A Fertile Heart - Receiving & Giving Creative Love (Key Stage 2) by fertileheart.org.uk

Key Stage 2: RHE Primary Teacher Copy

A Fertile Heart Receiving & Giving Creative Love

Love is creative. To have a fertile heart is to love, grow and make a positive difference.

A Fertile Heart | Receiving & Giving Creative Love Panda Press Publishing would like to thank the following contributors to A Fertile Heart: Kathryn Lycett, John Cook, Mary Dickenson, Maryanne Dowle, Bernadette Eakin, Christopher Hancox, Louise Kirk, Gavin McAleer and Rebecca Surman Thanks also to Dr Charlie O’Donnell, Joe Smiles, Michael H. Barton, Mary Flynn, Rev Dr Stephen Morgan and Fr Wayne Coughlin for their kind support. ISBN: 978-0-9930555-9-1 A Fertile Heart KS1 - Year 2 Scripture quotations taken from various authorised translations. Every effort has been made to locate copyright holders and to obtain permission to reproduce sources. For those sources where it has been difficult to trace the originator of the work, we would welcome further information. If any copyright holder would like us to make an amendment, please inform us and we will update our information during the next reprint. All images and illustrations used under licence. Design © 2021 Panda Press Publishing Limited Illustrations and Images: Shutterstock All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Publisher who can be contacted at hello@fertileheart.org.uk British Library Catalogue Publication Data. A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library. Printed and bound in the UK and published under licence by Panda Press Publishing Ltd, 1 Newcastle Street, Stone, Staffordshire, ST15 8JU Company Number 11786188 Printed, bound and distributed in Australia by Createl Publishing, 98 Logistics Street, Keilor Park, Victoria 3042, t: 03 9336 0800, f: 03 9336 0900, www.createl.com.au Keep in touch Facebook @afertileheart Linkedin.com/company/a-fertile-heart Twitter @afertileheart visit A Fertile Heart at www.fertileheart.org.uk Version 7, September 2021

Imprimatur:

Nihil Obstat for KS 2, 3 and 4: Reverend Jonathan Veasey. Bernard Longley, Archbishop of Birmingham, 30th November 2020.

A Fertile Heart | Receiving & Giving Creative Love

04/07/2018

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Foreword His Grace George Stack, Archbishop of Cardiff Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel “The Glory of God is humanity fully alive”. Thus wrote St. Irenaeus in the 3rd century. His words remain true to this day. They mean that God is the creator of the gift of life. In that gift, each human person receives a share in His own creative love. His revelation in life and love, as well as through creation, is pure gift. This is the ‘grace’ of which we speak, in order that “we may have life and have it to the full” (Gospel of St. John 10:10). This truth lies at the heart of the Gospel. It is what it means to be truly human. The gift of life is bestowed by God in order that we may flourish and thrive. We do this in the first place simply by living with gratitude. We do it by responding to His love in a life of joyful communion with Him. We express it by actively engaging in the good of others so that mutual ‘flourishing’ may take place. The more we give, the more we receive. The ‘Gospel of Life’ outlined above is, indeed, ‘Good News’. It is revealed in every aspect of human nature and creation itself. This is the life-giving teaching we seek to hand on to our children who are “the messages we send to tomorrow”. The Rite of Baptism reminds us that parents are the first and best teachers of their children. The Catholic school exists primarily to educate children to receive and respond to God’s love for each one of them and for all. Our schools are designed to help parents fulfil their God given task of caring for their children in the school of love. The Catholic school is not just a place for professional education – existing for improvement in learning - important though that is. It is a place of formation, a place in which ‘lessons for life’ are imparted, received and shared. The whole school community teaches and learns these lessons in a truly Catholic environment. Human relationships are obviously at the heart of life and flourishing. We are made to relate to each other, body, mind and spirit. The physical, emotional and spiritual reality of our being are part and parcel of the ‘holy trinity’ of each one of us. Thus affective sexuality education is a crucial part of human formation. A Fertile Heart is the culmination of several years work of dedicated individuals [teachers, theologians, education advisers and parents] from within the dioceses of Birmingham, Cardiff, Clifton, Arundel and Brighton and Shrewsbury. They have worked tirelessly to create a resource which puts the human person and the flourishing of our pupils at the heart of the Catholic school. It is offered as an important aid to pupils, parents, teachers, governors and clergy to remind us all that “We are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life as from the beginning God had meant us to live it” (Ephesians 2:10).

