"Children and young people . . . should be given a positive and prudent education in matters relating to sex. . . [They] have the right to be encouraged to make sound moral judgements with an informed conscience and to put them into practice by personal choice . . ."para 1 Declaration on Christian Education (1967)
The education of children about relationships and sexual development has always been a sensitive issue for teachers and parents. The Church has recognised the need to support parents and teachers to meet their obligations to children and young people. Over a few years the CEC developed materials which offered guidance to parents and teachers on how to provide adequate advice, in line with the teachings of the Church.
The Bishops of Scotland expect that the following guidance will be used by every Catholic school in Scotland to guide their delivery of appropriate teaching programmes in this area:
Guidelines on Relationships & Moral Education which outline cross-curricular strands organised for each of seven stages from Primary 1 to 16+;
Guidance Notes which provide more detailed advice on relevant content and teaching approaches, appropriate to each stage and directly based on Church teaching;
a CD Rom containing exemplar materials for teachers and parents to use within their own contexts;
UnderstandingRelationships & Moral Education in the Catholic School - a leaflet which is intended to help teachers and other professional to share an understanding of the important principles and key features of the Catholic school's approach to this area of teaching.
The Called to Love project was established to develop appropriate teaching materials and training for Catholic secondary schools. Called to Love materials provide a Christian vision of love and relationships, based on CEC Guidelines, recognsing each person's vocation for love.
Led by Development Officer, Sam McFadden, the project piloted the use of materials work in Catholic secondary schools across Scotland. The Called to Love materials are now available. For details, click here.
