Student Welfare and Wellbeing News

RESPECTFUL RELATIONSHIPS

Respectful Relationships education is a core component of the Victorian Curriculum from foundation to year 12. It is all about embedding a culture of respect and equality across the entire school community. The Respectful Relationships initiative is a whole-school approach that trains teachers and supports schools to model and promote respect, positive attitudes and behaviours.

Respectful Relationships promotes respect and gender equality and helps students learn how to build healthy relationships. It prepares students to face challenges by developing problem-solving skills and building resilience and confidence.

Schools involved in the Respectful Relationships initiative are building a culture of respect and gender equality, by looking at their practices and policies to drive meaningful change.

The Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence recommended Respectful Relationships be introduced to all government schools (Recommendation 189). Evidence presented to the commission showed that family violence is the most pervasive form of violence perpetrated against women in Victoria.

Just like other major social and health issues such as smoking and road tolls, evidence shows that gender-based violence can be prevented by working with the whole population, and in this case, all schools, to address the attitudes, beliefs and knowledge that supports the prevention of violence.

The Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships teaching and learning materials were developed by leading education experts, who tailored the materials to each year level from Foundation to year 12 and made sure all information is age-appropriate and grounded in evidence.

Topics include:

• Topic 1: Emotional literacy
• Topic 2: Personal strengths
• Topic 3: Positive coping
• Topic 4: Problem solving
• Topic 5: Stress management
• Topic 6: Help-seeking
• Topic 7: Gender and identity (not included in Levels 9-10) helps students challenge gender stereotypes, understand human rights, and examine how stereotypes affect attitudes and behaviors.

• Topic 8: Positive gender relations (not included in Levels 9-10) building respectful relationships, understanding consent, and fostering a culture of respect, inclusion, and safety.

   

These topics are taught throughout the year in all year levels by classroom teachers using Department provided resources. These sessions are also supported in the Specialist area of Social Wellbeing and through external providers such as the Life Education Program. 

Respectful Relationships is about embedding a culture of respect and equality across our entire community, from our classrooms to staffrooms, sporting fields, fetes and social events. This approach leads to positive impacts on student’s academic outcomes, their mental health, classroom behaviour, and relationships between teachers and students.

Together, we can lead the way in saying yes to respect and equality, and creating genuine and lasting change so that every child has the opportunity to achieve their full potential.

To read more about the Respectful Relationships program please visit http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/Pages/respectfulrelationships.aspx

Please address any further questions to Mrs Halket