative feelings by practising thankfulness.

Returning to the story of Jairus’ daughter from Unit 1, Unit 4 – Life Cycles explores the miraculous nature of human conception and birth and offers an opportunity for thanksgiving. Sexual intercourse is not discussed in this session.

KS1 Module Three: Created to Live in Community explores the individual’s relationship with the wider world. Here we explore how human beings are relational by nature and are called to love others in the wider community through service, through dialogue and through working for the Common Good:

In Unit 1 – Religious Understanding children will hear the story of The Good Samaritan and will be introduced to the concept of the Trinity – God as a three in one community of love – and think about what the Trinity means for them. This is a simple teaching that we will return to in more complexity in later years. These stories show children that God made us to be in loving relationships with one another. 

Unit 2 – Living in the Wider World helps children to learn about the different local and global communities that they are part of, and what rights and responsibilities come with belonging to these communities.

KS1 Module 2: Created to Love Others explores the individual’s relationship with others. Building on the understanding that we have been created out of love and for love, this module explores how we take this calling into our family, friendships and relationships, and teaches strategies for developing healthy relationships and keeping safe:

Unit 1 – Religious Understanding begins with an adapted version of the Prodigal Son story to show children that God loves us, and nothing we can do will stop Him from loving us.

In Unit 2 – Personal Relationships children once again meet Super Susie, who helps them to identify the ‘special people’ in their lives who they love and can trust. In further sessions, children will learn how to cope with various social situations and dilemmas, and the importance of saying sorry and forgiveness within relationships.

In Unit 3 – Keeping Safe, Super Susie helps children to tell the difference between good and bad secrets. This unit also explores the risks of being online by incorporating the ‘Smartie the Penguin’ resources from Childnet, and teaching on physical boundaries, incorporating the PANTS resource by the NSPCC. Through the animated expert Dr Datfa, children will also learn about the effects of harmful substances (including alcohol and tobacco), some basic First Aid, what makes a 999 emergency and what they should do if in an emergency situation.

KS1 Module One: Created and Loved by God explores the individual. Rooted in the teaching that we are created by God out of love and for love, it helps children to develop an understanding of the importance of valuing themselves as the basis for personal relationships:

Unit 1 – Religious Understanding introduces children to the story from the Gospel of Matthew, when Jesus welcomed all of the little children to come to Him. The five-story sessions encourage children to understand that they are created by God out of love and for love. Children will revisit this Gospel story at the end of this Module.

Building on this knowledge, Unit 2 – Me, My Body, My Health encourages children to celebrate similarities and differences between people, including our God-given bodies and the things they enable us to do! Teaching also includes maintaining personal hygiene and the physical differences between boys and girls.

o  KEY DECISION: Genitalia. In Unit 2 Session 2, there is an optional section for discussing external body parts (genitalia). Teachers leading this session should refer to the RSE Policy in the school and your school’s Programme Coordinator to establish whether discussing genitalia is appropriate for the age and stage of their children.

Over the three sessions of Unit 3 – Emotional Well-Being, children will meet presenters Jayden and Josie and fictional character Super Susie. They will help children to understand and articulate their own changing feelings and how other people’s feelings might differ from theirs. Children will learn how they can manage their feelings and about the consequences of their actions.

Unit 4 – Life Cycles returns to the Gospel story from Unit 1, to show that God created us to follow the cycle of life and He loves us at every stage. Children will learn about the specifics of the human life cycle and celebrate how they have already changed and grown.