PSHE
Intent: The Big Ideas in PSHE at AHS
Atherton High has taken a thematic approach to Secondary PHSE education, covering all three core themes; Health and Wellbeing, Relationships and Living in the wider world, taught over all five year groups. Students will learn about all of these themes in each year, spiralling back around to topics they have already built some knowledge of, in order to repeatedly add to this knowledge in an age appropriate way. In Year 11, the focus will be on preparation for final pieces of knowledge and practical skills which will assist them in their transition to the next stage of their life. The content covers all areas of the Statutory Guidance for PHSE and the latest guidance for sex and relationships education which was issued in September 2021. The content has been selected to ensure that there are plenty of opportunities for pupils to develop knowledge, skills and attributes, through a programme that is relevant and appropriate to the ethos of the school, the needs of the pupils and most importantly developing our pupils ready for life after Atherton High.
PSHE at Atherton is a widely varied curriculum and seeks to engage pupils through the study of topics which are more abstract than more academic subjects, and and are very relevant to their daily lives. This is extremely wide ranging, from sex education to preparation for careers and PSHE lessons allow a safe space, with students being taught by their form tutors, whom have a pastoral duty of care to their students and have built positive relationships with their students over an extended period of time. This allows the discussion of sensitive topics and gives the students to feel comfortable enough to really engage and to ask any questions they need to.
How the Personal, Social and Health Education curriculum contributes to the school’s curriculum intent
1.Knowledge-rich through the examination of real-world situations and the development of an understanding of complex topics such as sex and relationships, drugs and alcohol, mental health as well as how to live a healthy lifestyle. Knowledge is developed in these areas, not only through the examination of situations but also in the exposure of the students to facts, data and information in biology and sociology.
2.Vocabulary-rich through the deeply varied subject matter and its relevance to the lives of the students. The students are introduced to new terms on a regular basis to help them describe the new knowledge they are learning. In addition, this new vocabulary is reinforced regularly as each year all of the topics are developed and therefore the vocabulary is built upon with new vocabulary.
3.Aspiration preparation for the wider-world and especially a broad range of careers. This is achieved through classroom lessons as well as Industry Day, in which Year 10 are given the opportunity to work with people from a wide-range of careers across multiple industries and allow them to consider every possibility open to them, as well as receiving a comprehensive PSHE education to help prepare them for their chosen career.
4.Character as students are consistently encouraged to make positive choices in their personal decisions and they are also educated on the impact of their decision, both positive and negative, on the people around theme and the wider world.
5.Love learning as students are able to explore topics which do not necessarily fit into traditional academic subjects but allows them to ask questions which might not be appropriate in any other setting and therefore engage fully with their education, making it a more rounded experience for them.
Knowledge Organisers
- Year 7
- Year 8
- Year 9
- Year 10
Learning Journeys
