PSHE
Subject Intent
At Holyhead School we ‘Teach What Matters’ and nowhere is that more important than the creation of respectful, well-rounded students who are prepared to enter society when they leave us. We want to prepare them for the complexities of modern life, helping them to understand and critically assess any situation they may face in the future. Our young people are interested in the world around them and the issues that affect them including drugs, gang culture, deprivation, relationships and many more. We have a responsibility to our students to not only provide them with accurate knowledge on these topics, as they often receive inaccurate information about issues from peers, the internet and possibly their families, but to equip them with the skills to problem solve and keep them safe, healthy and happy. Some pupils will have received intense and detailed PSHE education prior to arriving at Holyhead School, while some will have been exposed to very little so we must create an environment where everyone is able to develop their knowledge, confidence and skills in a safe environment. It is important that we help our students develop their self-expression so they are able to express their thoughts positively and clearly; setting them up for their future as global citizens. We also want students to build resilience, to be active within their community and have the tools to make a positive difference, always believing in themselves and having high aspirations. The PSHE curriculum helps students to identify, empathise with, discuss and apply to real life the issues that affect young people in Handsworth and the global society we live in today. Over time we want students to be able to analyse their cognitions (thinking), emotions (feelings) and behaviour (actions), enabling them to make good choices which will have a positive impact on their lives and the people around them.
D Wright
Vice Principal - Personal Development
B Dore
PSHE Curriculum Lead
What are the key skills of a PSHE student?
1. Self-improvement (including through constructive self-reflection, seeking and utilising constructive feedback and effective goal-setting)
2. Identifying unhelpful ‘thinking traps’ (e.g. generalisation and stereotyping)
3. Recognising and managing peer influence and the need for peer approval, including evaluating perceived social norms
4. Strategies for identifying and accessing appropriate help and support
5. Clarifying own values (including reflection on the origins of personal values and beliefs) and re-evaluating values and beliefs in the light of new learning, experiences and evidence
6. Empathy and compassion (including impact on decision-making and behaviour)
7. Respect for others’ right to their own beliefs, values and opinions
8. Discernment in evaluating the arguments and opinions of others (including challenging ‘group think’)
9. Recognising, evaluating and utilising strategies for managing influence
10. Valuing and respecting diversity
11. Using these skills and attributes to build and maintain healthy relationships of all kinds
12. Identification, assessment (including prediction) and management of positive and negative risk to self and others
13. Formulating questions (as part of an enquiring approach to learning and to assess the value of information)
14. Analysis (including separating fact and reasoned argument from rumour, speculation and opinion)
15. Assessing the validity and reliability of information
16. Identify links between values and beliefs, decisions and actions
KS3 Curriculum Intent
| Knowledge | Attributes / Character | Skills | Experiences | |
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| Year 8 |
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| Year 9 |
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What are the fundamental principles and concepts that students need to acquire in order to progress successfully through the curriculum in PSHE?
Overall there is a constant theme of healthy relationships between people encouraging respect and equality/equity that is developed through exploring issues such as hidden societal values, conflict, bullying, rights and differences between people. This is then built upon in greater depth as students progress through the curriculum. In Year 7 students are exposed to the basic themes of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act which are then built upon in Y8 through learning about the democratic process and then in more detail in Y9 where equality/ equity issues are studied in more detail.
The following processes will be followed within schemes of work:
Firstly concepts are introduced and understood, then activities are undertaken which help students look at the issue from different perspectives.
Students are then given information about where to get help.
Finally an assessment activity which shows the student and the teacher what they have learnt.
This format may occur within one lesson or across a series of lessons within a half term.
What have you started off with in Year 7 and why?
Students arrive at Holyhead with differing experiences, knowledge and understanding of PSHCE issues. The newly introduced statutory PSHE curriculum should start to provide consistent provision at Primary school. The aim of the Y7 SoL is to give all students a good foundation in healthy and unhealthy relationships (including bullying and equality issues), an understanding of themselves and their values, and an introduction/grounding in citizenship issues and democracy. The KS3 curriculum hopes to develop and deepen this level of knowledge and understanding.
