PSHE
Intent - why do we teach what we teach in PSHE?
At Harris Academy Chobham, PSHE is learnt through lessons, Values Days, assemblies and tutor time, each providing students with a safe environment in which to discuss a range of worldviews and contemporary issues that affect themselves and their local and wider community.
Regular and high profile extra-curricular events support student’s understanding of faith, inclusion and citizenship amongst other themes, as well as providing important opportunities for collaboration and community building. Our goal is to empower and enable Chobham students to become responsible, informed and aware young citizens who possess the personal and social skills to pursue their ambitions and play a meaningful role in society. To this end, Chobham students experience engaging, thought provoking and varied lessons which give them the opportunity to develop a range of skills, namely speaking, listening, emotional awareness and teamwork.
The PSHE curriculum enables students across the age range to stay safe as they grow and become independent, taking responsibility for their own and others’ mental and physical health. Our curriculum has been planned to address the specific risks presented in our local community as well as the wider area. Underpinning the formally assessed skills in PSHE are the Chobham values of inclusion, curiosity, honesty, empathy, excellence and respect. PSHE seeks to empower our students to be curious about the world around them, and have the skills and confidence required to ask informed questions and be receptive to opinions which differ from their own. Finally, through the PSHE curriculum and homework activities, Chobham students are supported to become self-reflective and active learners both within the Chobham community and the wider world.
Implementation - how do we teach PSHE?
PSHE helps students to develop skills and attributes such as resilience, self-esteem, risk-management, teamworking and critical thinking in the context of learning grouped into three core themes: health and wellbeing, relationships and living in the wider world. Guided by the PSHE Association, our PSHE curriculum also includes economic wellbeing and aspects of careers education.
In EYFS, the learning of Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED) provides opportunities for children to develop positive attitudes about themselves and those around them. Discrete PSHE lessons occur weekly; however, PSED is also taught through ‘in the moment’ opportunities built into continuous provision. In our varied learning environments, children will explore the ideas of relationships, feelings and appropriate behaviours, self-confidence and self-awareness, rules and routines, empathy and restorative justice.
In Years 1-6, students have one timetabled hour of PSHE a week. Each half term, children explore a single topic such as ‘Celebrating Diversity’ or ‘Navigating Friendships’, that will fit into one of the three wider categories of health and wellbeing, relationships or living in the wider world. Throughout KS1 and 2, students re-visit these three themes, encountering increasingly complex topics as they progress through the curriculum.
In Years 7-13, students have one timetabled hour of PSHE a fortnight. Throughout each Key Stage, students have the opportunity to revisit topics in more depth as they progress. For example, topics such as careers education, mental and physical health, consent within healthy relationships, and drug and alcohol abuse are revisited in each key stage to enable students to engage in learning about these topics more than once, and in an age-appropriate manner.
In Year 7 students learn about healthy lifestyles and how to look after their mental and physical health; careers and future options; puberty and relationships; bullying, including online bullying; ethical consumerism and money management.
In Year 8, students learn about alcohol and drug use and abuse; digital safety; rights and responsibilities; social media and cyberbullying; racism; radicalisation; contraception, sexuality and consent; mental health and emotional well-being; and risks associated with gambling.
In Year 9, students learn about: the risks of gang culture; careers and future options; healthy relationships and dealing with conflict; substance use and abuse; and vaping.
Key Stage 4 and the start of GCSEs and BTECs can be a challenging and exciting time for students. With this in mind, the first unit of work for Y10 focuses on taking care of our own and others’ mental health; then students look in more depth at cyber safety, having previously encountered this at Key Stage 3; before moving on to sex and relationships; drug and alcohol use and abuse; different types of families; and finally addressing extremism.
In Year 11, students learn: effective revision strategies and how to build resilience when preparing for exams; careers and future options; sex, consent and relationships; and staying safe online.
Finally, we understand that starting Y12 can be challenging and exciting, so the first unit of work acknowledges this and helps prepare students to be comfortable leaving their comfort zones, while equipping them with the skills and knowledge to look after their own and others’ mental well-being; students then learn about romantic relationships; careers and pathways after Key Stage 5; drug and alcohol use and misuse; and sex, relationships and consent; online safety and radicalisation. In Year 13, students will learn: careers and future aspirations; healthy lifestyles including sexual health; romantic relationships and abusive relationships.
Additional learning opportunities
Every opportunity is taken to maximise learning of PSHE outside of timetabled lessons. The Academy Teaching and Learning policy puts oracy and the development of effective speaking and listening skills at the forefront of lesson planning. In every lesson, students work with a partner, learning to listen, respond and articulate themselves effectively and respectfully. Students stand to speak in front of the class while their peers ‘track’ the speaker. This shows students the importance of expressing themselves clearly and provides daily opportunities to rehearse speaking in front of others.
English texts in both phases and story time books in the primary phase are chosen, in part, for their PSHE value, allowing students to explore complex topics with the scaffolding of a story format. For example in Y6, students read ‘The Other Side of Truth’ a story about life as a refugee and identity. English lessons at both KS3 and KS4 allow students opportunity to consider a range of issues and moral debates. For example, when studying The Merchant of Venice, students consider the personal and societal impact of racism. Students are also encouraged to develop their empathy and their understanding of life’s challenges through a range of texts, especially poetry in Years 9-11.
In the primary phase, students attend two assemblies a week. The first is linked to either a safeguarding focus or one of the three core themes and the second celebrates students’ success throughout the week. In the secondary phase, students have one assembly each week; each assembly has a directed theme which is underpinned by the Academy values and PSHE themes. Students have the opportunity for collective worship and collective reflection at the end of each assembly.
In the secondary phase, half-termly Values Days also reflect these core themes. Across five sessions throughout the year, students will have the opportunity to find out more about how to stay safe online, meet and ask questions of industry leaders, learn and practice basic First Aid, as well as hear from religious leaders from a variety of different faiths in the local community.
The academy offers all students a lively and varied programme of extra-curricular events across both phases as part of ‘The Chobham Experience’. These events are based around themes across the PSHE spectrum. These include, but are not limited to, six house events per year, six faith celebrations per year, PRIDE week and three termly community fairs.
Impact – how do we know what pupils have learnt and how well they have learnt it?
In all year groups, students are introduced to a range of personal, social, health and economic related topics to help them navigate the world around them in an appropriate manner. This includes being able to articulate their understanding of health and wellbeing, healthy relationships and safe living in the wider world. This is evident through in-class discussions, student self-reflections and exercise books, and the holistic development of our students into responsible and informed young individuals. Information from the academy’s online behaviour recording system is also used to gauge the impact of students’ learning in PSHE and provide areas of focus if needed.
