PSHE AND RSE
INTENT
To embrace the challenges of creating a happy and successful adult life, pupils need knowledge that will enable them to make informed decisions about their wellbeing, health and relationships and to build their self-efficacy. Pupils can also put this knowledge into practice as they develop the capacity to make sound decisions when facing risks, challenges and complex contexts. Everyone faces difficult situations in their lives. PSHE can support young people to develop resilience, to know how and when to ask for help, and to know where to access support.
To allow the school to meet statutory requirements on PSHE including RSE as set out by the DfE, and be able to explicitly demonstrate this through the work produced by the students within a variety of lessons.
The lead teacher to work closely with colleagues in related curriculum areas to ensure the PSHE curriculum complements every other subject area, and to avoid duplication.
Spring 2nd half-term focus: Gender Equality
As part of our ongoing commitment to promoting healthy relationships in school, this half term will explore the issue of gender equality. Using cross curricular links with History, we are able to explore a deeper look into women’s history with KS3 classes, linked with their current topic of study. Year 7 will explore the extent to which Elizabeth I can be considered a feminist, year 8 will look at the history of women in sport, with a focus on football, linked to their WW1 topic, and year 9 will explore a series of lessons into the question of how far women achieved gender equality in the 1960s. Our shared school vision includes promoting mutual respect and courtesy, and so we will reinforce messages of what constitutes inappropriate sexualised language and harassment with the students, and encourage students to question gender stereotypes which may lead to this type of behaviour. We will also celebrate International Women’s Day through assemblies, where the chosen theme for 2023 is #EmbraceEquity https://www.internationalwomensday.com/theme
“Being included, and belonging, feels good.
When we embrace equity, we embrace diversity, and we embrace inclusion.
PSHE Events this half term:
Year 8 RSE programme will run across this half term
SASH group are available Wednesday lunchtimes in H10
Spring 1st half term: Internet Safety
As part of our ongoing commitment to safeguarding, this half term will promote online safety both inside and outside of school. We will explore areas such as staying safe online, as well as the impact that social media may have and explore the connection between social media and mental health. Year 9 took part in some PSHE linked lessons before Christmas examining the ideas of ‘echo chambers’ and the spreading of disinformation and misinformation through social media feeds in preparation for this. Our shared school vision includes promoting mutual respect and courtesy, and so we will also highlight the impact that social media can have on peer on peer relationships as well. This will all tie in with Safer Internet Day in February, and the annual themes chosen for this by saferinternet.org.uk.
Safer Internet Day 2023 will take place on 7 February 2023, based around the theme ‘Want to talk about it? Making space for conversations about life online’. In exploring this theme, we want to be able to focus on the positives and well as the negatives of being online, with it being a place to relax, communicate with others, and share music, videos and pictures, and steps that can be taken to ensure the experience of being online can be positive for all, including red flags to watch out for when speaking to people- especially those we do not know in the real world- and reminders of reporting and blocking functions on social media and gaming platforms, and who to go to when you may need to speak to someone in real life about something that has happened online.
PSHE Events this half term: Spring 2023
Year 10 RSE Impact Day is planned to take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, 7-8 February.
SASH group will be available each Wednesday lunchtime in H10.
SASH will be following up from their assemblies on misogyny and sexual harassment from last half term through some form time visits this half term.
Autumn 2nd half term: Being Kind
As part of our ongoing commitment to creating an inclusive environment and promoting mutual respect and courtesy, our half termly theme is ‘Being Kind’. We will explore ways in which we can be kind and support each other, both inside and outside of school and examine behaviour that can be categorised as bullying and harassment. We will also discuss what students can do if they see or hear any bullying behaviour. This will tie in with Anti-Bullying Week in November.
The theme for this year’s Anti-Bullying Week is ‘Reach Out: Be the Change you want to See’, as chosen by the Anti-Bullying Alliance: https://anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/
“Our call to action”
“Bullying affects millions of lives and can leave us feeling hopeless. But it doesn’t have to be this way. If we challenge it, we can change it. And it starts by reaching out.
Whether it’s in school, at home, in the community or online, let’s reach out and show each other the support we need. Reach out to someone you trust if you need to talk. Reach out to someone you know is being bullied. Reach out and consider a new approach.
And it doesn’t stop with young people. From teachers to parents and influencers to politicians, we all have a responsibility to help each other reach out. Together, let’s be the change we want to see. Reflect on our own behaviour, set positive examples and create kinder communities.
