Relationships at St Mary's
Our vision
Our intention is that when children leave St Mary’s, they will do so with the knowledge, understanding and emotions to be able to play an active, positive and successful role in today’s diverse society. We want our children to have high aspirations, a belief in themselves and realise that, if they put their mind to it, anything is possible. We encourage our pupils to develop their sense of self-worth by playing a positive role in contributing to school life and the wider community. We challenge all of our pupils to look for opportunities to show our school values of Belief, Peace, Mercy, Serve, Truth and Love. These attributes are evident in our high expectations of behaviour, interpersonal relationships, respect and tolerance of others. Through our rigorous and progressive curriculum, children develop key skills and are prepared for the wider world beyond primary school, a world in which they can keep themselves safe and healthy and thrive with the support of the positive relationships they forge with those around them.
As a Catholic school, our mission is to support the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of all of our pupils, rooted in the wisdom and teaching of the Church.
How we plan and teach Relationships
We follow the programme ‘Life to the full’ which has been created by Ten Ten Resources and is taught from Early Years up to Year Six. The programme adopts a spiral curriculum approach so that as a child goes through the programme year-after-year so the learning will develop and grow with each stage building on the last. To build on the children’s understand of their relationship with God’s world we also teach additional lesson that meet our children’s needs.
Relationships, including Catholic Social Teaching and British Values, is an integral part of the whole school curriculum, and is therefore often taught within other subject areas. 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.
Relationships Education will put in place the building blocks needed for positive and safe relationships, including with family, friends and online. Children will be taught what a relationship is, what friendship is, what family means and who can support them. In an age-appropriate way, our learning and teaching will cover how to treat each other with kindness, consideration and respect.
How we evaluate Relationships
The impact of our Relationships curriculum is evident as soon as you walk into the warm welcome of St Mary’s. The school’s mission statement and school values are embedded in all that we do and this can be observed in the positive way children respond and react to each other. We also see the impact of this learning in our children’s engagement with our community; their care for each other and for all living things.
Children are aware of what they are learning and how it builds on what they have previously been taught. Learning is assessed through written work, debate and conversation. This is evaluated at the end of every lesson so teachers can assess whether a child is working at the expected standard. Precise evaluation enables next steps to be considered and support to be put into place if needed.
Children are confident in using emotional literacy, therefore, can clearly express their emotions giving them a strong pupil voice to be able to articulate any worries they or their friends may have. This has also developed confidence for children to use their words to solve problems in an effective manner.
Children begin each Relationships lesson with these questions:
Parent Portal for Life to the Full
Please click on the links below to access your child's learning:
Online Parent Portal – Enter (tentenresources.co.uk)
Username: st-marys-sn2
Password: rose-red