“Love is an art to be learned.
It is a giving experience, a selfless act.
Every experience of love gives us yet another glimpse of the meaning of love in God himself.
Human love is the instrument we can use to explore the mystery of love which God is”
Cardinal Basil Hume
A Journey In Love is a resource created by Sister Jude Groden of BRES. It is the recommended programme of study for Catholic schools for Sex and Relationship Education and has been written as a progressive scheme of work that supports the Religious Education, PSHE and Science curricula taught within the school.
As children progress through the school, they discover more and more about themselves and the wider world. The thirst for learning new things is fostered by the school, who attempt to create a safe and stimulating environment for learning and supporting all children in their development.
A Journey in Love supports children in growing and developing healthy and holistically towards an understanding of their gender and its implications for successful relationships, for this is happen children must be at ease with themselves and grow in self-knowledge.
A Journey in Love programme content:
An aspect of the mystery of love is taught in each year group; children are encouraged to marvel at the wonder and beauty of God’s creative love. This is reflected through a series of progressive and developmental tasks, activities and reflections which focus on physical, social, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual development.
The following themes are studied in each year group:
- Nursery: Wonder at God’s Love
- Reception: God loves each of us in our uniqueness
- Year 1: We meet God’s love in our family
- Year 2: We meet God’s love in the community
- Year 3: How we live in love
- Year 4: God loves us in our differences
- Year 5: God loves me in my changing and development
- Year 6: The wonder of God’s love in creating new life
As with all aspects of learning, children are naturally curious, and many will have questions related to their lessons. Opportunities to discuss questions form part of the lessons and again these are treated with care and understanding.
A Journey In Love, highlights the importance of parental input and details of the programme are detailed below. In Year 6 the content covers Sex Education as part of the relationship programme. Parents have the right to request that their child is withdrawn from this aspect of the programme.