Teaching of the Respectful Relationships Program
The Respectful Relationships program is a key initiative designed to support schools and early childhood education settings in promoting and modelling respect and equality across the whole school community. At our school, this program is being actively implemented from Prep through to Year 6 as part of a whole-school approach to fostering a positive, inclusive, and supportive learning environment.
The program teaches students essential life skills, including how to build healthy relationships, develop resilience, and strengthen their confidence. Age-appropriate teaching resources support curriculum delivery, providing structured lesson plans and engaging activities that help students learn and practice important social skills.
Through these lessons, students are encouraged to apply what they learn in a positive way to their everyday learning, relationships, and interactions both within and beyond the school setting. The Respectful Relationships program plays a vital role in shaping a culture of respect, empathy, and emotional intelligence among our students.
The topics are spread throughout the year. Each term, we focus on two topics. Here is a summary of each topic:
Topic 1: Emotional Literacy
Emotional literacy means understanding our own feelings and the feelings of others. It includes knowing how to express and manage emotions, show empathy, and respond kindly to others. Learning lots of words for emotions helps children better understand themselves and care for others.
Topic 2: Personal Strengths
Children need to know how to recognize their own strengths and the strengths of others. This topic helps students learn words to describe positive qualities and use them when talking about challenges. Focusing on strengths helps students feel good about themselves and improves learning and behaviour.
Topic 3: Positive Coping
This topic teaches students how to handle tough situations in healthy ways. They learn different ways to cope, including using positive self-talk to stay calm and focused. Students also think about how they cope and learn new strategies that can help them through challenges.
Topic 4: Problem Solving
Problem-solving is a key life skill. Students take part in activities that help them think creatively and critically when facing personal, social, or ethical problems. These skills help them make better decisions in everyday life.
Topic 5: Stress Management
Everyone feels stressed sometimes. This topic teaches students how to notice signs of stress and use calming strategies to manage it. By learning these skills, students can handle stress better now and in the future.
Topic 6: Help-Seeking
This topic encourages students to ask for help when they need it. They learn that it’s okay to seek support and how to find trusted people to talk to. Role-playing and activities help them practice how to ask for help and support their friends too.
Topic 7: Gender and Identity
Students learn to challenge gender stereotypes and respect differences in people. They explore how gender and identity can shape attitudes and behaviours, and why respect and equality in relationships matter.
Topic 8: Positive Gender Relations
This topic helps students understand the impact of family violence and learn about respectful relationships. They build skills to set boundaries, solve problems, and seek help when needed. The focus is on preventing gender-based violence and promoting safe, respectful communities.
Here is a link to the teaching resources for more information:
https://arc.educationapps.vic.gov.au/learning/sites/respectful-relationships/1785/Respectful-Relationships-resources
The Respectful Relationships program is a key initiative designed to support schools and early childhood education settings in promoting and modelling respect and equality across the whole school community. At our school, this program is being actively implemented from Prep through to Year 6 as part of a whole-school approach to fostering a positive, inclusive, and supportive learning environment.
The program teaches students essential life skills, including how to build healthy relationships, develop resilience, and strengthen their confidence. Age-appropriate teaching resources support curriculum delivery, providing structured lesson plans and engaging activities that help students learn and practice important social skills.
Through these lessons, students are encouraged to apply what they learn in a positive way to their everyday learning, relationships, and interactions both within and beyond the school setting. The Respectful Relationships program plays a vital role in shaping a culture of respect, empathy, and emotional intelligence among our students.
The topics are spread throughout the year. Each term, we focus on two topics. Here is a summary of each topic:
Topic 1: Emotional Literacy
Emotional literacy means understanding our own feelings and the feelings of others. It includes knowing how to express and manage emotions, show empathy, and respond kindly to others. Learning lots of words for emotions helps children better understand themselves and care for others.
Topic 2: Personal Strengths
Children need to know how to recognize their own strengths and the strengths of others. This topic helps students learn words to describe positive qualities and use them when talking about challenges. Focusing on strengths helps students feel good about themselves and improves learning and behaviour.
Topic 3: Positive Coping
This topic teaches students how to handle tough situations in healthy ways. They learn different ways to cope, including using positive self-talk to stay calm and focused. Students also think about how they cope and learn new strategies that can help them through challenges.
Topic 4: Problem Solving
Problem-solving is a key life skill. Students take part in activities that help them think creatively and critically when facing personal, social, or ethical problems. These skills help them make better decisions in everyday life.
Topic 5: Stress Management
Everyone feels stressed sometimes. This topic teaches students how to notice signs of stress and use calming strategies to manage it. By learning these skills, students can handle stress better now and in the future.
Topic 6: Help-Seeking
This topic encourages students to ask for help when they need it. They learn that it’s okay to seek support and how to find trusted people to talk to. Role-playing and activities help them practice how to ask for help and support their friends too.
Topic 7: Gender and Identity
Students learn to challenge gender stereotypes and respect differences in people. They explore how gender and identity can shape attitudes and behaviours, and why respect and equality in relationships matter.
Topic 8: Positive Gender Relations
This topic helps students understand the impact of family violence and learn about respectful relationships. They build skills to set boundaries, solve problems, and seek help when needed. The focus is on preventing gender-based violence and promoting safe, respectful communities.
Here is a link to the teaching resources for more information:
https://arc.educationapps.vic.gov.au/learning/sites/respectful-relationships/1785/Respectful-Relationships-resources
