Character Education

What is Character Education @ MJR?

At Manjusri, we aspire to develop every Manjusrian into compassionate leaders and citizens. 

The school adopts the Head, Heart and Hand (H ³) approach to engage the students in their Character and Citizenship Education learning.

What is Character & Citizenship Education (CCE) @ MJR?

The Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) lessons are planned using the five Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) pedagogical principles to impart the knowledge of values and social emotional competencies, engage their emotions in wanting to do the right thing and provide opportunities for students to practice the acquired skills and values. ORID (Objective, Reflective, Interpretive, Decisional) is used as a reflection tool to facilitate students’ reflection on their learning and to engage their hearts. Students are also exposed to contemporary issues during their CCE lessons.

Moe Sexuality Education in Schools

1. Sexuality Education (SEd) in schools is about enabling students to understand the physiological, social and emotional changes they experience as they mature, develop healthy and rewarding relationships including those with members of the opposite sex, and make wise, informed and responsible decisions on sexuality matters. SEd is premised on the importance of the family as the basic unit of society. This means encouraging healthy, heterosexual marriages and stable nuclear family units with extended family support. The teaching and learning of SEd is based on respect for the values and beliefs of the different ethnic and religious communities in Singapore on sexuality issues.

2. The goals of Sexuality Education are to:

(i) To help students make wise, responsible and informed decisions through the provision of accurate, current and age-appropriate knowledge on human sexuality and the consequences of sexual activity;

(ii) To help students know themselves and build healthy and rewarding relationships through the acquisition of social and emotional skills of self-awareness, management of their thoughts, feelings and behaviours, development of empathy for others, possession of effective communication, problem-solving and decision-making skills; and

(iii) To help students develop a moral compass, respect for themselves and for others as sexual beings, premised on the family as the basic unit of society, through the inculcation of positive mainstream values and attitudes about sexuality.

3. The key messages of Sexuality Education are:

(i) Love and respect yourself as you love and respect others;

(ii) Build positive relationships based on love and respect (which are the foundation for strong families);

(iii) Make responsible decisions for yourself, your family and society; and

(iv) Abstinence before marriage is the best protection against STIs/HIV and unintended pregnancies. Casual sex can harm and hurt you and your loved ones.

You may click here for more information on MOE Sexuality Education

Overview of Manjusri Secondary School’s Sexuality Education Programme for 2020

4. Sexuality Education is delivered in a holistic manner through the school curriculum. The content for Sexuality Education is grouped into five main themes: Human Development, Interpersonal Relationships, Sexual Health, Sexual Behaviour, and, Culture, Society and Law. You may click here for more information on the scope of Sexuality Education in the school curriculum.

5. The subjects that incorporate topics on sexuality include:

    a. Science

    b. Character and Citizenship Education (CCE)

Growing Years (GY) Programme :

    i. “The Teenage Years (2 ^nd Edition)” (Lower Sec) Teaching & Learning resource package

    ii. “Sense & Sexuality (2 ^nd Edition)” (Upper Sec) Teaching & Learning resource package

6. The values and attitudes of our youth towards sexuality are increasingly shaped by their peers, exposure to the media, popular culture and the internet. Adolescence is a complex stage in life as the adolescent attempts to find his/her own identity and often struggles with new social relationships. The period of middle adolescence (generally from 15 – 17 years old) can be a turbulent period for adolescents. The gap between physical and emotional/cognitive maturity may result in a tendency to act on impulse, experiment with various activities (including sexual activities), sometimes without understanding the unpleasant consequences that may arise from such experimentation. The need for peer acceptance can be overwhelmingly strong, and hinder one’s ability to act responsibly. Given the pressures faced by the middle adolescent from within themselves and from peers, it is important to build a strong sense of self-worth, personal conviction and an understanding of the possible consequences of sexual behaviour.

7. Through “The Teenage Years” and “Sense & Sexuality” packages, secondary students will have the opportunity to develop a positive self-esteem, develop their character, and expand their understanding and repertoire of skills to deal with various issues related to sexuality, which are of prime concern at this age.

At Manjusri Secondary School, the following lessons from the Growing Years Programme will be taught in 2020:

Secondary 1

UNIT	LESSONS/ DURATION	Lesson Objectives At the end of the lesson, students will be able to:	TIME PERIOD
The Real Self (Part 1)	1 (60 mins)	know how one’s perception of his body is linked to personal experiences and the sources of information that are taken in recognise that one’s self-perception is influenced by his perception of his body know strategies to develop healthy/positive perception of one’s body.	Term 2 Week 4
Lessons about Love (Part 1)	2 (60 mins)	recognise the importance of cultivating friendships with members of the same and opposite sex recognise what constitutes healthy and unhealthy relationships recognise the influence of peers on oneself and one’s value system distinguish between various types of love know that the underlying value for healthy relationships is respect	Term 2 Week 7
	3 (60 mins)	recognise the importance of developing a friendship before committing to a romantic relationship recognise what dating involves know the different levels of physical intimacy in a relationship know that certain public displays of affection are not considered appropriate behaviour in our society recognise that it is important to seek their family’s views, beliefs and expectations with regard to dating and romantic relationships in teenage years	Term 2 Week 8
“Familiar” Strangers Alert (Part 1)	4 (60 mins)	reflect on the reasons for people to use social networking sites to make friends or to engage their existing friends know the usefulness and dangers of making friends over social networking platforms recognise that the media can influence the way people think, feel and behave identify ways to protect themselves from negative influences from the media	Term 2 Week 9
	5 – Part 1 (30 mins)	know the physiological, psychological and social impact of sexual abuse on the individual recognise the provision of Singapore laws that serves to protect teenagers from sexual perpetrators and persecute those who have committed such crimes identify sources to seek help and support	Term 2 Week 10
	5 – Part 2 Main Task (30 mins)	Description of the Main Task: Students are to work on the main task in groups of 4 or 5 Groups will describe how the media can influence relationships (with self, peers, and the opposite sex) Groups can choose to present this in the form of a song, short 1-min video, rap, poster or any other preferred mode To assess learning, teachers may want students to submit a short write up to describe their work or a personal reflection after the main task.	Term 2 Week 10