PSHE
Curriculum Aim
Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE) is a planned, developmental programme of learning designed to help children and young people (CYP) develop the knowledge, understanding and skills they need to manage their lives, now and in the future. It deals with real life issues which affect CYP, their families and their communities, and engages with the social and economic realities of their lives, experiences and attitudes.
PSHE encourages CYP to be enterprising and supports them in making effective transitions, positive learning and career choices and in managing their finances effectively. It also enables CYP to reflect on and clarify their own values and attitudes, and explore the complex and sometimes conflicting range of values and attitudes they encounter now and in the future.
Context
A CYP’s level of knowledge and understanding will be assessed in an informal way, to allow their starting point to be built upon. As CYP join our setting throughout the academic year, our spiral curriculum allows for concepts such as healthy relationships, staying safe online and personal safety to be revisited in different contexts.
Staff use ‘distancing techniques' such as creating a class agreement and discussing scenarios, to make PSHE lessons comfortable and accessible for all CYP.
Key concepts, skills and knowledge
PSHE education addresses both CYP’s current experiences and preparation for their future. Our spiral curriculum develops CYP's knowledge and skills around Relationships, health, wellbeing, online safety, finance and careers. Parents and carers often reflect that PSHE covers ‘all the things we wish we were taught at school’.
Health and Wellbeing
This theme includes progressive understanding of how to keep yourself and others safe in different contexts, an understanding of substance misuse and addictions, wellbeing strategies and an understanding of mental health. We also ensure CYP have a solid understanding of puberty and the changing adolescent body, menstruation and pregnancy. The importance of hygiene routines, vaccinations and staying healthy, including cancer awareness.
Relationships
This theme explores connections in wider society; community diversity, discrimination, and extremism. We also learn about interpersonal relationships, including respectful friendships, romantic relationships and how to spot the signs of abuse. CYP reflect on the impact that the media has on expectations in relationships and managing these in reality.
Living in the Wider World
Here we explore life in modern Britain, the law and how these are made, and how CYP can make a difference to society now and in the future. We consider financial decision-making and budgeting. Our careers lessons also fall into this theme, where a progressive program supports our CYP to make informed decisions about their future education and career options.
Whilst they are specifically addressed where appropriate, assessing and managing life online are integrated throughout all three core themes.
Across Kingfisher Academy, PSHE is the curriculum subject where statutory Relationships, Sex and Health education is taught. For more information, please view our RSE policy.
Curriculum Overview
Please note, due to the nature of our school population, these topics may not be taught in the order detailed below. Our ideal pathway for Y11 students also teaches PSHE topics in a different order to other levels, as this allows us to match external factors that young people experience in their final year of secondary education.
Level 1
Transition and Safety
This unit helps students navigate transitions, set learning goals and develop social and emotional skills. Students will explore personal safety in and outside school.
Friendships, Bullying and Changing Relationships
This unit explores healthy and unhealthy friendships, as well as how to identify and respond to bullying incidents, the role of families, including caring for each other in changing circumstances.
Community Diversity
Here we consider religious and ethnic identities in the UK and the need for mutual respect and understanding. Students consider the needs of a community and the role of local councils in meeting these.
Puberty and Keeping Safe
In this unit, students learn about healthy routines (including dental hygiene), physical and emotional changes in puberty, menstruation, testicular and vulval health and how to identify and report abuse.
Influences on Relationships
This unit helps students consider influences on their expectations of – and attitudes towards – relationships, including online and media influences.
Financial Decision-making
This unit supports students to develop their financial literacy and rehearse decision-making and risk assessment skills in relation to money and spending.
Level 2
Personal Safety and Managing Risk
This unit is an opportunity for students to assess risk and support their personal safety in a range of contexts, including on the roads, around water, and in relation to alcohol and other drugs.
Health and Wellbeing
In this unit, students develop decision-making skills that support a healthy lifestyle and their wellbeing: considering food, exercise, vaccinations, sleep and screen time.
Belonging and Community
This unit focusses on how to create respectful and cohesive communities. It helps students recognise and challenge bias, stereotypes and discrimination and promote inclusion.
The Online World
This unit helps students to recognise how their behaviour can be manipulated online, through algorithms and targeted content. It helps students assess how online platforms generate income through users.
Healthy and Unhealthy Relationships
This unit introduces a range of relationship issues facing young people, including harassment, image-sharing and gendered violence, and how to get support.
Citizenship
The democratic government in the UK, including the roles of citizens, Parliament and the monarch. Voting, elections and the role of political parties.
Level 3
Health and Wellbeing
This unit considers lifestyle balance and healthy choices, sleep hygiene and personal hygiene routines. Students then look at how we manage disappointments and setbacks.
Drugs Education
This unit builds on previous learning, focusing on developing skills to manage situations involving alcohol, vapes or other substances.
