Post-Primary RSE

The resources have been developed in harmony with the NCCA’s draft SPHE (incorporating RSE) junior-cycle short-course curriculum specification and will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.

 GUIDANCE

Relationships and Sexuality Education Guidance for Catholic Post-Primary Schools (ROI)

This document has been developed to support leaders and teachers in Catholic Post-Primary schools in their work in the area of Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE). It has benefitted from the contributions of a number of organisations and experts in the area of RSE, as well as a very broad consultative process that included very many students, parents, teachers, principals and chairs of Boards of Management in Catholic primary and post-primary schools.

The RSE guidance document seeks to provide guidance in two ways. Firstly, it provides the rationale for RSE in a Catholic school. This includes important guiding principles underpinning a Catholic school’s RSE provision, important contextual background for RSE in a Catholic school, and aims and objectives for RSE in a Catholic school.

Secondly, it seeks to assist Catholic schools in the area of RSE by providing important information and practical guidance for the school’s work on the development of the school’s own RSE policy. 

Click here to download this guidance: RSE Post Primary Schools – Republic of Ireland.

JUNIOR CYCLE RESOURCE

Living Love

All Catholic schools are encouraged to take up this resource, i.e. in light of the guidance offered above.

Feedback from schools is also welcome and should be addressed to the school’s trust or to Bishop Kevin Doran.

This resource is also hosted on the Catholic Education Partnership web site and can be accessed by clicking here:  https://catholiceducation.ie/living-love-rse-resources/ 

SENIOR CYCLE

Rise Up! – Relationships and Sexuality Education resource

Rise Up! is a new senior cycle RSE resource in the final stages of review that will be available from September 2025.

More details later (posted August 2025).

Recommended Reading (Teachers / Parents)

Christopher Hayden
A Better Vision – Understanding, Living and Sharing the Catholic Vision for Human Sexuality
St. Paul’s Publishing, Maynooth, 2022.
ISBN:  978-1-911178-49-1

Further Information

Both Bishop Kevin and The Education Commission of the Elphin Diocese are keen to support school leaders and teachers who undertake RSE.

Please visit the web site of the Catholic Education Partnership: www.catholicschools.ie ,or contact Justin on 087 6171526 / [email protected] if you feel we can be of further assistance.

Updated 
25/08/2025