Called To Love
Called to Love is a coherent programme of teaching resources that are designed for use mainly in Catholic secondary schools. The programme, launched November 2007, is based on existing guidelines published by the Catholic Education Commission to direct the teaching of Relationships and Moral Education in Catholic schools. It also complies with national guidance on the conduct of sex and relationships education.
What was Healthy Respect’s Role?
Healthy Respect worked with the Scottish Catholic Education Service (SCES) to define the aims of the programme and the content outline. SCES and Catholic school teaching staff wrote the materials which were critiqued by Healthy Respect against available evidence in this area. Any suggested changes were debated and compromises reached: SCES had the final say on the content of the materials.
What approach has been adopted?
The approach taken throughout the programme is intended to ensure that young people are appropriately informed about important aspects of their physical, sexual, emotional and moral development. Called to Love promotes a Catholic Christian vision of loving relationships and recognises the significant role of parents in educating their children for loving relationships.
The programme supports relationships education within the context of love, respect, responsibility and moral decision-making which fully recognises Catholic teaching on the sacrament of marriage as a sign of loving, faithful and exclusive commitment. The key messages for young people, which will emerge from the Called to Love programme, include:
- You are a special human being, created by God in his own image and likeness . . .
- You are called to love . . . and to love others as you are loved by God.
- You are called to show respect for all people, even when their views and actions, their values and beliefs, are different from your own.
- You are loved by God who shows compassion when things go wrong . . . who forgives when your actions fail to match your ideals.
How is the programme being implemented?
To support teachers in the implementation of this programme, training will be provided by SCES to complement the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) resources which are provided within the resource pack.