RSE and PSHE
In alignment with the 2020 statutory RSE requirements, we at St Mary’s have been developing and growing our RSE programme of study.
We use Journey in Love – a developmental Catholic programme for children in the primary years - as the main structure for our teaching of Relationship Education. This programme sits within our wider provision for RSE, PSHE and Personal Development across our school. This also incorporates our delivery of the fantastic "My Happy Mind" programme.
We do not teach any sex education lessons at St Mary of the Angels.
Journey in Love has been written by Sr Jude Groden and is fully endorsed as an appropriate resource for RSE provision by the Bishop of Shrewsbury.
In each unit, children explore the physical, social, emotional, intellectual and spiritual aspects of each theme and within a wider provision of resources, support our delivery of a broad, inclusive and age appropriate RSE curriculum that is fully compliant with DfE and CES guidance. Parents can see more about our programme by clicking on the links below.
Our teachers use Journey in Love as the foundation resource and they follow the teaching guidance set out in the programme. The enriching resources that we have selected from other publications, compliment these learning themes further, and are used as part of our wider delivery model for RSE and PSHE. This includes learning through P4C (Philosophy for Children), story time, English lessons, class and group discussions, the arts, and many other curriculum and non-curriculum areas.
Protected Characteristics
Our strong delivery model ensures that our protective characteristics as a Catholic school are maintained whilst we empower our children in developing an informed conscience to facilitate discernment as they grow in God’s love. We are resolutely committed to ensuring that all children learn about every protected characteristic throughout their time here at St Mary's. You can read more about how we do this in the document below.
In addtion to Journey in Love for RSE, we are also proud to be a BRONZE accredited Happy Mind School (awarded in 2024). We use the My Happy Mind programme across the school, in all classes as part of our PSHE programme of delivery.
In our classes, we have PSHE Journals where we celebrate the broad and enriching opportunties that our delivery model facilitates. We also have our class Catholic Life Journals and our individual Happy Mind journals that evidence and celebrate our learning and our growth.
As a whole school programme grounded in science and dedicated to building positive mental wellbeing, myHappymind helps children understand how their brains work and creates a culture that helps to build children's resilience, confidence, and self-esteem. myHappymind also teaches the children how to self-regulate and manage their emotions in stressful times, allowing them to be their very best selves!
You can find our more about My Happy Mind here: https://myhappymind.org Our My Happy Mind Programme is organised into 5 modules that are taught over the school year.
These are:
Meet Your Brain: Understanding how your brain works and how to ensure we look after it so that we can manage our emotions and be at our best. Growth mindset is a key part of this too.
Celebrate: Understanding your unique Character Strengths and learning to celebrate them. This is a fantastic module for building self-esteem.
Appreciate: Understanding why gratitude matters and how you can develop gratitude as a habit.
Gratitude is key to well-being and resilience and we're all about making it a lifelong strategy!
Relate: Understanding why positive relationships matter and how to build them. We're focussed on the building blocks of good relationships and friendships.
Engage: Understanding how to set meaningful goals that matter and how to stay resilient in timesof challenge. This module is all about building self-esteem and resilience too
