Personal, Social, Health, Citizenship and Economic (PSHCE) education is a subject through which pupils develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to manage their lives, now and in the future.
Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education is a school subject which helps pupils develop the knowledge, skills and attributes to stay healthy and safe now and prepare for their futures.
This curriculum is based on the three core themes:
- CORE THEME 1: HEALTH AND WELLBEING
- CORE THEME 2: RELATIONSHIPS
- CORE THEME 3: LIVING IN THE WIDER WORLD
Intent
To equip pupils to live healthy, safe, productive, capable, responsible and balanced lives, pupils need the knowledge that will enable them to make informed decisions about their wellbeing, health and relationships. At Yavneh College our intent is to arm students with that knowledge, to enable them to recognise risk and danger in their own and others’ actions and choices and to give them the confidence to make wise decisions. We aim to deliver a curriculum that provides opportunities for pupils to reflect on, explore and clarify their own values and attitudes in relation to the values and attitudes they encounter now and, in the future, and to develop the skills, language and strategies needed to manage life’s challenges as they may encounter them. PSHE aims to equip pupils with the knowledge and skills they need to stay safe and be able to communicate when they do not feel safe. PSHE promotes personal development by helping pupils to build their confidence, self-efficacy, resilience and self-esteem, and helps pupils understand what influences their decisions. It provokes challenging questions about health and wellbeing, relationships and living in the wider world and as such makes a significant contribution to pupils’ SMSC development.
PSHE at Yavneh College sits within our personal development programme, which aims to provide a coherent programme of personal, health, social, citizenship and careers education. The PSHE curriculum is structured and designed to build growing understanding and internalisation of the core substantive knowledge of identity, relationships, a healthy and balanced lifestyle, risk and safety, diversity, equality and rights. PSHCE across the key stages aims to equip pupils to live healthy, safe, productive, capable, responsible and balanced lives, pupils need the knowledge that will enable them to make informed decisions about their wellbeing, health and relationships. Our intent is to arm students with that knowledge, to enable them to recognise risk and danger in their own and others’ actions and choices and to give them the confidence to make wise decisions.
The curriculum is structured to build on existing knowledge from KS2 and throughout their time at Yavneh College, students revisit topics each year, looking at new and increasingly sophisticated scenarios reflective of students’ age and understanding. The PSHE curriculum at Yavneh College is structured to ensure students thoroughly explore and understand the statutory RSE and Health Education topics and in line with the DFE guidance, PSHE includes the non-statutory topics of economic wellbeing and careers. The knowledge acquired within the careers topics contributes to our commitment to fulfilling the eight Gatsby Benchmarks, although much of our CIAG programme sits outside of PSHE as well. Yavneh College subscribes to Unifrog (online careers platform/portal) and students engage with a revisit the range of “tools” on this platform from years 7 to 13.
PSHE is reviewed every year by AHT (Personal Development) and this is based on Quality Assurance of all form tutors which is run by SLT and HOK/HOYs in addition to an annual student survey focusing specifically on the quality of PSHE lessons. Within the survey all students have the opportunity to reflect on the delivery of PHSE lessons over the year and suggest any topics they feel were under represented and/or would like to study more about in the future.
Implementation
PSHE is delivered once a week on a Friday across the school at the start of the day. Students are taught PSHE by their tutors, this allows them to work with a member of staff who knows them well and who has daily contact. The curriculum allows for flexibility in order that tutors can address specific concerns that relate to their tutor group. Many other elements of Personal Development/SMSC are also delivered through daily form time (Monday to Thursday) including Growth Mindset sessions and/or assemblies delivered by Heads of Year and/or guest speakers.
Students work in termly PSHE booklets in weekly lessons in form groups. These are kept in form rooms during the term and then in the head of year office after the end of the term. At the end of each unit students complete a quiz to assess their engagement and understanding of the unit. A record of the results for the quiz are kept on a “PSHE tracker” by Heads of Year. Students who have failed to engage sufficiently with the learning in PSHE demonstrated by their results in the quiz, their engagement in lessons or the completion of tasks in the booklet will be provided with intervention sessions.
