The Catholic Secondary School RSE Compendium

This companion guide is written to help Catholic secondary school pupils in England understand Relationship and Sex Education through a clear partnership between school and home. It is designed as a practical, parent-student-teacher learning tool that supports teachers working within a mandated RSE curriculum while ensuring pupils also receive a faithful Catholic Christian commentary on topics that can be sensitive, controversial and sometimes in direct tension with prevailing secular assumptions.

The book sets out, in a straightforward two-page format for each theme, what English law and commonly taught secular values say about relationships and sexual matters, how young people are expected to access the "rights" and services described in school materials and what safeguards exist in practice. Alongside this, it offers a Catholic response rooted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church so that pupils are not left to interpret legal or cultural messages as if they were moral truth. In doing so, it aims to protect young people's dignity, strengthen their moral reasoning and preserve a healthy sense of modesty and personal boundaries as a natural defence against harm.

Written with an awareness of the realities facing today's teenagers, the guide does not avoid difficult questions. It equips families to discuss what is taught in class with charity and clarity, stressing respect for every person while also affirming Christian teaching on serious moral issues. Ultimately, the book presents RSE as an opportunity for growth in faith and virtue by encouraging pupils to understand the world's claims, weigh them wisely and follow the life-giving guidance of Jesus Christ.