Respectful Relationships Program at CPS
Last year as part of staff professional learning we undertook 1 and a half days of training in the Department’s new initiative Respectful Relationships. This year is the first year we have implemented the curriculum and taught it alongside explicit values teaching and Zones of Regulation within our School Wide Positive Behaviour Framework. See below for information about this program.
The Respectful Relationships initiative teaches our children how to build healthy relationships, resilience and confidence. It also supports school leaders, educators and school communities to promote and model respect and equality.
ABOUT RESPECTFUL RELATIONSHIPS
We all want our children to have an education that gives them the best start to a happy, healthy and prosperous life. Respectful Relationships supports students to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills to strengthen their sense of self, and build and manage safe and respectful relationships.
Respectful Relationships takes a whole-school approach, recognising that schools are a place of learning, a workplace and a key part of local communities. It embeds a culture of respect and equality across our entire school community, from our classrooms to staffrooms, sporting fields and social events.
This approach leads to positive change in students’ academic outcomes, their wellbeing, classroom behaviour, and relationships between teachers and students. We know that changes in attitudes and behaviours can be achieved when positive attitudes, behaviours and gender equality are lived across the school community.
Together, we can lead the way in creating genuine and lasting change so every child has the opportunity to achieve their full potential.
IN THE CLASSROOM
Respectful Relationships acknowledges that children of any age have challenges to overcome, teaching social and emotional skills appropriate to their age and level of maturity. It is being taught in many government, Catholic schools and independent schools from Prep to Year 12, as a core component of the Victorian Curriculum and will be compulsory by 2021. The lesson plans and activities have been developed by world-leading experts from the University of Melbourne. These age-appropriate resources align to the Victorian Curriculum and include lesson plans and activities that help students learn and practice social skills and apply them in a positive way to learning, life and relationships. In the primary years, Respectful Relationships focuses on treating everyone with respect and dignity and does this by covering eight topics over the year.
For the first 4 week of the year, all classes across Creswick Primary School focus on the topic ‘Emotional Literacy’ by participating in a variety of activities appropriate for their year level with their classroom teachers, which forms the basis for the rest of the topics throughout the year.
Emotional literacy can be defined as the ability to understand ourselves and other people. It includes the ability to understand, express and manage our own emotions, build empathy, and to respond appropriately to the emotions of others. Building a large vocabulary for emotions helps to increase emotional literacy and build self-awareness and empathy for others.
FOR MORE INFORMATION To find out more about Respectful Relationships, please visit: www.education.vic.gov.au/respectfulrelationships
Please find below an outline of the Scope & Sequence relevant for each year level: