PSHE
Rationale
Our curriculum is designed to ‘expand the opportunities of all students…continuously build on what they know and understand, whilst enabling them to explore the unfamiliar…and the world they will live in.’
PSHE is an essential part of our curriculum and has been designed to help our students navigate successfully through an increasingly complex and challenging world.
There are many safeguarding challenges that young people face growing up in Orpington and our PSHE programme is as important as other subjects and has been designed to help students deal successfully with matters that we know they may face.
Aims
- To ensure that students know and understand what they need to do to maintain their Health and Wellbeing, including about dealing with transition, physical/mental health, reproduction, identity, personal safety and risk;
- To ensure that students have a developed and broad understanding of and knowledge of Living in the Wider World, including aspiration, careers, finance, rights/responsibilities, globalisation and sustainability and racism, terrorism and discrimination;
- To ensure students know and understand how to develop Relationships, including identity and safety, attitudes to relationships and sex, staying safe (including from harassment and violence) and relationships and diversity;
Principles
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Many of our students are faced with challenging circumstances, therefor our understanding of them and our contextual safeguarding information underpins and informs our planning of PSHE. This equips and enables students to navigate more successfully through many of the challenges we know they may face.
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Our PSHE planning and implementation is informed by Student Voice, which is pivotal to our regular cycle of reviewing the impact of our PSHE programme.
Process
- PSHE lessons in Key Stage 3 and 4 are planned and taught by members of the Academy Leadership Team or senior members of the pastoral team;
- PSHE in Key Stage 5 is planned and delivered by the Head of Sixth Form;
- Students in Year 7-11 have a dedicated PHSE lesson each week; and this is combined with one tutor period each week where PSHE and contemporary topics are explored. This is provision is further supplemented with assemblies and drop-down days.
- (See PSHE Long Term Plan Overview)
- Students in Key Stage 5 have dedicated drop down days, tutor sessions and assemblies; (Appendix 1)
- Our Student Equalities Team are involved in some planning and in reviewing PSHE lessons in an ongoing cycle
- Students consistently feed back to the Equalities lead and this forms part of our regular cycle of reviewing the impact of our PSHE programme.
- Students are assessed on PHSE knowledge and understanding in line with other subjects and it is included in the reporting cycle;
- Given the gaps in learning that were caused by national lockdown, we have mapped the last two years of our PHSE programme, identified particular areas that need to be revisited and ensured that this is clearly identified in 2022-23 planning; (Appendix 2)
Appendix 1: (Key Stage 5)
Appendix 2:
How did Covid – 19, lockdowns and isolating affect the delivery of the programme?
2021-2022
- Whilst teaching time was lost, especially during the spring term as a result of the lock down period after Christmas 2020, tutor times moved online and shifted focus towards safeguarding and ensuring the wellbeing of our students during remote learning. We also introduced sessions on wellbeing, mental health and mindfulness during this time.
- As a result, some of the PSHE content of that term was not covered. Therefore, a full review was conducted and this included feedback from students and staff.
2022-2023
- Review and evaluation of 2021-2022 programme was conducted
- Staff training for PSHE
- Staff training for FLICS programme that is RAG rated
- Long term plan is a working document – continuously updated in the light of feedback from students and staff and any pertinent contextual safeguarding information
2023-2024
- Dedicated team of PSHE teachers (Science, PE, Humanities, Health Sciences)
- Ongoing staff training especially regarding sensitive topics
- FLICS programme was RAG rated to facilitate more impactful CPD
- Regular cycle of student surveys to inform planning with some specific focus groups targeted also (e.g SEN students)
- Regular meetings with DSL and Head of Academy to review and update programme if needed
- Long term plan is a working document – continuously updated in the light of feedback from students and staff and any pertinent contextual safeguarding information
Please see the links below for details of our PSHE curriculum:
