Relationships Education Programme

Relationships Education
      Programme

“Talk to us about LOVE”

    “Relationships are the most complicated things ever
      thought up… beside computers" Year 9 student

Young people learn about sex and relationships from the very youngest
age, even if we don't talk with them. Some of the things they learn are
incorrect, confusing and frightening. In the UK we have the highest rates
of teenage pregnancy in Western Europe and high rates of sexually
transmitted infections. In a world where sex is used to sell things from
food to fast cars, and celebrities' lives become everyone's business, it is
increasingly critical that we talk meaningfully to our young people to help
them make sense of it all.

In the rush to curb rising STI and teen pregnancy statistics, it is easy to
focus teaching and learning on the physical aspects of relationships. As
important as this is, effective SRE enables young people to mature, to
build up their confidence and self-esteem and to recognise the reasons
why young people engage in sexual activity in the first place, enabling
them to make positive choices.

      “Please don’t tell us how to put on a condom again!
      Talk to us about love…” Year 11 student

LUSH has been designed to help students explore the emotional, social
and spiritual aspects of sex and relationships to compliment teaching and
learning on sexual health. Through a series of interactive, multi-media
workshops, students are invited to think through the different influences
and pressures that can lead to sexual activity, evaluate their own values
in relation to sex and relationships and critically reflect on the
consequences of engaging in sex in a range of different contexts.

LUSH has been created by Swindon YFC – a team of fully qualified youth
and community workers who have had over 15 years experience of
working in local secondary schools. While SYFC is a Christian organisation
we want to make it clear that there is no desire at all to “proselytise”
young people. In delivering this LUSH programme it’s our hope that by
learning about the wider, and equally critical, aspects of sex and
relationships young people will better understand reasons for delaying
sexual activity until they are ready and feel empowered to do so.

    “LUSH was really a informative programme, the pupils
  were comfortable enough to share and fully engage with
      the discussions. A very positive project where all the
 pupils were reminded that they are unique and valuable.”
                                            Year 9 Teacher

What is LUSH and how does it work?
The core LUSH programme consists of 3 main sessions run by our fully-
qualified schools team aimed at Year 9 students.
The sessions incorporate a mixture of:

   §   Multimedia presentations
   §   Engaging activities
   §   Group discussion
   §   Personal reflection.

Throughout our time together, students are also given opportunity to ask
questions of the team and receive honest, practical and constructive
answers.

The 3 session programme covers the following issues:

        Relationships: The Foundations
        A session enabling students to explore the foundations of forming
        and developing relationships.

        Relationships: Core Components
        A session exploring students own opinions and values and how they
        affect the way they approach relationships both now and in the
        future.

        Relationships: Positive Long term commitment
        A session allowing students to consider and explore the values of
        longer term relationships, whilst examining the positives and
        negatives for marriage and commitment.

Relationships: The Foundations
Aims:
To allow students to consider how they form and develop relationships.
To provide opportunities for students to consider what factors are an
essential part of developing stable and loving relationships.
To develop students confidence and self esteem to exert their rights as
individuals and help them to be able to form stable and loving
relationships.
To explore the possible pressures young people face and recognise the
need to invest in relationships.

Relationships: Core Components
Aims:
Recap learning points from previous session.
Learn from students observation of healthy and unhealthy relationships in
the media, society and own friendships and family.
To equip students to give good, positive healthy advice to each other.
To identify, understand and empathise with feelings and emotions in
relationships.
To help students decide what are important values for their short and

longer term relationships.
To look at real-life settings and situations and how they might make
decisions and get advice in those situations.

Relationships: Positive Long term commitment
Aims:
Recap learning points from previous session.
To help students decide what the important values are for their longer
term relationships.
To examine the role of marriage in promoting healthy, lasting
relationships.
To consider the positives and negatives of long-term relationships.
To answer the specific questions that the students have about
relationships.

Each session is designed to take 60 minutes but this can be adjusted to
accommodate your school timetable if desired.

We can deliver the sessions as:
  § A Half Day enrichment programme for the whole or half the year
     (size permitting)
  § A Full Day enrichment programme (with optional group activity
     element*)
  § 3 single sessions over consecutive weeks

*The afternoon session invites students to design a campaign to
communicate the three most important aspects of a relationship, using a
medium of their choice (e.g. radio podcast, drama, artwork, etc.) to be
showcased at the end of the day.

