“Love is creative. To have a fertile heart, is to love, grow and make a positive difference”.
Providing children with direction toward a faithful way of living.
In today’s confusing and fragmented society, we believe it is more urgent than ever to help bring children to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. A Fertile Heart is particularly effective in helping to develop formation in faith and reason. It assists children at various stages in their understanding and appreciation of the importance of their union with God through loving, respectful relationships.
A Fertile Heart- Receiving and Giving Creative Love www.fertileheart.org.uk is a Relationship and Sex Education programme – primarily [though not exclusively] for Catholic schools working in full partnership with parents. It is rooted in the anthropology of Gaudium et Spes, John Paul II’s catechesis on human love, Amoris Laetitia, and Male and Female He Created Them [Towards a path of dialogue on the question of Gender Theory in Education] .
Created in the image of God, we reflect him in our creativity/fertility and in loving. Jesus’ new commandment and his teaching on the vine and branches unite these two reflections (Jn.13:34; 15:1-16). This gives us the pattern of our relationship with God in Jesus – linking love, remaining, bearing fruit, joy and God’s commandments – which are reflected in every relationship, in different ways, making them ‘spiritually fertile’.
As “love comes from God” (1 Jn.4:7,10), we are firstly receivers of love, leading us to be givers of love. This is expressed as initiator and receiver-responder in love, in reciprocal complementarity, communicating the Trinitarian and Biblical vision of relationship in an accessible way (cf. Amoris Laetitia, 281). This foundation allows for all dimensions of self-development and relationship to be explored in a fruitful way. Within this, marriage is seen as a unique reflection of, and cooperation with, God’s love and fertility.
A Fertile Heart is for educators to use with children and adolescent in Britain and other English-speaking countries and we are even open to producing translations, in partnership.
The program is also ideal for homeschooling families and groups as well as parishes, clergy and catechists for formation ministry. Many teachers in our schools, both Catholic and non-Catholic alike are in need of formation in theological virtues and Christian anthropology, so the actual work of delivering the curriculum is itself a form of personal, moral and spiritual development for the educator
England – Wales – Australia – Belize
We are planning a new e-learning platform for parents, and educators to be trained in the resources and provide information webinars. There are fantastic new digital books for parents to use at home with children
There are 18 lessons for the first three years, 11 modules per year for the following seven years, and 10 modules per year for the last two years. For all these there are complete powerpoint presentations with accompanying teacher notes for each slide.
The powerpoints include videos and some music, and various complementary activities – all of which help illustrate and embed the module’s theme. In early years stories, songs and art are used too. In primary school these powerpoints are accompanied by a teacher’s book; in secondary school by pupils’ books. All learning is age appropriate.
The general methodology is input, reflection, discussion. The discussion is encouraged to be ‘taken home’ to be continued with the family, and then fed back to the teacher/school. This allows the pupils to hear different perspectives in differing settings, own the truth of the module through critical thinking, and to put into practice healthy relationship and communication. The activities reinforce the objectives of the module.
