PSHE
PSHE education is an important part of our school curriculum, it is incorporated into all year groups within our school. The main aim of our devised PSHE curriculum is to give students the opportunity to explore an array of topics in a safe and thought-provoking setting. To aid the delivery of PSHE within our school, we ensure that it is taught by form tutors; this also links closely to one of our whole school targets of building strong relationships and creating the opportunities for face to face conversations and interaction.
Please click here to view the PSHE Policy.
Please click here to view the RSHE Policy.
Within PSHE lessons, students have the opportunity to learn how to stay healthy, safe and be prepared for life and work in modern Britain, through the delivery of our topics we believe it also helps pupils to achieve their academic potential through building the foundations of learning, friendship, trust, support, skills and an ability to be reflective in their learning.
The PSHE Curriculum is devised around the following categories:
- Keeping Safe
- Online Media
- Emotional and Mental Health
- Health and Fitness
- Relationships
- Sexual Health
- Future Choices and Money
- Personal Development Skills
- Values, Rights and Responsibilities
British Values and SMSC
British Values, Values Education and SMSC are closely linked, click here to view a mapping document that indicates the most significant British Values and SMSC within each of our lessons, although arguably, ‘rule of law’ and ‘democracy’ and ‘individual liberty’ are in every lesson. The level of reflection, discussion and team work also ensure that the social and spiritual elements of SMSC are included in all lessons.
PSHE learning occurs in the curriculum through:
- Planned weekly lessons.
- Planned tutorial programmes.
- Assemblies.
- Power Days.
- Student Voice.
- Student Council.
- Extra-Curricular Activities.
- Student roles within the school.
- Students’ involvement in the local community.
- Students’ participation in wider world initiatives.
The PSHE programme aims to:
- Develop emotional intelligence.
- Helps students to understand their own mental health.
- Developing a positive self-image and self-worth.
- Identify how to develop healthy relationships.
- Take responsibility for their own personal hygiene.
- Recognise how to keep themselves safe.
- Understand the importance of physical activity and the links to mental health.
- Allows students to prepare themselves for life and work.
- Allows students to be equipped with facts to help them consider difficult moral and social questions that arise in their lives and society.
- Enables students to develop their self-confidence both in and beyond the classroom.
- Educates students on others’ beliefs, values, and ways of life.
- Develops critical thinkers, who are unafraid to challenge existing assumptions, a transferable skill to apply to students’ studies and further education.
- An opportunity for students to reflect on a variety of issues and take part in discussions.
- An opportunity to explore current affairs, on a local, national, and global level.
- Promotes an environment where students can work independently and collaboratively.
- Be knowledge about themselves.
- Allows students to understand their own and others’ emotions, develop healthy coping strategies.
- Deepens students’ ability to cope with the physical and emotional changes.
- Guides students about where they can seek appropriate support.
- Allows students to build skills to maintain successful interpersonal relationships.
- Students reflect on their own learning at different stages of secondary education, helping them to plan their own future development.
- Assists in developing well informed, thoughtful, and responsible citizens who are aware of their duties and rights.
Invicta Power Days
Our school has three ‘Power Days’ within the year:
- Relationships, Sex and Education Power Day
- Social and Global Awareness Power Day
- Careers Power Day
- Multi-Cultural Day
These days present an opportunity for students to spend a whole day’s learning, exploring, and deepening their understanding of a variety of topics, it allows the time to have a variety of guests, workshops, subject specific focuses, peer-led initiatives, days which enable students to focus on team building activities and continue to build their interpersonal relationships with both staff and their peers.
For more information on the topics covered in our ‘Power Days’ and to see some of the highlights, please click below to view the ‘Personal Development Scrapbook’
Year 7
Keeping Safe
- Verbal bullying and banter, students can appreciate that verbal banter can be hurtful, students know how to access support if they are worried about bullying.
- Tobacco, Vaping and Cannabis, students know the facts about these substances and the personal and social risks associated with them.
- FGM, students will understand what FGM is and why it is against the law, students know where to get help if they are worried about FGM.
Online Life and Media Life
- Body image, students understand the body images they see in the media may not be true – links to self-esteem.
- My online personality, students understand the way people behave in the digital world, they can reflect about the way they present themselves digitally.
- Social media positives, students can see the positive ways social media can be used and suggest ways to use it with their friendship group.
