PSHE

Head of Department: Mr L West

At Claremont High School we provide Personal, Social, Health and Economic education to Key Stages 3, 4 and 5 through a spiraled curriculum that gradually expands and enriches key concepts, increases knowledge, deepens understanding, and develops key skills as the student progresses.

The curriculum is structured to help students first tackle becoming an individual in their own rights, then grapple with how that individual fits into the structure of our community at Claremont and Britain as a whole. Finally, students are helped to understand topics that require a more mature outlook and resiliency, that builds upon everything done in previous years, adding depth and maturity.

The curriculum is also built specifically with the needs of both our school and wider community in mind. Our overall aim is to create technologically safe students who are financially aware and able to understand how to remain healthy in body, mind and relationships.

Curriculum intent

Throughout Key Stages 3 and 4, PSHE is taught by a dedicated team from a variety of different subject areas to ensure consistency in subject knowledge and delivery and also effective monitoring and evaluation of the course and the subject content. It is a fully timetabled subject with a focus on building our student’s knowledge and competencies through thoughtful pedagogical approaches.

We aim to prepare our young people for:

• Transition to a more grown-up mind set in negotiating relationships, personal health and life skills;
• Connecting relationships learning to group behaviours and personal choices;
• Taking personal learning into more complex and adult situations. Negotiating sexual interests and possible abusive situations;
• Adult expectations, behaviours and vulnerability in the wider community and world.

The skills and knowledge acquired through the PSHE curriculum are based around healthy communication and increasing emotional literacy to be able to negotiate challenging situations. These skills also build more personal responsibility for managing personal hygiene and accessing support for any issues. Pupils are given opportunities to develop knowledge in self-identity and differences with others – applying the same skills to more complex and challenging situations. The themes of communication, boundaries and empathy provide the foundation to all the learning.

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The key concepts which underpin all the topics covered are:

• Identity
• Resilience
• Managing Change
• Power (within social contexts such as peer-pressure)
• Rights, Responsibility and Consent
• Diversity and Equality
• Risk management
• Health (mental, physical and emotional) and Balanced lifestyles
• Relationships (including; friendships, romantic, familial)
• Career (including academic choices, enterprise and economic understanding)
• Financial Literacy

Key Stage 3

The focus for Year 7 is Transition & Independence. By the end of Year 7, students will be familiar with the Claremont Values and how they relate to them personally, and will know how to remain healthy in body and mind. Students will have started to grapple with how their relationships are changing, and how to navigate those changes.

DfE Required content includes (in brief): British Values, Families & Friendships; Community; Bullying; Authority; Healthy Lifestyle Choices, including mental health, diet, sleep, exercise and not smoking/vaping; Making Emergency Calls; FGM.

Additional content includes (in brief):  Human Rights; Role Models & Influencers.

The focus for Year 8 is Personal Understanding & Safety. By the end of Year 8, students will understand a variety of risks in their life, both in their ‘real’ lives and online. Students will also understand the importance of equality and how British democracy interacts with it.

DfE Required content includes (in brief): Puberty; Online Safety; Media Literacy; Equality, including the Protected Characteristics and Gender & Sexuality; Personal Health, including Dental Health and Sun Safety.

Additional content includes (in brief): British Government; How British Legislation Works.

The focus for Year 9 is The Individual in Society. By the end of this year, students will have confronted a variety of topics around social pressure and how to deal with it, both in sexual and platonic relationships. This includes abuse, drugs and politics. Students will also have time to reflect on their academic choices and how that might begin to shape their lives.

DfE Required content includes (in brief): Consent; what constitutes Healthy & Abusive Sexual Relationship; Drugs & the Law; how Alcohol might affect Sexual Choices; Peer on Peer Abuse; Hate Speech, including expectations around online interactions; Conflict Resolution.

Additional content includes (in brief): Social Compliance; Careers and Choices; Semiotics in the Media, including how embedded stereotypes might be harmful to our thinking in a post-colonial world.

Key Stage 4

The focus for Years 10 and 11 is Maturity. In this year, many of the topics covered in KS3 will be revisited in greater depth and detail, to prepare students for choices and risks they will face in their lives. New topics will also cover personal finance, first aid and sexual health. In the lead up to their formal examinations (both internal and external), students will learn about the science of learning and refresh their ability to assess their mental health needs.

DfE Required content includes (in brief): Sexual Health, including STIs, Contraception and Pornography; Fertility and Pregnancy; the Law on Abortion; Radicalisation & Extremism; Mental Illness & Mental First Aid; the Law on Marriage; Violence Against Girls and Women; First Aid; Blood Donation; Vaccination.

Additional content includes (in brief): Personal Finance, including Taxation, Interest Rates and Mortgages; How Voting Works; Practical Revision Techniques, including the science of revision.