Contents Page 8 Year 3 | Modules a-k

Page 32 Year 4 | Modules a-k

Page 56 Year 5 | Modules a-k

Page 80 Year 6 | Modules a-k

Year 3 Modules a-k

Contents: Year 3 Y3 focuses on Jesus in John’s Gospel to develop the children’s understanding of who they are, and their relationships. In particular, we see how Jesus is our light and living water, helping us to grow like sunlight and water does plants. Home, school and church are our soil. Jesus also teaches us that he is the vine and we are his branches, and together we can bear much fruit (John 15:5). Module 3a: God is Our Father To understand the three steps to receiving and giving - starting with the Our Father. Module 3b: The Light of Truth To understand that what we think is the ‘way we are facing’: that knowing truth means we face the right way. Module 3c: Water of Life To understand that receiving Jesus, the water of life moves us towards God our Father. To see how this helps us to love, grow, and be healthy and beautiful. Module 3d: Marriage, God, man and woman To learn from the Wedding at Cana about relationship: with God, between man and woman, and with others. Module 3e: Increase and Decrease The stories of John the Baptist and of Jesus and Nicodemus in John 3 help us to see how living in the Spirit helps us to grow, and why being willing to ‘decrease’ means we can increase in love and happiness. Module 3f: Now that’s increase! The Raising of Lazarus in John 11 helps us understand the importance of trusting in God even when things are hard. We see how Jesus’ miracles help us to trust that if we decrease for him, he will increase in us. Module 3g: Unless a Grain of Wheat dies… To know what we mean by ‘a fertile heart’. To understand what Jesus means by asking us to die with him so we can live with him. This and the following modules really complement First Holy Communion preparation. Module 3h: Remain in my love To understand more how we can learn about the spiritual by reflecting on the physical. To know the importance of being faithful to God, ourselves and others. The remaining modules focus on John 15. Module 3i: Pruned to be pure To know that growth is sometimes hard, and that being loved by the Father helps me to cope with difficulties. Module 3j: Water, wine and blood! To have a fertile heart is to have a loving heart, united to Jesus’. By revisiting the Wedding at Cana, the Last Supper, and the Crucifixion, we see that Holy Communion and Mary’s Immaculate Heart help us in this. Module 3k: Commanded to be Joyful! To understand why keeping Jesus’ new command makes us happy. To know that we have been chosen by Jesus to ‘go out and bear fruit’.

Water of Life

Learning Objectives

Success Criteria

To understand that receiving the water of life moves us towards God our Father. To see how this helps us to love, grow, and be healthy and beautiful.

1. I can see that Jesus is the living water of life, who helps me to love.

Step 1 Show pictures of different flowers, from different habitats. Include some beautiful weeds. Ask the children to comment on them. Do they like them? Are they beautiful? Which is their favourite? Then show images of dead flowers these should be the only ones they say they don’t like, and aren’t beautiful. Explain: In a way, we are like flowers. We are all unique and beautiful, though we may come from different places. We may have favourites, like our best friends, but hopefully we can see that everyone is beautiful. Flowers grow when they are alive and don’t when they are dead. They show us that growth, health and beauty go together, and it doesn’t matter so much if they grow a lot or a little - a sunflower isn’t more beautiful or healthy than a buttercup.

2. I can understand that our souls need grace like our bodies need water.

Jesus says, “No one can enter the kingdom of God, without being born through water and the Spirit.” John 3:5

Recap: We’ve talked about how plants and flowers need soil. And so do we: our ‘soil’ is home, church and school - places where we can grow. We’ve talked about how plants need light, which they open up to and grow towards. And we do too. Who is our light? Yes, Jesus - he gives us the light of his truth so that we open up to his love and face the right way. What else do plants and flowers need to grow? Yes, water. And so do we. Explain: To live, we need water to drink, but we also need ‘spiritual water’ which we call grace. We know what our ‘soil’ is, and we know who our light is. We now need to think about where this spiritual water comes from. In John’s Gospel we hear that it comes from Jesus. In fact, he is our living water as well as our light. John is telling us that Jesus helps us to grow, and be beautiful and healthy. Step 2 Watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvmD4CRDFZI ‘Living Water?’ to 4:20. Discuss the story to check understanding. (Activity 1.) Explain: Jesus is our living water who helps us to love in practical ways, like when Maria asked Jesus to help her to be a good friend to Pei-Ling. Can we think of other times Jesus can help us to be more loving - even when it might be difficult? Allow time for discussion in pairs/small groups and take feedback. Often, when we talk about Jesus being the water of life, we are simply comparing his grace to water. But, there is one special time when the link is visible. Ask: Who remembers what happens at Baptism? Allow time for a brief discussion. Read John 3:5. Explain: Jesus is helping us to understand the connection between the real, wet water of our Baptism and the ‘spiritual water’ which we call grace. This is the living water in our story today. Baptism really does show 14