Emotional Health and Mental Health
- Boosting my mood, students will explore a range of ways to boost their mood and why this is good for their wellbeing.
- Talking about feelings, students express their feelings and develop the ability to talk about them, students know who they can talk to.
- Coping with failing – alternative approaches, students learn that making a mistake is an opportunity to improve their learning and suggest ways to bounce forward from a mistake.
Health and Fitness
- Fit and Active, students know how the range of physical activities that are available to them.
- Food Choices, students can understand the role their food choices play in supporting their health now and in the future.
Future Choices and Future Money
- Starting ‘Secondary School’, students can learn to set their own targets and manage their worries.
- Managing money at ‘Secondary School’, students can suggest ways to manage their money, spend what they need and save to get what they want.
- Enterprise Power Day – budgeting, researching prices in the market, real life skills in creating a product.
Personal and Skills Development
- Confidence building for group work, students can identify where their ‘comfort zone’ is within groups and class activities – develop confidence.
- Teamwork and conflicts – students can work as part of a team and recognise some skills that are important to this, students can accept praise and criticism and know how to manage this.
Values, Rights and Responsibilities
- Challenging stereotypes, students can give examples of stereotypes and ways to challenge these safely.
- Differences and diversity in the community, students know that people of different race, culture, gender, age, ability, and sexuality are all part of the community, students can see how diversity is positive for the community.
- Reducing my carbon footprint, students can suggest ways for people to reduce their carbon footprint and see the benefits to the environment.
Year 8
Keeping Safe
- Emergency First Aid, students will learn life skills, how to respond through exploring different scenarios.
- Attitudes towards substance misuse, students can reflect in their own attitudes about substance and substance misuse.
- Gang and knife culture, students can understand the motivations, risks and consequences of carrying weapons, students have safe ways to combat unhelpful peer pressures.
- County Lines, students watched a video produced by students to help understand the topic and produced awareness posters.
Online Life and Media Life
- Online bullying, students understand that bullying online can take different forms, they know how to access support.
- Media influence, students can give examples of how the media can influence young people.
- Substances and the media, students can see how substances and substance misuse can be portrayed in the media.
Emotional Health and Mental Health
- Anxiety and Depression, students know what to look out for, recognising the signs early and know where to access support.
- Mental health stigma, students know why it is important to talk about mental health to break down myths and misunderstandings about it, students will learn that there is nothing to be embarrassed about.
- Connecting others, students can discuss why being connected to others supports happiness and well-being.
- Unhealthy comparisons, students will understand that is its unhelpful and damaging to their emotional health if they compare themselves with others, students will celebrate uniqueness.
Health and Fitness
- Science and health, students understand the facts relating to immunisation and vaccination.
- What influences food choices, students explore the positives and negatives on health eating and their food choices.
- Mental benefits of physical health
- Vaping
Personal and Skills Development
- Communication skills, students can discuss different types of communication, identify skills, and develop them.
- Active listening, students know how to improve their active listening skills including remembering, questioning, and re-framing what they have heard.
- Managing criticism, students can use strategies to help them to positively manage their feelings and behaviour.
- Managing misunderstandings, students can manage their feelings when they receive criticism.
Values, Rights and Responsibilities
- Challenging unfair family and cultural expectations, students can discuss how family or cultural expectations could impact on someone’s aspirations.
- Environmental impact of fast culture, students understand what is meant by fast culture, and the impacts on the environment.
- Extremism, students can understand what extremism is and that it can take different forms.
- My rights and responsibilities as a consumer, students are aware of their legal rights as a consumer.
Year 9
Keeping Safe
- Recreational drug use and illegal drugs and the law – discussing the risks/consequences of drug use and the issues surrounding peer pressure.
- Emergency situations and medicine safety – exploring scenarios and how to respond.
- Bullying and the impacts on mental health – appropriate behaviour including how to treat others and where to access support.
Online Life and Media Life
- Different online behaviour, understanding the dangers of on-line profiles and how they can be used inappropriately.
- Pornography – students explore how pornography can give unrealistic expectations about sex and relationships – investigate legislation.
- Sexting, students will understand what sexting is and the law and where to go for advice.
Emotional Health and Mental Health
- Isolation and mental health – students look at the links between feeling/being isolated and how it impacts a person’s mental health. Learn ways to give support to friends and the wider community.
- Managing peer approval – discuss the need for peer approval and strategies to manage this.