All students will leave the LUSH programme with a goodie bag containing:
    § A small packet of love heart sweets,
    § A postcard advertising the LUSH website which
       has further information for students and
       signposts to useful sources of further information,
       advice and support.
    § A bookmark listing positive values in a
       relationship
    § Any additional material the school would like to
       distribute to students

LUSH will also supply the school with some follow up
material to be used by class tutors / teachers to support
them as they to continue to work through the themes of
LUSH with their students. These will help students to
process what they learnt during the LUSH programme
and enable tutors to follow up on some of the issues
raised and engage the students in furthering their
discussions around relationships.

Connecting with the curriculum

               LUSH has been created in line with key PSHE outcomes
               at KS3 to contribute to the overall wellbeing of students
               taking part. Through engaging with the LUSH
               programme, students will acquire the following skills and
               knowledge:

♦ Recognise different influences and pressures that impact the choice
  to engage in sexual activity e.g. media influence, peer pressure and
  the effects of drugs & alcohol
♦ Learn strategies and skills to respond to these pressures
  appropriately
♦ Critically reflect on long- and short-term consequences when making
  decisions about personal health and identify alternatives
♦ Evaluate the nature and importance of marriage and long-term
  relationships for family life and bringing up children
♦ Identify where to seek professional advice and find further
  information and support around sexual and emotional health

Furthermore, it is our hope that through reflecting on the importance of
healthy relationships students will:

♦ Gain a sense of their value as individuals and present themselves
  confidently in a range of situations
♦ Be able to recognise exploitation in relationships
♦ Feel equipped & empowered to be in control of the decisions they
  make about their relationships and sexual activity.

Practicalities
What would the school need to provide?

Due to the multimedia and technical requirements of the presentations,
and the number of students experiencing the programme, LUSH needs to
be delivered in a school hall or drama studio with 2 x 13amp sockets
readily available in the room.

LUSH will provide all the technical equipment necessary, staging,
backdrop and any props and resources needed.

For the sake of comfort, all students will need chairs to be provided and
laid out beforehand by the school. This is best done in loose rows so that
students are able to turn into small groups of 4 to take part in some of
the activities.

Do staff need to participate in any way?

During the event tutors are encouraged to participate and sit with their
tutor groups in order to assist with small group discussions. A briefing
document will be supplied to the school in advance of our visit which
should be distributed to all staff and tutors who will be involved in the
day. This document gives staff information about what LUSH is and what
it aims to achieve and also provides information about what involvement
is expected of them during the day.

How many students can participate at any one time?

The programme is designed to be run for a full or half year group.
Depending on the number of students in the year group you may feel that
because of the interactive nature of the programme it would be best to
split the year group and run the programme twice. The LUSH team are
more than happy to facilitate this request and to discuss the programme
options with you to find the right solution for your school.

How much does LUSH cost?

   §   Half Day Enrichment Day (3 x 1 hour sessions) = £250
   §   Full Day Enrichment Day (3 x 1 hour sessions plus afternoon
        session) = £300

Should you want to or need to split the year group because of the
numbers of students, a second day or second half-day will be charged at
50% of the regular price

Alternatively, if you would prefer to run LUSH in timetabled lesson time:

   §   3 sessions run over 3 consecutive weeks = £300
   §   6 sessions run over 3 consecutive weeks (if you want / need to split
        the year group) = £350

What next?

We are keen to offer a package that suits your school’s curriculum and as
such would appreciate the opportunity to meet with your PSHE co-
ordinator in person to discuss arrangements. Please call us to arrange a
meeting.

                                          Further information

LUSH is delivered by Chris Priddy and Luella Dodgson, assisted by other
members of our experienced local youth work team.

Both Chris and Luella have PSHE CPD HE2 qualifications
Luella also has also completed the Swindon Borough Council’s
Understanding Sexual Health course.

They are passionate about the LUSH programme and working to ensure
that all young people are given the opportunity to explore the foundations
of building strong, healthy and positive relationships and equipped to
make informed life choices.

 How to book LUSH or find out more:
 Contact lush@lushonline.info or call 01793 829795 either for more
 information or to arrange for the team to come and meet with you
 to discuss the programme further.