A Fertile Heart | Receiving & Giving Creative Love

A child’s baptism

us that the physical and the spiritual are connected. Read John 4:14. John’s Gospel also tells us that “from his heart shall flow streams of living water” (7:38). This happened in a very real way on the Cross. Just after Jesus had died for us, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear “and immediately there came out blood and water” (20:34). Display a picture of the Divine Mercy, This picture is from a vision Sr Faustina had last century, in Poland. It goes with the simple prayer, “Jesus, I trust in you.” Ask how the picture makes the children feel, and what they can see in it. Explain that the two streams of light - red and white - represent this blood and water, and so represents truth and grace. (Activity 2.)

Suggested Activities 1. Ask the children to write down two questions they would like to ask the Samaritan woman about her meeting with Jesus and compare suggested answers.

Key Point

2. At home this evening, ask mum or dad to look up ‘The Divine Mercy picture’ and see if they like it. Explain to them what the red and white rays represent.

Jesus deliberately wants us to see that as plants need light and water to grow, we need his truth and grace. This way we grow to be healthy, happy, beautiful, unique children of the Father.

3. Learn/sing the song ‘Water of Life’ (2:30) https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=H30QEVBMndA

Step 3 Explain: this takes us back to our last lessons, about giving and receiving. Briefly recap giving and receiving a cuddly toy, giving and receiving love. We learnt that the most important part of life is loving. To receive love we have to be facing the person and be open to receive from them. To give love we need to be facing the person and move towards them. Then we learnt that Christ our light gives us the truth that faces us in the right direction and opens us up to love. He is light for the eyes of our soul. Today we have learnt that Jesus is also our living water who moves us towards the Father, helping us give love as well as receive it. Jesus being our light and living water means we receive truth and grace from him. He gives us the ability to truly receive and give love.

Jesus says, “The water that I shall give will become a spring of living water inside (you), welling up for eternal life.” John 4:14

An important part of what we have learnt is that, especially in relationship to God, we have to receive love so as to be able to give love. That’s an important truth about being human. Jesus first gives us grace and living water so that we can then love in return. (Activity 3.)

Summary Jesus is our living water who moves us towards the Father, helping us give love as well as receive it. Jesus being our light and living water means we receive truth and grace from him. He gives us the ability to truly receive and give love.