- What affects mental health and support of mental health – discussing reasons/triggers that can affect a person’s mental health.
- Students will explore positive steps they can take to improve their mental health and the mental health of others.
Health and Fitness
- Exploring different forms of exercise, involving creating a personalised plan – linking exercise to mental health.
- Prevention of infection – the importance of personal hygiene, exploring viruses, treatments and preventions.
- Sleep and relaxation – understanding the need for sleep, balancing school, and home life.
Future Choices and Future Money
- How to become a young entrepreneur, careers education, researching, presentation and creative skills.
- Being in financial debt, managing money worries – understanding the causes of debt, peer pressure and top tips for money management.
Personal and Skills Development
- Problem solving activities with scenario challenges.
- How to improve study skills, reflecting on own practice and improving learning.
Values, Rights and Responsibilities
- Championing the LGBT+ and the surrounding community. Challenging LGBT+ stereotypes.
- Impact of climate change on animals, exploring ways in which climate change is impacting the natural world.
- Debate/project on the environment.
- Working part time rights and responsibilities – understanding the law around part time working when under 16.
Year 10
Keeping Safe
- Managing Unwanted Attention, students can recognise when a person’s behaviour towards another becomes unwanted and know ways to seek support.
- Women’s Safety, students can recognise situations where people may feel unsafe, understanding the importance of respect and equality, and know how to keep themselves and others safe.
- Substance Misuse, Choice, Habit or Addiction, students can discuss different points of view about the misuse of substances and how choice, habit and addiction can all play their part.
Online Life and Media Life
- Managing My On-Line, students can understand the benefits and challenges of cultivating a career online and can manage their online presence to create a positive profile.
- Profile for Future Employers, students build strategies for protecting and enhancing their personal and professional reputation online.
- Can you become too reliant on Social Media, students will discuss personal and social consequences of an over reliance on social media and learn how to use it in a balanced way.
Emotional Health and Mental Health
- Developing Self Esteem and Confidence, students can develop their own and others' self-confidence.
- Helping a friend or relative who is struggling to cope, students can recognise when someone they know needs help with their mental health and well-being.
- Little Things, Big Impacts, students can discuss how small and seemingly insignificant actions and words can sometimes impact positively or negatively on another’s emotional health. Students will know where to get advice and support if needed.
Health and Fitness
- Finding and using Health Services, students learn about a range of health services available to them now and in the future.
- Cancer Prevention, students can take responsibility for maintaining and monitoring their health including cancer prevention strategies, screening, and self-examination.
Future Choices and Future Money
- Do Stereotypes still exist, students can challenge job stereotypes and explain which these may be harmful for equal opportunities.
- My Education Ambitions, students will begin to evaluate their strengths, interest, skills and qualities enabling them to prepare for their future careers.
Personal and Skills Development
- Study Skills, students can identify study skills that are a personal strength and those that they need to develop, setting personal goals to improve their study skills.
- What sort of influence am, students can evaluate ways in which their behaviours may influence peers, both positively and negatively. Students can suggest personal strategies so that their influence on peers is more positive than negative.
Values, Rights and Responsibilities
- Freedom of Expression, students can understand about the right to free speech and can balance their opinions with the responsibilities it brings, students can understand different circumstances where the right to free speech may be impacted.
- Marriage, Partnerships and Rights, students can understand the different protections that come with different types of intimate/romantic partnerships, knowing that marriage should be entered into freely and can discuss the law and support available in relation to forced marriage.
- Where do my values come from, students can recognise where values come from and what factors might influence them.
- Animal Welfare, students understand the range on contexts which animal welfare is a consideration and discuss the importance of understanding animal welfare for individuals and society.
Year 11
Keeping Safe
- Safety and bogy enhancement, students assess the risks associated with cosmetic and body enhancement procedures.
- Substances and risky sexual behaviour – students can explain how the misuse of substances can lead to risky sexual behaviour and the possible consequences of this.
- Managing unwanted attention, students can recognise when a person’s behaviour towards another becomes unwanted and are aware of some of the laws that protect them from unwanted attention.
Emotional Health and Mental Health
- Stress, anxiety, and depression, understanding that stress, anxiety and depression and common mental health issues – linked to triggers – students learn about self-help alongside external help.
Health and Fitness
- Sleep, rest, and study, understanding the importance for cognitive, mental, and emotional health, developing a healthy programme of study, sleep, rest and relaxation.