Common features of PHSE lessons:
- Interactive and engaging activities
- All lessons begin with a (brief) starter task which students complete independently. This is often in the form of a “do now” or “stop and jot” task
- Recall activities built into lessons to ensure retrieval of prior learning when revisiting topics
- Lessons use a variety of media: music, news articles, documentary footage to allow for a variety of learner experiences
- Regular opportunities for collaborative/paired work and discussion
- Class discussion is used throughout lessons to assess understanding and address misconceptions
- Lessons are taught to the top and scaffolded down
- Questioning and reflective tasks are used to challenge preconceptions and beliefs
- Teacher modelling of appropriate discussion and reflection
- Planned questioning is used to check for understanding and to ensure all students are involved
- Written reflection tasks allow students to internalise their learning and to clarify their thoughts in light of what they have learnt. Written tasks are designed to challenge high achievers and are scaffolded for others
Impact
Ongoing assessment of learning is undertaken each lesson in a variety of ways:
- End of unit quiz (results monitored by form tutor and Head of Year)
- Planned questions
- Verbal responses
- Written responses (reflection tasks)
- Peer/self-marking of activities and tasks
- Questioning to check for misconceptions and then adapting planning to address these
The impact of PSHE lessons should also be seen across the year groups in terms of improved wellbeing and mental health of students and a decline in safeguarding concerns and incidents.
At Key Stage 5 each term finishes with an “assessment/reflection point” where students must demonstrate their understanding of some of the key topics/issues from the term and offer an opportunity for them to reflect on the sessions/topics they found most interesting and any areas they feel could be further developed.
Narrative/Rationale
Units are sequences so pupils learn about topics from each of the “core themes” from the PSHCE Association on rotation. Some topics will be completely new while others will revisit and build upon what has been covered in previous years but will reflect the fact that students are a year older and will need to consider these topics in an age-appropriate fashion.
All PSHE lessons across all year groups begin each term with a reminder for students of who they can talk to if they want/need support or want to talk to an adult about something. There is also an explicit reminder of what to do if they want to raise a concern which might relate to a safeguarding or pastoral matter. This includes reminding students of the various methods at their disposal which they can use including the Kavod Committee, I have a concern form (insight) and JLT. This message is also reinforced across the school with our safeguarding and pastoral posters highlighting the various (relevant) members of staff available to students.
All PSHE programmes across each year group also include a lesson reinforcing the STOPP strategy incorporated into a unit on mental health and self regulation. Students are also encouraged to download the app so this strategy can be used outside of school as well.
Year 7
Year 7 begins with supporting students with the transition to secondary school and help equip them with the tools to overcome the various challenges which arise when starting secondary school. This includes looking at the changing nature of friendship(s)aswell as considering the influences of peer pressure and approval. As students become more independent (both in/out of school) we then look at (healthy) lifestyle choices (diet, gaming, social media) as students are at an age where they will need to make their own (healthy) lifestyle choices. By the end of the first term, as students are settled into life at Yavneh College, they look at Democratic Government in the UK, learning about our parliamentary system and key features of a democracy.
The second term begins with units on prejudice and bullying. Friendships can change and new ones will usually have been established by this point in the year so it an appropriate time to ensure students how to manage their relationships both in school and the wider community. In conjunction with a series of assemblies which run during this term, we invite Kisharon to run an interactive PSHE session raising awareness of disabilities and learning difficulties. Given that many students in year 7 may not be aware of and/or will not have had any experience of certain disables and learning needs, we feel it is very important for our students understand the importance of tolerance, inclusion and diversity as early as possible in their school life. PSHE lessons continue with lessons on careers to help us fulfil our Gatsby Benchmarks, ensuring students visit and revisit careers every year. The final unit in this term revolves around managing puberty. This is placed at this point in the year so students are more than familiar and comfortable with their form tutors.