The Divine Mercy

Year 4 Modules a-k

Contents: Year 4 In Y4 we focus more on reason - though in harmony with faith. From 4e to 6k there is a prayer session in each module, so that whatever is learnt enters the children into a deeper relationship with God, and his family - rather than it just being ‘learning facts’. NB There are alternative modules 4j and 4k for C of E schools. Module 4a: Made In the Image of God To understand that we are made in the image of God, and it is only by trying to understand what that means that we can truly understand ourselves. Our faith and our reason help us to do this. Module 4b: Happiness To understand what makes us happy: God; relationship - being loved and loving; things that make us grow, feel alive; making a difference. We call long-term happiness joy, and short term happiness pleasure. Pleasure should complement joy, not replace it. Module 4c: Happiness, Conscience and Emotions To further understand the difference between joy and pleasure. To understand that emotions often encourage us to seek pleasure; faith, reason and conscience encourage us to seek joy. Module 4d: God is Happy! Let’s be like God To understand more about who God is, and therefore, what we are truly like, since we are made in his image. Module 4e: Adopted by God: Receiving his Love We are made in the image of God, but we are not God - we reflect him. An important things for me to understand about myself is that, even regarding me, God is the initiator and I am the receiver-responder. Module 4f: Obedience in Jesus We are receivers and responders to the Father, in love. This is connected with obedience, and sometimes obedience can seem demeaning: Jesus shows that obedience to the Father is the way to happiness. He teaches us what true submission and dominion are - and how they only ‘work’ within loving unity. Module 4g: Life Cycles and Life Spirals To see how in all life there is growth and there are cycles. To understand how this applies to me. Module 4h: I don’t quite work correctly - and that’s okay! Initially, I know nothing about myself! However, I do have impulses and desires in me, even if I know nothing about them. Some of these, we discover, are not good for us - which can be hard to admit, and confusing. We need to understand where they come from, and how best to shape them into something good. Module 4i: God saves me from me! To reflect on our experience that although I and humanity are good, there is something self-destructive in us all. Nothing we can do by ourselves can put that right - we need saving, not primarily from bad things happening to us, but from ourselves. Jesus is that Saviour - thank God. Module 4j: Baptism, Holy Communion and Confirmation We are called to receivers and responders to the Father’s love, united in the Son. The Sacraments of Initiation - Baptism,Communion and Confirmation - are central to this. Baptism makes us children of God - receiving. Confirmation empowers us to fully live like children of God - responding. Holy Communion unites us fully to Christ, in whom we receive and respond. Module 4k: The Mass, the Sacraments and God’s Life To fully grow in the image of the Son; we must be perfectly united to him in receiving from and responding to God the Father. The Sacraments of Initiation give us the capacity to do this, but it is the Eucharistic Sacrifice of the Mass that uniquely brings it about. From this, all other sacraments help us too, as do all authentic, loving actions of the Church and her sons and daughters.

Happiness, Conscience and Emotions

Learning Objective

“Conscience is the inner voice in a man that moves him to do good under any circumstances and to avoid evil by all means. At the same time it is the ability to distinguish one from the other. In the conscience, God speaks to man.”

To understand that emotions often encourage us to seek pleasure; faith, reason and conscience encourage us to seek joy. We have learnt that we all want to be happy, we always choose things that make us happy, but sometimes we choose things that make us happy long-term and others short-term: joy and pleasure. Ultimately, seeking pleasure makes us unhappy because it doesn’t lead to loving or spiritual growth. An extraordinary thing about being human is that we start off knowing absolutely nothing, including nothing about ourselves. And yet we have lots of longings and impulses within us. Happiness comes from gradually understanding these longings, and ordering them and integrating them properly (Mt. 6:33). Every time we choose to follow an impulse we give it greater strength within us - this is the path of virtue or vice. The more I am patient, the more (slowly!) I become a patient person. The more often I eat chocolate, the more often I have an impulse to eat chocolate… Each of us has self-awareness. It’s an amazing thing! But I am much more immediately aware of my physical and emotional life than I am of my spiritual life. In fact, the only way I get in touch with my spiritual life is through my physical and emotional life. Initially, my emotions focus on the immediate: pleasure. They are important to me in getting to know myself better but they are not good guides! The trouble is, though our spiritual longings are more important and deeper, we don’t sense them so strongly. So much of life within us is a battle between choosing between my strongest desires and my deepest desires. God has given me a conscience, his inner voice within me which calls me to follow what is most important. Though too much for Y4 children, this is an important backdrop to teach the module. The “Happiness Graph” will be referred to in later modules , so it is important it is used. Step 1 Recall prior learning: We all want to be happy and every choice we make is guided by us wanting to be happy. Ask the children to recall, (using the flipchart and re-sorting if necessary) examples of short-, medium- and long-term pleasure/joy. Introduce the following scenario. You have been invited to your friend’s party on Saturday. You’re really looking forward to it. Why? Discuss and mind map - food, drink, games etc.

YouCat 295, p. 171

Success Criteria 1. I can explain the difference between joy and pleasure. 2. I can understand that my emotions are not reliable guides. 3. I can explain what my conscience is and how it can help me to make good choices.

The Happiness Graph ing

A Fertile Heart | Receiving & Giving Creative Love

Happiness

And then on Saturday morning, you fall out with mum because you have been naughty. You go to the party, and although it’s as you’d hoped, you don’t really enjoy it, because deep down, you’re not at rights with mum. Half way through, mum turns up to bring your friend’s birthday present that you’d forgotten. When you see her, you run to her and say sorry. She gives you a big hug and all of a sudden you can enjoy everything about the party as well. Life is like this. We can pretend things that are important aren’t, or things that aren’t are. But it doesn’t make them so. If we are at rights, first with God, then our family, then other people we enjoy the rest of life more too. (Activity 1.)

