The changes we have introduced have been influenced by the review of Life to the Full carried out in Autumn 2023 which highlighted that the majority of schools found the programme well-resourced, well planned and easy to deliver. Schools appreciate the support Life to the Full offers to non-specialist staff, giving them the confidence to teach RSE/RSHE through a Catholic Lens. The report also found the need for greater representation and many schools wished to see the views of young people more fully expressed.

With the introduction of student voice throughout and our continued use of the power of story to bring issues alive, we are excited to see the impact this new version of the programme will have.

We are also excited to introduce a new and diverse team of presenters who can help chart a journey through each session, illuminating key principles of both reason and faith through reflection, story and personal testimony.  All of this brings a new sense of maturity to this Year 9 programme. It allows us to represent young people and their views, articulating diverse perspectives while also presenting the Catholic understanding of human sexuality and human dignity with greater clarity and depth.

If you have already begun to use the new Year 9 sessions then you may have noticed that some of the sessions have new names. Session 5 ‘Marriage’ has become ‘Commitment and Marriage’ and Session 7 ‘Knowing My Rights and Responsibilities’ has become ‘Human Rights – and Wrongs’. Both of these title changes are more representative of the content found within the session.

We know that Life to the Full is being used in many different ways across the country, whether it be dedicated RSHE lessons or during tutor time. We want to make the programme as flexible and as user-friendly as possible. This is one of the reasons why the new Year 9 content is broken into four units within each session. Each unit has its own video and classroom activity and often includes additional extension activities.

Just as previously, the session can be 50 minutes, using all four units or else it can be split into two 25-minute sessions using two units per session. Each of these 25-minute sessions can be lengthened using the suggested extension activities. The new four-unit structure gives greater flexibility to break the sessions down further into four parts. We hope this will benefit those of you teaching RSHE within tutor time.

The new content is broken up into slides showing either a classroom activity or embedded video content. You can easily move between the slides by clicking the three dots in the bottom right corner of the screen and then clicking the ‘show pages’ icon. This allows you to select the page you want to go to.

We are always open to receiving your feedback so please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any comments about the Year 9 content.