The final term includes a focus on the risks of alcohol, vaping and tobacco. This is less of a concern at the start of the year but something that may impact some of them as they approach the summer holidays and certainly when it comes to the cycle of Bar and Bat Mitzvah parties in Year 7 and 8. We have also recently added lessons on both consent and the dangers/legality of sending and sharing indecent images to the year 7 curriculum as a reflection on the growing importance of these issues in today’s society. We have placed this at the very end of Year 7 as students will now have (most likely) owned a mobile phone for at least a year and will likely be now engaging in various forms of social media and this is an opportunity to educate students about using their phones in a responsible and safe way. As students are about to spend more time with family over the summer, the final topic in Year 7 is families and relationships. As students are about to spend more time with family over the summer, the final topic in Year 7 is families and relationships.
Year 8
Year 8 begins with looking at personal and online safety. We start with this as this gives students an introduction to the use of online apps that they may have used/been introduced to over the summer holidays and the importance of staying safe on them. This unit also includes a lesson on the dangers and (legal) ramifications of sending/sharing nudes and/or indecent/explicit images. Students then revisit drug use and peer influence. As students begin to approach their teenage years and will be in the midst of the Bar Mitzvah party cycle it is essential that they have consistent education and guidance around peer pressure and the use of drugs and vaping. We finish the first term considering age, disability and discrimination. As pupils are now more confident in travelling to and from school and are likely to be more independent (especially on a Friday afternoon) this is an opportune time to ensure students understand the importance of being good citizens and respecting others, especially when they are representing the Yavneh community outside of school. We also recognise the importance of tackling student’s preconceived notions about diversity and ensure our students are aware of protected characteristics, as well as valuing respect and inclusivity.
In the second term we start by revisiting careers. This unit of work gives them a greater insight into the different options/pathways available in both the immediate context and thinking longer term with regard to potential career paths. Students then focus on mental health and emotional wellbeing, looking in particular at how students can take care of themselves. As students will likely now be exposed to a wider range of social media platforms, the focus in year 8 is largely about them having a positive impact on social media and how to support other students who may seem unhappy on social media. We also use this unit as an opportunity to address misconceptions around mental health and challenge associated preconceptions and stigmas. The term concludes with the same focus on health and wellbeing but shifts to considering the importance of managing stress. This is done to coincide with the period prior to the end of year 8 exams and with a view that they will be starting their GCSEs in the not-so-distant future.
The final term’s first unit of work revolves around laws and the justice system and also links explicitly to the drugs unit covered earlier in the year which is revisited at this point in time. As students are almost all now entering their teenage years and going through puberty, the topic of healthy relationships is revisited at this point but the focus now shifts towards the issue of diversity in sexual orientation, intimacy, LGBTQ+ and considering the benefits/pressures around delaying sexual activity. The term concludes with an introduction to contraception, STIs and finishes with an introduction to the issue of consent. The final units covered here are not an immediate concern for our pupils at the start of the year but will perhaps impact them more as the year progresses. Equally, these lessons are placed prior to the summer holidays to educate pupils accordingly and act as a timely reminder about staying safe if they are in a relationship.
Year 9
The first term welcomes the Year 9 pupils to the academic year with a series of lessons related to their well-being. The first two focus on the potentially challenging transition into Key Stage 4 and the beginning of the path towards GCSEs. We acknowledge that many pupils may be wary of this transition and the understandable raised levels of pressure to make positive progress. Year 9 also have an enhanced Enrichment programme to cover curriculum areas they have not chosen. Following on from the focus on transition we revisit the topic of drugs and alcohol use in the context of dealing with peer pressure. As students are in the midst of their teenage years education on this issue continues to be of paramount importance and this is why it is revisited at this point. The final unit of the first term looks at managing conflict at home considering both the causes of conflict and evaluating strategies to help resolve conflict between young people and their families. These lessons are taught at a time when many pupils bodies and hormone levels are continuing to change and their relationships with their families are consequently evolving. The penultimate unit of the term relate to Remembrance Day to coincide with Remembrance Week (November) and looking at the evolution of the British Army in terms of changing roles of women in the army and the experience of Black British servicemen during the Frist World War. The final lessons of the term focus back on careers and give students a chance to revisit and develop their profiles on the Tools they were introduced to in Key Stage 3.