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Time

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fish

Step 2 Question: Why don’t we always choose what is best for us? We don’t always understand our deeper longings. Draw out that this is often because our emotions often make us react strongly but without reflecting. Our emotions are important, but they are not always good guides. Discuss (talking partners/small groups) to generate ideas. Explore the “Happiness Graph”: being good - often short-term not so happy, long-term happy; sin - short-term happy, long-term unhappy. Explain: Doing good things makes us happy long-term, but in the short-term it can be hard. Give examples and then ask the children for more suggestions. Maybe I have to turn the TV off so as to go and tidy my bedroom. Maybe I have to wait politely for my turn. But, over time, I’m glad I did it, and I have made other people happy too. Being selfish is often enjoyable in the short term. Maybe I keep watching TV, or am mean to my sister, or don’t go to bed. But afterwards, I feel bad, I’ve hurt others, and I’m tired now, or still have a messy bedroom etc. Longterm, it is obvious we should do good. But emotions focus on now, and the more we focus only on now, the more tempting being selfish is. Adults can help children to learn this, but also... Step 3 Explain: There is another voice to help. Question: What is this voice? It is called our conscience. Can anyone explain what that is? It is the voice of God. (The children may be familiar with the image of Jiminy Cricket from “Pinocchio”, or the image of the little angel/devil on the shoulder). Watch https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=DOZzNOkcEgM Always Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide (3:23) - a light-hearted way to capture something of today’s lesson. The main point is to help the children be aware that there are impulses within us - and outside influences - that try to sway our choices, and our conscience can protect us from these and keep us happy. Discussion/role play about occasions when the children might be guided by their conscience/tempted to ignore it. (Activities 2 and 3.)

Key Point

Suggested Activities 1. The children to use the birthday party scenario and, working in small groups, create a short drama which could be recorded. 2. Downloadable worksheet showing three different dilemmas; the children to create “thought bubbles” for each, showing the conscience at work. 3. Look at an example of an examination of conscience and then let the children write their own.

Suggested Resources 1. Flipchart from the last session, showing examples of short-, medium- and long-term happiness. 2. iPad (or similar) to record the “birthday party” drama. 3. Blank downloadable “thought bubble” worksheet to help. 4. Sample copy of an examination of conscience.

God calls to our minds and hearts to do what is good, so as to be happy and grow. If we listen to our conscience, it grows stronger. If we ignore it, it becomes quieter.

Summary To be truly happy we need to choose things that make us happy long-term, not short-term. In fact we can only enjoy pleasure when we are first joyful: like not enjoying the party until you’d made up with mum. Sin is tempting because we enjoy it, but only short-term. Question: What should guide us? Emotions are important, but are not good guides because they focus on now, not on long-term. Truth, reason and conscience all focus us on long-term, and help us make good choices.

Listen to your conscience! 39

Year 5 Modules a-k

Contents: Year 5 Y5 focuses on key elements of relationship: its importance; self-development leading to self-giving; the reason we long for relationship; marriage and family; freedom, tolerance and solidarity; the logical reasoning of God’s existence; and understanding discernment, appropriate trust, and our impulses and influences. Module 5a: Life is Relational - especially for Persons! Reflecting on nature and experience, we see that everything is relational. Persons can relate in a deeper way than things and animals. In the light of this, it is important to think through what is needed to be a person. Module 5b: Self-knowledge, Self-Possession, Self-Gift As persons, relationship is central to us. In order to relate I need self-knowledge and self-possession, to then selfgive. Today’s objective is to understand what these mean and why they are so vital to being a person. Module 5c: God is Relationship: We Long to be like Him If God is a communion of three persons in one God, then relationship is at the heart of God, so it is not surprising that it is at the heart of us, made in his image. My deepest desires are, therefore, to be with God, to know, and love him, to be known and loved by him, and so be joyful. Module 5d: Marriage and Growing in Love To understand that marriage gives a home for children to grow. To see that marriage also helps the wife and husband grow. Module 5e: Freedom To understand the importance of freedom, and how it is linked to happiness. To understand the two ideas of freedom - one that is right, one that we often feel is right. Module 5f: Freedom in Christ Through looking at what Jesus teaches us, we back up the last module’s understanding how freedom is our ability to act in harmony with our God-given nature. Module 5g: Tolerance To understand that all human persons share an equal, immeasurable dignity - because we are all made in the image of God. There are differences between people, however there is no place in us, or in society, for prejudice or discrimination against any human person. Persons with differences should always be respected. With communication and right tolerance, differences often become important parts of relationship. Module 5h: Tolerance and Solidarity However a person acts, they are still a person, and should be treated with dignity. However, that is different from saying everything everyone does is good if that’s what they want, because persons relate to each other in solidarity, and so, alongside personal dignity is personal responsibility. Module 5i: God and Dominoes! Self-development and growing in love are strengthened if we can be sure that there is a God who is moving things and calling us to grow. From reason alone we can know there is a God who guides us. Module 5j: Discernment and Trust part one To further understand the many impulses we have inside us, even in reaction to the smallest things. To understand the importance of discerning whether they are good impulses, and which are more important. To learn which types of impulses are normally good for me and which are not. Module 5k: Discernment and Trust part two Continuing what we learnt last time about discernment and trust, to understand that we are influenced by others. We need to understand how they try to influence us, and discern who should be trusted and how.

