Goodness & Mercy is a selection of RSHE resources written primarily for Church of England schools.
The name Goodness & Mercy comes from the last line of the well-loved 23rd Psalm: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”
The gifts of goodness and mercy are those that we hope will follow pupils throughout their lives, bringing them joy, peace, and comfort.
These resources are aimed at children and young people, to support their relationships with themselves, intimate partners and others, so that they may live a “life in all its fullness.” (John 10:10)
These resources are written to meet both the mandatory requirements of the 2020 Department for Education guidance for RSHE, the Church of England Education Office Charter and the Section 48 Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools expectations.
Why do we need this resource?
Relationships, sex, and health education (RSHE) should play a vital role in the curricula of all schools and academies. Goodness and Mercy gives a structure and framework for schools to plan and implement RSHE in ways that are most effective in their own contexts.
How does Goodness and Mercy approach RSHE?
Goodness and Mercy offers an opportunity to ground the RSHE curriculum in an acknowledgement of the worth and dignity of all people, rooted in the Christian belief that all are divinely created and eternally loved. This offers an ethos that supports our sense of individual and communitarian value, affirms that relationships (including intimate relationships) should and can be life-giving and offers resounding reasons for looking after ourselves and others.
Does it fit with my own school?
Goodness and Mercy are written particularly with Church of England and Methodist schools and academies in mind (although it can of course also be used by other schools and academies). For Church of England and Methodist schools it is important that RSHE is informed both by the national vision and values for education and by each individual school’s vision.
What is the Church’s ‘Vision for Education’?
The resource aims to fully support the Church of England vision for education: “I come that they may have life in all its fullness” (John 10:10). This scripture grounds us in the recognition that having a positive relationship with ourselves and with others is foundational for a complete and fulfilled life.
Are there other resources?
There are lots of resources to help schools provide high quality RSHE to meet the Department for Education’s new 2020 requirements. This resource does not seek to retract or replace the excellent work already developed by experts in the field.
How to use this resource
| Are you a CE/Methodist school/academy? | |||
| Yes | No | ||
| Do you have existing materials and packages that you wish to continue using? | Are you wishing to start afresh with new planning and materials to meet the DFE and Ofsted requirements 2020/21? | Do you have existing materials and packages that you wish to continue using? | Are you wishing to start afresh with new planning and materials to meet the DFE and Ofsted requirements 2020/21? |
| Use the Progression Outcome Statements and Knowledge Organisers to audit current provision. Where there are gaps you may wish to use some of the suggested activities in Goodness and Mercy. | Use the Knowledge Organisers and Possible Activities Plans to support lesson planning. | Use the Progression Outcome Statements and Knowledge Organisers to audit your current provision. | Use the Knowledge Organisers and Possible Activities Plans to support lesson planning. |
| As a CE/Methodist school, the orange sections of the materials are unlikely to be in other resources and need to be considered carefully to supplement current provision. | The orange sections of the materials are written with CE/Methodist schools in mind and support a distinctively Christian theological approach to RSHE. | If there are gaps, refer to the Possible Activities Plans to decide whether the activities in Goodness and Mercy might be useful to ensure you will be meeting the statutory requirements. | The orange sections of the materials are written with CE/Methodist schools in mind. They support a distinctively Christian theological approach to RSHE so may not be relevant to you. They could be included, where appropriate to supplement current provision. |
Follow the diagram above. If you are using Goodness and Mercy as your main resource, look at the Key Stage Knowledge Organisers to identify core knowledge and decide how best to sequence the learning across the different threads (e.g., healthy eating or anti-bullying) for your context.
Evaluate the impact of the learning (e.g., through learning walks, pupil conferencing and work scrutiny). Provide staff with supportive feedback and set new objectives. Continue a cycle of evaluation and adaptation, where necessary.
Using the Possible Activities Plans, select the activities that will ensure that the learning outcomes are achieved for the specific thread (such as family or the media and self-esteem) that you are teaching. If you are using another resource as the basis of your RSHE curriculum, incorporate the appropriate supplementary (orange) tasks into your lessons.
Write your lesson plans, teach, and review their impact.
This resource is:
|
This resource is not:
|
Downloadable resources
These downloadable and adaptable materials are offered to support the teaching of RSHE in Church schools.
Each Key Stage has Knowledge Organisers for Health Education and Relationships Education. Key Stages 2, 3 and 4 have Knowledge Organisers for Sex Education as well (although it is not mandatory at KS2).
These knowledge organisers include learning objectives and outcomes, dual coding, key vocabulary, and underlying theological drivers. They can be used to audit current provision and to plan teaching. They can also be adapted and used for pupils and parents to communicate expectations.
The activity plans offer lesson ideas and free downloadable resources that may be used to help to deliver the expected learning outcomes. Each lesson includes emerging, expected, and exceeding outcome statements as well as lesson ideas to help teachers to plan for learners’ needs and to assess progress.
Key Stage 1
Key Stage 2
Key Stages 3/4
The following resources offer Christian underpinnings for the other vital areas of RSHE and links to useful resources, such as meeting the needs of SEND pupils.
If you already have an established programme for PSHE/RSHE, you may wish to use these resources to ensure that your programme will be appropriate for your Church of England school in the future.
-
Jigsaw: how Goodness and Mercy progression outcomes match with Jigsaw
Staff training
All staff should receive training before teaching RSHE and, indeed, all elements of PSHE. Here are some materials that could make up part of staff training.
National Guidance
Progression outcome statements
These Progression Outcome Statements outline the end of Key Stage expectations for pupils in RSHE, as they develop. They include the requirements specified by the Department for Education and those for Church of England schools. They can be used for auditing provision, for planning and for assessment.