Year 9 and Year 11 spent the day looking at the important topic of Relationship and Sex Education (RSE). RSE is part of the mission of Catholic schools to educate the whole person. RSE seeks to inform and prepare young people for adult life. All teaching about love and sexual relationships in our college is rooted in the Catholic Church’s teaching about what it is to be truly human in Christ, what it means to live well in relationship with others and is presented within a positive framework of Christian virtue. We encourage young people in school to speak about Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) rather than Sex and Relationship Education (SRE), since this emphasises the importance of healthy relationships to human well-being, as the core learning for young people.

Year 9 looked at body Confidence and how there are many different body shapes, sizes and physical attributes and how they are all unique and special in the eyes of God. Students also looked at peer pressure and how to develop the skills needed to identify and resist peer and other types of pressure to conform. In science students looked in more detail at the Menstrual Cycle and the function of gametes (sperm and ova) in fertilisation as well as human reproduction and contraception, including the structure and function of the male and female reproductive systems and contraception. Finally students also had the opportunity to study fertility, such as IVF, that fertility levels can vary in different people.

Year 11 had a theatre experience by Tip of the Iceberg Theatre Company, where they performed a three person drama that covered such themes as mental health, relationships and social media from which they continued to run workshops throughout the day to delve into these issues in more detail. In RE, Year 11 focused on self-esteem and contraception; in particular the strengths and the role of peers in supporting each other as well as Church teachings. In science, Year 11 lessons centred on reproduction, gestation and development of unborn child as well what can affect development like smoking and STI’s. Year 11 also experiences an outside speaker from Life Charity giving them Catholic centred advice about relationships.