The second term students begin with exploring the issues surrounding the use of pornography and then revisiting the issue of keeping safe online but in the context of the understanding the consequences and legality of sharing, sending and requesting nude imagery. While in the first term students explored the use of drugs in the context of peer pressure, we revisit this topic again but focusing on the impact of the misuse of substances and the social, legal and emotional consequences of addiction. Prior to the final sequence of lessons during this term students (again) revisit the issue of developing effective revision strategies as they approach their end of year examinations. The final lessons this term look at the importance of citizenship and the importance and value of working within the local community. This comes as a time when students are becoming more socially and racially aware of their own identity and others within the community. As a faith school we are aware that our students will have had a limited exposure to certain elements of British society and we therefore hope to install a sense of pride in the diversity of Britain.
The final term begins with a series on lessons exploring the issues of gender and homophobia, with the aim of giving students a greater understanding of the issues at play here and to give students the confidence to support others. The final lessons of the year allow students to reflect on how they look after their bodies and minds. Mental health and eating disorders typically become more prevalent at this age and so we ensure students are equipped with a greater understanding of mental and emotional health including eating disorders. The aim of these lessons is to increase the confidence of the students in recognising various warning signs and identifying support networks.
In addition to this, these two units have also been placed at the end of Year 9 as students will embark on YCIT at the end of the year, a matter of weeks after these units of lessons. Given that students will be away from home for a long period time (and many for the first time) we want to ensure students recognise the importance of managing their own mental health and eating healthily on YCIT. Equally, given that students will be in very close quarters to each other over the course of YCIT (sharing rooms, coaches etc) and spending all day with each other, these lessons are a timely opportunity to reinforce the importance the value of tolerance around gender and sexuality.
Year 10
Year 10 begins with a series of lessons related their wellbeing, in particular focusing on information and support around anxiety and the stigmas surrounding mental health. We begin the year with this topic as many students may have increased levels of anxiety at the start of the year and are entering into a crucial year in their studies. We continue with a focus on both the causes and effects of debt and consider how this can link to gambling and addiction. As well as the obvious importance of students learning about the importance of supporting themselves financially and the risk/dangers of debt, we recognise that students at this age are very likely to have considerable access to online gaming and gambling apps which we know is leading to a rise in debt. One of these sessions include a special assembly run by GamCare, a leading charity providing support, advice and treatment to those impacted by gambling related harms. In this session, students are able to hear first-hand from someone who can talk from experience about the dangers of gambling. As students will be certainly be continuing to increase their online presence and activities at this age, we finish this term revisiting the issue of online safety, but looking specifically at the issue of “fake news” and how to engage with the huge amount(s) of information available online trying to recognise bias and subjectivity.
The second term revisits the topic of relationships. Students consider the nature of a positive, healthy relationship and then revisit the issues of consent, exploitation and abuse within a relationship. Students then consider how/why relationships might break down and how to navigate (emotionally) through a relationship break up. This is a timely series of lessons as students are more likely to be entering into (more) serious/intimate relationships this topic at this age. This unit ends exploring the different types of relationships, such as LGBTQ+ and teaching respect for peoples’ choices. By this point in Year 10 it is likely that students will know young people within the LGBTQ+ community and may well have developed misconceptions and/or preconceptions which need addressing. The school also runs a (weekly) LGBTQ+ society which is run by our Wellbeing Practioner which all students are welcome to attend. The term continues with a series of lessons revisiting the misuse of substances, and the social, legal and emotional consequences of cases of addiction. We teach these lessons at this period of time as we acknowledge that pupils are likely to possibly succumb to peer pressure and misuse certain substances, such as alcohol and Class B drugs. Although both these subjects are addressed in Key Stage Three, we include two sessions run by Streetwise looking at both sexual assault and harassment and secondly at sexually transmitted infections and sexual health. We want to ensure the delivery of these sessions are engaging, age appropriate and led by experienced professionals given the fact that Year 10 students are approaching the legal age of consent and many of their peers may well be sexually active. This is one of the reasons we have chosen an organisation who are able to run these sessions in an interactive way in form groups rather than as a whole school assembly. These topics are revisited in Year 11 and in the Sixth Form.