Year 7
AThere is a focus on relationships, giving students an opportunity to discuss issues related to bullying, abuse, and wider issues such as diversity and asylum. This reflection instils empathy and a greater understanding of healthy relationships and values as opposed to unhealthy relationships and values. Students also learn about the risks associated with drugs such as caffeine (energy drinks), smoking and alcohol, and they are asked to practise their assertion skills developed in the bullying topic. An introduction/grounding in financial wellbeing is also present.
Year 8
Within Year 8 the focus on relationships is deepened by focusing on specific challenges and risks faced within society such as gender stereotyping, domestic abuse, sexting, sexual exploitation etc. Mental health and well-being help to equip students with strategies as school work and the pressures of adolescence will start to increase through their teenage years. Knowledge and understanding of citizenship issues are built upon through topics such as community, which also brings in aspects of careers to support students to prepare to make important decisions in their school career.
Year 9
By Year 9 students will have matured and their skills and understanding developed enough to start looking at big concepts in more detail e.g. substance abuse, gangs and intimate relationships. The focus on relationships and values (repeated with each year group) is deepened by focusing on specific challenges and risks faced within society such as domestic violence and the dangers of pornography. The drugs topic studied in Y7 is built upon by focusing on illegal drugs such as cannabis, laws, and strategies to manage risk and influences. Knowledge and understanding of citizenship issues are built upon through focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of the UK legal system.
What key steps will be taken to ensure that students gain a broad and balanced knowledge within PSHE by building on what they have already learnt?
- Throughout the KS3 curriculum students are building knowledge incrementally which means that content is regularly revisited and interleaved amongst most aspects of the schemes eg Do Now - students are repeatedly having to draw upon long term schemas to support learning current knowledge.
- As each topic is built upon, new knowledge is added that is age-appropriate and applicable to their stage in life and education.
- Many of the lessons have guidance documents attached to them so teachers have knowledge, understanding of the resources and how they should be effectively delivered.
KS4 Curriculum Intent
| Knowledge | Attributes/Character | Skills | Experiences | ||
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| Year 11 |
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What are the fundamental principles and concepts that students need to acquire in order to progress successfully through the curriculum in PSHE?
There is a continuation of knowledge from KS3, specifically in terms of building and maintaining healthy relationships. As well as this students continue to explore both physical and emotional well-being in a way that is tied to the problems they are likely to face at their point in education or growing up. All knowledge taught in KS4 has been introduced in KS3 with different contexts and applications. Students need to understand the key concepts of character and be able to assess situations for themselves to apply their learning to.
What have you started off with in Year 10 and why?
Year 10 begins with a topic on Mental Health which is specifically linked to the idea of transition and beginning GCSEs. This is done so students who need support during this time can either be identified or they are able to discover and assess strategies for themselves. This builds on work done in KS3, specifically Year 8, on emotional well-being and, as is standard in the PHSE curriculum, is then used to apply to different situations. The emotional maturity expected in Year 10 also means this knowledge is able to be built upon with the addition of experiencing grief and loss. As the Year 10 curriculum continues, all topics are used to build on the knowledge already established in KS3 with age-appropriate situations and development in knowledge.
Year 10
Mental health and well-being help to equip students with positive strategies for well-being as school work and pressures will start to increase with the start of GCSE content. The drugs topic started in Y7, and developed further in Y9 is built upon by focusing on risks of substance use when travelling or socialising, strategies for managing peer influence in increasingly independent contexts and evaluating ways to be a positive influence on peers in relation to substance use. Knowledge and understanding of citizenship issues are built upon through focusing on how extremism and radicalisation can be addressed. Work experience and skills are taught in the final term to coincide with the work of career education in the school.
Year 11
Students begin the year by looking forward to their future as this is the time they will be applying for colleges and beginning to prepare for their GCSEs. The focus on relationships and values (repeated with each year group) is deepened by focusing on Relationships and Sex Education in the context of communicating in relationships and how families are built and may look. This is built alongside skills in independence as the students look to be leaving Holyhead and taking the next step in their lives and education.