Life is Relational – Especially for Persons

Learning Objective To understand that life is relational. This whole course urges us to use reason to reflect on experience, and then allow faith to deepen and guide our reasoning. This allows for our conclusions to be rational and very relevant to what is at the heart of life, rather than polarising reason and faith against each other.

“No man is an island.” John Donne, Meditation XVII.

Success Criteria

Reflecting on how I experience, I realise that everything I know is founded on sense perception. This is a relational process. When I see something, there is me, the seer, there is the seeing and there is the thing seen. This is true of every sense. When I think, when I love, when I act - in everything there is the subject, the action and the object.

1. I can explore relationships in nature.

When we look at nature, particularly how plants and animals so often work in harmony, we see how relational nature is. (Yes, there are predators and prey, and these don’t obviously come under “relational”. We shouldn’t ignore this, but it does highlight the wisdom of Genesis, where without sin there are no such issues. Sin brings disorder into the world, and part of that is the lack of harmony we do see in some dimensions of nature, but these are far outweighed by the harmony and beauty that is still present.)

3. I can explain what it is that makes me a “person”.

We only have to look at ourselves and our lives to realise I wouldn’t last very long without other people - not just for companionship but for the basics of life too. All life is relational.

2. I can identify characteristics that set humans apart from other beings.

4. I can highlight how persons can relate in a deeper way than things and animals.

From this, we can then reflect that persons are different because they can choose to relate, they can communicate on a much different level than even animals communicating of themselves, receiving and responding to each other. This can lead us to think through what is fundamentally necessary to be a person - which in turn gives us a real sense of the dignity, beauty and uniqueness of every person. Step 1 Explain: Throughout nature we see lots and lots of relationships.

Clown fish and anemones.

Clown fish and anemones: These live in what we call a symbiotic relationship. The fish protect and feed the anemones; the anemones do likewise for the fish. We still don’t really understand how the clown fish isn’t stung by the anemone’s poisonous tentacles, like other fish are (it is probably by being coated in a membrane of mucus - yuk!). The plover bird: Picks food off the crocodile’s teeth! This seems to help keep the crocodile’s teeth clean, protecting them from infection!

The plover bird and the crocodile.

Bees: Collect nectar from flowers, and in so doing transfer pollen from one flower to another, allowing for more flowers! Watch https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=2vpkOvlZJqs 5 of the Coolest Animal Partnerships (4:39). Step 2 Ask: Who has a pet? What is your relationship with your pet like? How is it different from your relationships with your family? Discuss and feedback. Feeling safe and lots of cuddles and never being judged is nice. But does it compare with a bedtime story, or a special shared moment? (Activity 1.) 58

A Fertile Heart | Receiving & Giving Creative Love

Bees and flowers.

Key Point

Suggested Activities

As persons, relationship is central to who we are.

1. Spot the difference – in pairs/ small groups , make a comparison between various living things and humans: similarities and differences.