The final term aims to provide students with an insight into the current political system and current affairs, and how this may impact their everyday lives. These lessons begin with a (re)introduction to the UK political system, the parties involved and how elections work. We hope that by this age students are becoming more politically aware/active and need to be equipped to understand and engage (better) with the UK political system and current affairs. Students then have a series of “Life Skill” lessons looking at the nature and implications of mortgages and rent. This is a consequence of recent “student voice” where Key Stage Four students expressed a desire to learn about these topics before the end of Year 11. Following on from these lessons, we explore some of the more problematic elements of our society including racism, Islamophobia and gangs. These are issues which our students will continue to be exposed to as they continue to grow up and are more socially independent. Our final PSHCE lessons of the year coincides with the run-up to (significant) end of year examinations, in which pupils will understandably face greater levels of workload and pressure. These are the first “proper” exams students will sit and therefore we focus on building resilience and strategies to support exam preparation/revision.
Year 11
The first term welcomes the Year 11 pupils to the academic year with a series of lessons related to maximising their learning potential and how to ensure effective studying which gives them the best productivity to time ratio. Historically students have found the beginning of Year 11 quite stressful as they feel the pressure ‘ramp up’ and therefore giving them practical tools to help with their learning is beneficial. They spend the first lesson reflecting on their progress last year and making SMART targets to guarantee that they start year 11 on the right foot. This then links into ‘coping with stress’ in the next unit of lessons. Students typically begin to feel stress more at this point in the year, and it was a conscious choice to not focus on academic learning, but more on their own Mental Wellbeing and is placed here before they start their mock exams. The final series of lessons in the first term focuses on ‘Planning for the Future’. Students will shortly begin the Key Stage 5 options process and it is therefore very important that the students understand that there are several different options open to them relating to both post-16 and post-18 pathways. The final lessons allow students to revisit and update their Unifrog profiles and create their own CV (using a universal format through Unifrog). Many students will be approaching the age where they will be looking for part time work and will need to have a basic CV.
The second term begins with Mock Exams for two weeks in January. When students return to lessons they revisit the topic of relationships with a focus on gender and homophobia. Students continue through this unit exploring diversity and sexual discrimination and various strategies that can be used to help challenge sexism. At one point during this unit of lessons, the Year 13 Kavod (Respect) Committee run an individual lesson looking at consent in their form groups. We believe that a peer led session on this issue, where older students share and discuss their experiences and views is a very meaningful and impactful way of educating students and establishing role models for them. We hope that this lesson inspires students in Year 11 to want to be part of the committee when they are in the Sixth Form so they can contribute to (further) educating our younger students on this issue. Having already started to think about their future towards the end of the first term, students transition into the next series of lessons which revolve around “employability” where students consider appropriate behaviour in the workplace. This is encouraging them to recognise that behaviour that is acceptable in school is not necessarily appropriate for the work place. We finish the term with thinking about finance, budgeting, and bank accounts because this is the last unit students will do before they leave school and the last opportunity for them to acquire “life skills” and the necessary knowledge to live happy and successful lives, without the weight of financial debt.
In the final term, Students focus on exam and revision sessions that lead up to their GCSEs.
Year 12
We begin Year 12 by focusing on the transition from Key Stage 4 to Key Stage 5. As well as ensuring students are able to cope with life in the Sixth Form, this also gives students the opportunity to develop a positive relationship with their form tutor and settle into sixth form successfully. We then focus on mental/physical health in order to ensure students are able to (better) take responsibility for their own personal development, health and wellbeing at this crucial and challenging junction in their lives. We conclude the unit on mental health looking at addiction and gambling given that young people approaching the age of eighteen may well be gambling for the first time and may be susceptible to peer pressure around this issue. These sessions include a special assembly run by GamCare, a leading charity providing support, advice and treatment to those impacted by gambling related harms. In this session, students are able to hear first-hand from someone who can talk from experience about the dangers of gambling.