It takes courage, but it can change lives. So, this Anti-Bullying Week, let’s come together and reach out to stop bullying.”
Our form time PSHE programme will support this by looking at the power of words and ways in which students can support each other in the event of experiencing bullying. As well as this, Citizenship lessons in Year 9 will focus on the role that social media can play in spreading bullying behaviour.
Our student action group, SASH (Students Against Sexual Harassment) will also be doing some work through an assembly, aiming to follow up next half term with visits to tutor groups, examining the spreading idea of misogynism and sexual harassment, including how to identify it and what to do if students see or experience it.
Comments from some of our students:
“I learnt that it is ok to say no even though your friends are doing it. If you feel uncomfortable then you should put yourself first, your wellbeing is more important that being unpopular or getting hurt.” Abbie
“I really liked the lessons and I liked that we could debate/discuss. I like learning about current issues that also affect me personally and the lessons were interesting and fun.” Nicole
“I learned a lot during these topics and respect that we are now talking about issues like that and educating ourselves to create an improved society.” Freya
“It was a good reminder in these lessons how it is morally right to be treated correctly. I learned a lot overall but I was saddened by the harsher side of the topic.” Natasha
“I found the lesson useful and easy to understand.” James
“I enjoyed the debating part of the lessons.” Ryan
“I am glad that we are educating people about consent to keep the community safer.” Brooke
“It’s good for this to be taught as this should be known.” Jessica
“The lessons were good and informative.” Sam
STATUTORY GUIDANCE FOR PSHE/RSE
The link below is to the governments statutory guidance for PSHE/RSE.
IMPLEMENTATION
The guidance published by the DfE on the PSHE curriculum has been used to produce a detailed breakdown of what needs to be covered through KS3 and 4. This focuses around three core themes: Relationship, Health and Wellbeing, and Living in the Wider World. These themes have then been broken down into key component topic areas.
The PSHE curriculum has then been mapped extensively across all subjects at KS3, and where possible, KS4. Where subjects can identify that they are covering a particular area of the PSHE curriculum, within that scheme of learning, lessons are expected to carry a PSHE lesson objective. This objective will relate closely to the lesson being taught, but allow students to develop a wider understanding of what they are doing and the relevance to their own lives.
Within the lesson, at least one task will be required in order to show that lesson objective being met, and this can be denoted in books with a ‘PSHE link’ subtitle and bubble drawn around the work.
This is then further reinforced with each half term being given a theme, and a particular event that as a school we will be celebrating. Throughout the half term, students will have assembly and tutor time activities to help them further discuss and understand issues arising within these key themes. Departments will also be linked to these half termly themes, and will provide a range of lesson, homework or extra curricular activities around the key event being promoted in school.
RSE is delivered through a series of lessons over a half term per year group at KS3, and through Impact Days for KS4. KS5 have a weekly PSHE slot on their timetable. The programmes for KS3, 4 and 5 are bespoke to the needs of our students, and cover the statutory requirements set out by the DfE with age appropriate content and resources, that build upon the knowledge acquired in previous years. Students also have the opportunity to ask questions anonymously in each lesson, which will then be addressed as part of the Evaluation and Questions lesson.
KS4 Impact Day sessions include sessions on sex and the law, sex and the media, contraception and accessing sexual health services, and different types of relationships including non-traditional and LGBTQ+.
IMPACT
Maintain a high expectation and standard of the quality of student’s work for PSHE as within any other subject area.
Students see consistency within the PSHE curriculum and see how it applies to other subjects, making it more relevant to them and what they are studying.
Students see PSHE as an integrated part of the curriculum, rather than a ‘bolt-on’, and see how various aspects of their subject areas are relevant to their own lives.
PSHE is covered with each year group throughout the year, through every subject.
Work relating to PSHE can be seen, tracked and monitored, and although there is no requirement to formally assess PSHE, teachers can assess and demonstrate outcomes through written tasks and self-evaluations of students.
Whole school half termly themes allow for consistency across the school in PSHE experiences, and allows us as a school to promote various important key issues with students.
Our bespoke RSE programme allows us to tackle such issues as the issues of gender stereotypes and equality, harassment, consent, contraception and STIs, examine legal consequences surrounding these issues, and will promote healthy and positive relationships amongst the students, and help to maintain the school ethos of every family member feeling safe and valued.