Personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education
Our PSHE curriculum supports many elements of the personal development programme. PSHE education is taught throughout the school in every year group and is monitored and reviewed regularly by the staff and governing body. As a school community, we are committed to working in partnership with parents. Our next parental consultation will take place at the end of the academic year.
The intent of our PSHE curriculum is to deliver a curriculum which is accessible to all and that will maximise the outcomes for every child so that they know more, remember more and understand more. As a result of this they will become healthy, independent and responsible members of a society who understand how they are developing personally and socially, and give them confidence to tackle many of the moral, social and cultural issues that are part of growing up.
The school values the position of the subject and has dedicated lesson time to explore specific content to support students.
Within PSHE lessons, all students cover some of the statutory RSHE content, in line with the policy developed through consultation with parents. PSHE covers relationships education, sex education and physical and mental wellbeing. These lessons will also cover other common elements such as pupils’ wider safety, their economic understanding and their understanding of technology and media. The remainder of the statutory content is covered in mandatory lessons: science, PE, RE and computer science. Most curriculum subjects will teach some element of PSHE.
The National Curriculum elements of citizenship are addressed at a whole school level. This is primarily through the PSHE programme but enhanced and embedded by our strong tutorial system. Careers education (for further details click here) is delivered discretely within the PSHE programme but is also enhanced by SLD sessions and the tutorial system, alongside numerous careers activities within the academic curriculum.
We encourage students within the PSHE curriculum to take an active interest in the wider world. We currently employ the use of ‘Votes for Schools’ which also encompasses many British Values. A list of topics covered for the last term can be found here.
As part of prioritising the transitional development of our students and the developmental stages of PSHE we allocated 2 hours and 30 minutes of PSHE time in Y7 each week.
In Y8 and Y9, students will study PSHE for 1 hour and 30 minutes for each week.
In Y10,11,12 and 13 students study PSHE for a minimum of 30 minutes per week alongside SLD sessions, a minimum of 15 additional hours throughout the year.
In additional all students are supported through the assembly and active tutorial programme (click here).
Why do we teach it?
Today’s children and young people are growing up in an increasingly complex world and living their lives seamlessly on and offline. This presents many positive and exciting opportunities, but also challenges and risks. In this environment, children and young people need to know how to be safe and healthy, and how to manage their academic, personal and social lives in a positive way. The core purpose of the PSHE programme of education is to ‘equip pupils with a sound understanding of risk and with the knowledge and skills necessary to make safe and informed decisions’ not only during their time at Wales High School but into further and higher education as well as adult-life.
We also see this as an opportunity for students to ask questions they may not usually feel comfortable to ask; to debunk myths and also fact-check any misunderstandings they may have.
What will my child be learning?
For a more in-depth look at the PSHE curriculum, you can view the Curriculum Maps on the relevant key stage pages. This will provide you with a greater understanding of the specific topics your child will be discussing in their weekly lessons.
We place great importance on age and developmental appropriateness of our PSHE lessons as well as taking safeguarding and wellbeing into consideration. If you would like to discuss the rationale for covering particular content and/or view the lesson resources we use, a face-to-face meeting can be arranged.
If you would like to see what our Super Learning Days offer, please click here. While there is no statutory guidance from the DfE for the content of PSHE programmes, please be assured that our dedicated PSHE team ensure that the content is age appropriate, relevant and informative.
We strive to ensure that our lessons cover a broad range of issues that young people face in the modern world, including: consent, mental health, relationships, internet safety, addiction and many more.
Year 7:
- Relationships and Sex Education: puberty, healthy and unhealthy relationships, introduction to consent
- Health and Prevention: personal hygiene, dental care, sleep
- Internet Safety and Harms: how to identify and manage risk online
- Healthy Lifestyles: healthy eating, exercise, mental wellbeing
- Mental Wellbeing: behaviours, thoughts and feelings
- Online and Media: digital citizenship
- Careers: investigating information around further education, careers pathways and choices/options
- Diversity & equality: breaking down stereotypes, prejudice & discrimination
- Rights, Responsibilities, British Values: politics, parliament, government.
- Financial Capability: saving, spending & budgeting
Year 8:
- Relationships and Sex Education: sexual orientation, gender identity, gender stereotypes, consent
- Discrimination: racism, religious discrimination, disability, sexism, homophobia and transphobia.
- Internet Safety ad Harms: body image
- Drugs and Alcohol:
- Mental wellbeing : mental health and emotional wellbeing
- Online and Media: screen time, sharing and removing online material
- Rights, responsibilities, British values: laws & the criminal justice system
- Careers: investigating information around further education, careers pathways and choices/options
Year 9:
- Relationships and Sex Education: families, respectful relationships, abusive relationships, consent, sexual health, contraception
- Being Safe: drugs, knife crime, extremism, county lines, gangs
- Internet Safety and Harms: social media
- Mental Wellbeing: anxiety, depression, stress, self-harm, eating disorders
- Online and Media: harmful contact, sharing nude images
- Careers: investigating information around further education, careers pathways and choices/options
Year 10:
- Online & Media: dangers of viewing explicit materials
- Being Safe: informed consent, sexual coercion, gangs
- Internet Safety and Harms: online relationships, harmful behaviour
- Relationships and Sex Education: intimacy and pleasure, coercion, relationship abuse
- Mental wellbeing: impact of actions on mental health
- Drugs and Alcohol: addiction & alcohol dependency
Year 11:
- Mental Wellbeing: recognising problems, seeking support
- Drugs and Alcohol: social implications of recreational drug use
- Being Safe: forced marriage, honour-based violence, domestic abuse, FGM
- Internet Safety & Harms: gambling, debt & targeted advertising
- Relationships and Sex Education: pregnancy & parenting
- Healthy lifestyles: choices for adulthood
- Health & Prevention: self-care & self-awareness
Sex and Relationships Education is a fundamental – and statutory – aspect of any PSHE programme, which aims to demonstrate what healthy and unhealthy relationships look like. This is handled in a sensitive, age-appropriate manner and spans both weekly lessons (KS3) and Super Learning Days (whole-school).
Parents do have the right to request their child be withdrawn from SRE; if you would like to know more about this process, please read our PSHE policy document, which can be found here (hyperlink to PHSE policy).
