Teach Respectful Relationships

​​​​Respectful Relationships is an initiative to support schools and early childhood education settings promote and model respect and equality. It also supports educators to teach our children how to build healthy relationships, resilience and confidence.

Resource kit

Respectful Relationships: A resource kit for Victorian schools' provides schools with the strategies and tools to implement a whole-school approach to Respectful Relationships.

Respectful Relationships: a resource kit for Victorian schools
Available on Arc

Whole-school approach

The whole-school approach to Respectful Relationships goes beyond curriculum, recognising that to drive real change, classroom learning needs to be reinforced by what is modelled within the school community.

Resilience, rights and respectful relationships teaching and learning materials

Resilience, rights and respectful relationships is a suite of teaching and learning materials for Foundation to year 12. 

Resilience, rights and respectful relationships foundation to year 12 online resources
Available on Arc​

The resources have been developed by experts from Deakin University and the University of Melbourne. These age -appropriate resources support curriculum delivery and include lesson plans and activities that help students learn and practice social skills and apply them in a positive way to learning, life and relationships.

The materials cover eight social and emotional learning topics to support the delivery of respectful relationships content through the Victorian curriculum. 

The resources support a whole of school approach to creating equal and respectful attitudes, behaviours, structures and practices across the school culture and ethos.​​

Online professional learning program

The Resilience, rights and respectful relationships professional learning program is available to teachers from government, Catholic and independent schools.

To register, see Online Training @ DET.

The program includes:

  • classroom videos of teachers delivering the Resilience, rights and respectful relationships with their students
  • activities to encourage teachers to reflect how they model social and emotional skills to students
  • academic podcasts
  • reading materials featuring the latest research and evidence on social and emotional learning
  • school leaders, teachers and students sharing about the value of a whole of school approach.

The program has been designed by Professor Helen Cahill and colleagues from the Youth Research Centre, The University of Melbourne in partnership with VicHealth. It supports teachers in delivering social and emotional learning and respectful relationships education which is consistent with the Victorian Curriculum.

Background

Taking a whole-school approach is about embedding a culture of respect and​ equality across an entire school community, from our classrooms to staffrooms, sporting fields, fetes and social events. This approach leads to positive impacts on students’ academic outcomes, mental health, classroom behaviour, and relationships between teachers.

The resource kit provides tools, advice and strategies to guide Respectful Relationships leading and partner schools through a framework implementing the six core elements of the Respectful Relationships whole-school approach:

  • Leadership and commitment
  • School culture and learning
  • Professional learning
  • Teaching and learning
  • Community partnerships
  • Support for staff and students

Curriculum context

In 2016 respectful relationships education became a core component of the Victorian curriculum. The Resilience, rights and respectful relationships teaching and learning materials have been developed to support schools to deliver the curriculum.

The Victorian Curriculum F-10 includes learning about respectful relationships in both health and physical education and personal and social capability. In health and physical education curriculum, students develop the knowledge, understanding and skills to strengthen their sense of self, and build and manage safe and respectful relationships. In the personal and social capability curriculum, students learn to recognise and regulate emotions, develop empathy for others and establish and build a framework for positive relationships.

The Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority has specialist curriculum consultants to assist schools with delivering social and emotional learning topics including the Resilience, rights and respectful relationships teaching and learning materials.