Managing Risk in Relation to the Law
This unit helps students to assess the ways young people might be drawn into criminal behaviour, and the impact of breaking the law. Child sexual exploitation and child criminal exploitation. The legal system; role of the police and courts.
Intimate Sexual Relationships
Students learn about consent and healthy, safe sexual relationships, including using contraception.
Navigating Online Harms
Exploring online harms that young people may be exposed to, focussing on how they can respond to deepfake AI images and misogynistic narratives.
What are Human Rights?
The role of the United Nations, The Human Rights Act, Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Level 4
Friendship, Diversity and Challenging Extremism
Protected characteristics and reporting discrimination; recognising and challenging bullying behaviour, promote inclusion, recognise and respond to extremism. AI rights and wellbeing, social attitudes to sending nudes.
Independence, Healthy Choices and Wellbeing
This unit develops understanding of mental health, and influences on this. Specific lessons focus on menstruation, testicular cancer, and breast cancer.
Exploring Consent and Recognising Abuse
This unit considers the role of intimacy and pleasure, Expectations of sex and relationships, impact of the media and pornography, misogyny and toxic masculinity.
Managing Influence and Navigating the Online World
Students consider the impact and risks of AI and digital technologies, including misinformation, deepfakes and sharing images.
Financial Decision-making
The impact of financial decisions in relation to the current financial landscape, debt, gambling, impact of advertising on choices. Consideration of online financial harms.
What are my Legal Rights?
Exploring legal rights in the UK, the legal system in the UK, different sources of law and how the law helps society deal with complex problems
Level 5
Wellbeing for Life
Fertility and pregnancy, managing stress and tension, managing loss and grief, cancer awareness, sleep. Managing workload and preparing for exams.
Drugs and Personal Safety
Supporting students to understand the risks linked to substance use and gang involvement, manage external influences, and develop strategies to stay safe and seek support.
Safe Relationships and Sexual Health
Students consider power and control within relationships, how to set boundaries, manage conflict and breakups, and make informed decisions about sexual health.
Participation in Democracy
This unit looks at how to participate in democratic elections, the influence that an individual can have on their community and how citizens can bring about change.
Managing the impact that exam season has on wellbeing and relationships.
Bespoke coverage based on the needs of each Y11 class.
Careers Learning
This takes place in form time or drop-down events.
Y7: Developing Skills and Aspirations
Students learn about the careers market, develop teamwork and enterprise skills, and raising aspirations.
Y8: Community and Careers
Equality of opportunity in careers and life choices, and different types and patterns of work. Includes considering the needs of our local community.
Y9: Careers and Future Choices
Work patterns and work places, managing online reputation.
Y10: Identifying Career Preferences
Mapping a career path, making a good impression, work experience.
Y11: Next Steps
Application processes, skills for further education, career progression. We aim for all Y11 students to have a 1:1 careers interview in this time period.
Sex Education
As a school, we define sex education as lessons covering the content specified below. Parents/careers have the legal right to withdraw their child from these lessons. There is no right to withdraw from any other content within the PSHE curriculum. However, we welcome discussions with parents about what your child will be learning about in PSHE. If you would like to discuss PSHE provision in more detail, please contact our curriculum lead Hannah Willert hwillert@nexusmat.org
Intimate and Sexual Relationships, including Sexual Health
Curriculum content
- That sex, for people who feel ready and are over the age of consent, can and should be enjoyable and positive.
- The law about the age of consent, that they have a choice about whether to have sex, that many young people wait until they are older, and that people of all ages can enjoy intimate and romantic relationships without sex.
- Sexual consent and their capacity to give, withhold or remove consent at any time, even if initially given, as well as the considerations that people might take into account prior to sexual activity, e.g. the law, faith and family values. That kindness and care for others require more than just consent.
- That all aspects of health can be affected by choices they make in sex and relationships, positively or negatively, e.g. physical, emotional, mental, sexual and reproductive health and wellbeing.
- That some sexual behaviours can be harmful.
- The facts about the full range of contraceptive choices, efficacy and options available, including male and female condoms, and signposting towards medically accurate online information about sexual and reproductive health to support contraceptive decision-making.
- That there are choices in relation to pregnancy. Pupils should be given medically and legally accurate and impartial information on all options, including keeping the baby, adoption, abortion and where to get further help.
- How the different sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV, are transmitted. How risk can be reduced through safer sex (including through condom use). The use and availability of the HIV prevention drugs Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) and how and where to access them. The importance of, and facts about, regular testing and the role of stigma
- The prevalence of STIs, the short and long term impact they can have on those who contract them and key facts about treatment.
- How the use of alcohol and drugs can lead people to take risks in their sexual behaviour.
- How and where to seek support for concerns around sexual relationships, including sexual violence or harms.
- How to counter misinformation, including signposting towards medically accurate information and further advice, and where to access confidential sexual and reproductive health advice and treatment.