Step 3 Explain: We are persons. Animals are not. Being a person means we don’t just act on instinct, we also choose to act. We can do this because we can think, and say yes or no to our instincts. No dog has ever wondered whether to wait and save the food put before him, for later. So to be a person, there has to be the following: 1. I have to exist – okay, this might seem too obvious, but it becomes helpful later on… 2. I have to be aware of myself – everything I consciously do, I am aware that I am doing, and can reflect on it later. 3. From this, I get to know and understand myself – you children will know yourselves better than you did in Y2, and in five years’ time, you will know yourselves even better. 4. I have to be able to choose – some things you can just tell about me, as soon as you see that I am a human - you know I need food for example. But to really know me, I have to choose to tell you about me. 5. There has to be something in common between us – if there wasn’t, I wouldn’t be able to communicate with you. If we weren’t human, how would I know how you communicate? If we haven’t got the same language, it is a lot harder to communicate. 6. There has to be something different about us – if we were exactly the same, I’d have nothing to tell you! 7. From this we can see that every person has to be unique – we instinctively know this, e.g. when I am thinking, I know it is me that is thinking and no-one else. I would be very alarmed if I thought something and you immediately told me what I was thinking! (Activities 2 and 3.)

2. Write 3 short paragraphs to explain what we receive from family, pets and nature. 3. Write prayers of thanks for nature, creation and, most of all, for the persons in our life.

Suggested Resources 1. Calming music for periods of reflection e.g. Stunning Aquarium (YouTube). 2. Images representing nature, human relationships and abstract qualities e.g. happiness, love etc.

Summary So, we can see how it is no simple matter being a person: it’s amazing! Your most important and interesting dimension is your spiritual life - what you are thinking and hoping etc., what it is to be you - but you communicate it through the physical. As humans we communicate through our senses - mainly hearing, but also seeing and touching (animals tend to use taste and smell more than we do - thankfully!) Therefore, so much of what it is to be human is geared to relating. It is central to us. We can’t live without it. And when we relate by receiving and giving, we call it love.

What unites us as humans? 59

Year 6 Modules a-k

Contents: Year 6 In Y6 we explore what it means to be a person and what it means to share human nature; we see how all of creation reflects the Trinity as initiator and receiver and responder in love; we look again at the rational knowledge of God’s existence; understand the importance of being; take a further look at tolerance and reflect on who we allow to influence us. We finish with mini-series of faith and science - because understanding the complementarity of faith and reason is vital to mature growth. Module 6a: God-given Nature, Freedom and Consent To understand more the given-ness of human nature. To get the most out of my potential, I need to, firstly, understand and accept my given-ness and then cooperate with it. Module 6b: Person and Nature To communicate we need something in common and something unique about us: our nature and my unique personhood respectively. We explore these and the idea of objective and subjective. Module 6c: Life is Fractal! We have seen how our relationship with God reflects the Trinity itself: initiator and receiver & responder united in love. However, all creation, and every part of creation, and every part of every part of creation reflects the relationship of the Trinity. We really are made in the image of God! Module 6d: Intellect, Order and Beauty All of creation reflects the Creator. Reflecting on the order and beauty of creation helps us see this. Module 6e: Being and Doing It is more important to be aware of my being, than my doing. Keeping Sunday holy, and prayer, are the best ways of peacefully getting in touch with my being, my relationship with God and what is important in life. Module 6f: Tolerance of what others think and do We learnt in 5f and 5g about tolerance, focused on God-given differences. This is now complemented by thinking how we should be tolerant of what others think, say and do - differences due to their choices. Module 6g: Formed in their image We are made in the image of God, but we also reflect who we admire. We explore how the part of me that is formed by my thoughts and actions is deeply affected by my choice of whom I most admire. Module 6h: Safe but not Scared We see that trust is never blind: and that it doesn’t hurt to share a concern with an adult. We help the children get better in touch with their inner ‘alarm bells’, so as to be as safe as possible. Module 6i: Faith and Science: the Beginning Faith and Science can truly enrich our lives. Questions about the beginning of the Universe and its purpose are deep within us. Physics tries to help us understand what happened; theology, why: the search for both truths is important and helps us understand ourselves. Module 6j: Faith and Evolution Similar to the last module, we see that the evolution of life is in harmony with the Christian faith. What we know from God and from reason helps us understand the mystery of evolution - both the ‘how’ and the ‘why’. Module 6k: Science and Christianity History shows that science has uniquely come alive in the Christian culture. Reason reveals why. Believing in a lawful God who made us, soul and body, in his image, to discover his truth, and who calls us to journey into the fullness of that truth, is exactly what we need for science to ignite.