More complex, sensitive and sometimes difficult topic areas are completed in the second term once students are (more) familiar and comfortable with Sixth Form PSHE lessons. As students will (likely) be entering into more serious, adult relationships at this age, aswell as being far more independent in terms of their social lives, the series of lessons during this term are aimed to help equip them to make sensible choices within these areas. It is extremely important that students understand the nature of healthy relationships including looking at relationship abuse, the risks/dangers associated with sharing sexual images (including revenge porn) as well as (revisiting) the issues around consent and respecting boundaries. When looking at the issues of sexual harassment and consent, some of the lessons are delivered in conjunction with members of the Kavod Committee (Year 13) in order to help facilitate discussion and debate. We decided to place the lessons on STIs and contraception at the end of the “Relationship” unit (rather than “Wellbeing”) because we felt that the main message of the lessons related to respect between partners and the importance of communication within a healthy relationship. There are a number of sessions have been left “blank” on our Schemes of Learning with a view to give tutors some flexibility if one of the topics goes over into an additional lesson and with the view that the new Kavod Committee will contribute to an additional session along the same format as the current one.
The final term revolves around the workplace and navigating the world of work and this is taught towards the end of Year 12 as students begin to think about end of year exams, future career pathways and “next steps” for life after Yavneh. This unit of work will also certainly be relevant when it comes to students beginning to prepare for their work experience week at the very end of Year 12. In addition, by this point in Year 12 many of our students will have part time/holiday jobs. This unit is completed in booklets along the same lines as students are used to from their KS4 PSHE lessons because this is more of a distinct “unit” of lessons which build on each other. Based on student feedback from previous Year 12 cohorts, a number of additional “Life Skills” lessons have been added to the end of this unit including lessons on car insurance, phone contracts and credit cards. PSHE will only run for a few weeks after the final half term of Year 12 as students will have their end of year exams and work experience week.
All careers/post-18 pathway preparation takes place during (weekly) form time and runs as a sperate programme from PSHE.
Year 13
Year 13 begins with an opportunity to reflect on highs and lows of Year 12 and on the possible challenges of Year 13. The first lesson will discuss signs of struggle, to ensure students know when it is suitable to help. Students then go on to looking at sleep and crucially the importance of good sleep habits in what is likely to be the most stressful year in their school career. Students will then revisit mental health and wellbeing through the lens of men’s mental health and gender assumptions. They explore their role as friends and advocates for mental health awareness and wellbeing. The first half-term ends with students creating a campaign for lower year groups around mental health and the idea of a “silent crisis”, followed by a reflection/assessment lesson. The second half of term continues the theme of mental health and wellbeing. Students explore minimising risk around alcohol and drug use and what harm reduction means. They look in more detail about self-harm and OCD. They relook at harmful controlling behaviours, focussing on the subtle forms of control that might go unnoticed in order to keep themselves safe now and in future and they end the term with a lesson from Streetwise exploring scenarios where possible danger is evident followed by a second review and reflect lesson.
This second term is the final term for PSHE as students will be preparing for exams and going on study leave at the start of the final term. The first half-term’s unit of lessons focus on respect, responsibility and relationships in the wider world. Students explore discrimination and the concept of unconscious bias. We feel this a crucial series of lessons as all our Year 13 students will be entering either university life or the working world where they will be interacting with people from multiple backgrounds and walks of life. Students go onto explore the different ways social media influence our perceptions of others and ourselves and the extent to which we strive to reach social standards. Students learn about the laws governing different online behaviours and veracity of online platforms. Students are given articles, scenarios and thought-provoking questions, consistently having to check in on their own value compass. We feel this is an important area for students to engage in just before they leave school and potentially move away from home where their online behaviour and presence will inevitably continue to grow and they will be faced with many new situations which they will have to navigate as independent adults, making decisions for themselves.
In the second half of term, students only have a few PSHE lessons due to their mock exams and these lessons are delivered by Streetwise/JWA and focus on sexual safety/health, contraception and making wise choices (including dating). There are also several lessons in this unit revolving around the challenges of living away from home for the first time, evaluating different types of behaviour(s) and looking at the importance of handling yourself and others safely while out drinking and highlighting the dangers of spiking. We believe students need to be fully equipped with a clear understanding of these issues and how to make informed, safe and responsible decisions in situations which may arise as they turn eighteen and enter adult life.
All careers/post-18 pathway preparation takes place during (weekly) form time and runs as a sperate programme from PSHE.