Safe but not Scared

Learning Objectives To see that trust is never blind: it doesn’t hurt to share a concern with an adult. To understand that the better in touch I get with my inner ‘alarm bells’, the safer I will be. Step 1 Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZpYMr-Ed0Q God speaking to Moses from the Burning Bush (4:09). How did Moses feel when God spoke to him in the burning bush? Scared! God asked Moses to do something he wasn’t happy about. Moses must have felt two very strong emotions: awe and panic - this is God!- but he is asking me to do something I don’t want to do! Argh! However, God is loving. He understood that Moses needed reassuring. So, he reminded him of his faithfulness, and suggested he took Aaron with him. This is really important. God doesn’t believe in blind trust! Not even of him. Read Eph. 2:10. God has created us for amazing things - we are his masterpiece! He teaches us to be open, but not careless. He gave us a brain to use, not to bypass! So, he always answers our genuine concerns. I can trust Jesus completely, but he still helps me in my genuine confusion. Step 2 This is important for all our relationships. Trust should never be blind. If we didn’t trust anyone, we would never grow; if we trusted everything then we would soon get hurt. A kind person won’t be insulted if you are confused that what they are saying or asking doesn’t seem right. It is never wrong to politely ask them why, or even to wait and then ask an adult you do know you can trust. It might be that, like Moses, you can be reassured that it is okay. But, just sometimes, it might be that something isn’t quite right.

“We are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has called us to do.” Ephesians 2:10

Success Criteria 1. I can understand that I have spiritual and physical places that people shouldn’t ‘enter’ without permission. 2. I can see how understanding my inner alarm system, and not being afraid to communicate my concerns, keeps me safe without being scared.

We do have something within us that helps - we have ‘alarm bells’ that go off inside us if something doesn’t feel right. When does the fire alarm go off in school? What do we do when it does? What would happen if we always assumed it was a false alarm? Explain: Don’t be scared to raise any concerns with an adult you can trust: they can help you see if it is a ‘real fire’ - small or large - or a false alarm. In this lesson, we are going to test your ‘fire alarm’! Ask: If an adult you don’t know talks to you, what do you do? Go through different scenarios: visitor with the headteacher; visitor I welcomed into class; stranger in school; stranger on street. Explain: People should never try and win your trust by offering you nice things. If you have a concern, they should answer the concern, not try and distract you from it. Always tell an adult you trust about anyone unexpectedly talking to you. That keeps us safe but not scared. Step 3 Explain: We are all special! When Moses approached the burning bush, God told him to show respect because he was on holy ground. You are holy ground! God lives in you. You are a child of God. So everyone should treat you with dignity and respect - and you them. There are lots of things you know about yourself! (Activity 1.) Some are public knowledge; some are ‘private space’. When you are in a safe conversation, it is okay 96

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Moses is uncertain.

Key Point There is a difference between keeping something personal and keeping something secret. If someone talks to you about something private to you, and then tells you to keep the conversation a secret, your alarm bells should ring loudly. And please, please remember that sharing a concern will not lead to you being told it was your fault. Don’t let your fears or anyone else tell you otherwise.

“For I know the plans I have for you, plans for peace and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

to answer such questions regarding ‘public knowledge’. But some things are more private space - maybe concerning things that have hurt or confused you in the past, or made you sad, like a relative dying. I might ask you sensitively about this, but if someone else did, you might be confused why they were asking. Alarm bells would start off inside you. It might be that you just aren’t comfortable about talking about that subject. But it might be that they shouldn’t be asking. You never have to answer about private subjects if you feel those alarm bells. If someone gets annoyed with you for not answering, then more alarm bells should go off. There can be other times when you can feel that your inner private space is being invaded: if someone tries to bully you; or dares you to do something you shouldn’t; or you see something on the internet that makes you feel uncomfortable. Listen to your alarm bells. Remember, I’m not trying to scare you, I’m trying to keep you safe. We have had a fire alarm system in school every day of your life here - how often are you afraid of a fire? You’re not! Because we have the alarm system, and you know what to do when the alarm goes off. This is the same. By learning about our inner ‘alarm bells’ and understanding how to respond to them you can feel safe, but not scared.

Fire alarms keep us safe.

Public knowledge and private space.

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