Future Choices and Future Money
- My work and other choices at 16, students know about the range of employment and study opportunities. Students know where to access careers advice and guidance and seek relevant work experience opportunities.
Personal and Skills Development
- Developing resilience – students can assess their resilience skills and can suggest ways to develop them.
- Giving and receiving feedback – exploring ways of receiving feedback and giving constructive feedback sensitively to others.
- My growth mindset, students know the key features of growth mindset and can apply these to their life and learning.
- My study plan, students can develop a study plan and evaluate which study skills they need to maintain, develop, or adapt.
Year 12
Keeping Safe
- Virtual YTA Driving Programme – this is a four-week course externally provided through KCC, educating young people on the dangers of driving, and giving them ways of staying safe.
- Alcohol Misuse, students can explain how alcohol misuse can adversely affect an individual and their community and suggest ways to mitigate this harm.
- Substance Misuse, students are aware of the effects of substances on themselves and others and can take steps to minimise harm in the short and long term. Students can evaluate current research on the effects of vaping and can take appropriate steps to minimise harm.
Online Life and Media Life
- Positive online profile, students can effectively appraise my digital footprint and can take action to ensure it reflects an accurate and positive personal profile. Students can protect their online identity and reputation.
- Body image and social media, students can question the impact of body image as portrayed by the media on myself and others. Students can critically appraise issues in relation to body enhancement including any impact on mental health and can suggest positive strategies for managing pressure about self-perception.
Emotional Health and Mental Health
- Becoming a resilient student, students can identify and assess strategies that will support their mental wellbeing to manage any pressures due to current and future study.
- Common mental health issues, students are insightful to the range of common mental health issues individuals may encounter and can analyse and evaluate a range of strategies to manage these
Health and Fitness
- Keeping physically health, students can identify ways they can maintain their physical health whilst balancing their study needs, setting appropriate yet manageable health goals.
- Monitoring my health, students are aware the actions they should take to monitor their health and reduce the risk of ill health. Students are aware of health services and how to register with them.
- Young adult illness, students are aware of the illnesses that can be more prevalent in young adults and can take steps to minimise harm to themselves and others.
Future Choices and Future Money
- Work or Study (My Next Steps) students learn about the range of education and career opportunities that interest them and are available. Students can begin to appraise their next steps and plan their learning appropriately.
- Money Matters, students can understand and plan for their financial responsibilities and evaluate the impact of a range of financial decisions. Students can appraise the risks associated with some financial decisions.
Personal and Skills Development
- My Career Ambitions, students can think hypothetically and laterally about their future goals in terms of study and future career aspirations. Students are aware of how my personal values, skills, and strengths impact on my career choices. Students are aware of how the global job market is changing
Values, Rights and Responsibilities
- Differences in societal values, students can manage a range of relationships using tact, diplomacy, negotiation, and compromise. Students can discern which assertive communication techniques are best suited.
- Human Rights, Students can debate and justify their thoughts about human rights in society and whether they feel they are balanced or not.
RSE
- Respectful/Assertive Communication, students can manage a range of relationships using tact, diplomacy, negotiation, and compromise. Students can discern which assertive communication techniques are best suited.
Year 13
Keeping Safe
- Rape and Sexual Assault, students can explain the personal, social, and legal consequences of rape for the victim and perpetrator, students can understand what is meant by sexual assault, rape and rape culture (and how it can be challenged). Students know how to report rape and access victim support.
- Travel and Safety Abroad, students can effectively appraise a range of travel situations to assess their safety or otherwise, students are aware of their responsibilities as a traveller
Emotional Health and Mental Health
- Managing Exam/Study Stress, students can assess situations where stress related to study may be more challenging to manage. Students can appraise strategies that may be useful to me in these situations and can create a mental health plan to help them manage these situations more effectively.
- Suicide Prevention, students can critically reflect on possible reasons and influences why some people choose to take their own life and the intensity of the feelings and emotions involved so that they can potentially recognise these in themselves and others.
Health and Fitness
- Keeping Physically Healthy, students can identify ways they can maintain their physical health while balancing their study needs, students can set appropriate and manageable health goals.
Values, Rights and Responsibilities
- Differences in societal values, students can manage a range of relationships using tact, diplomacy, negotiation, and compromise. Students can discern which assertive communication techniques are best suited.
RSE
- Understanding Sexual Orientation, students are developing an awareness of their own sexual orientation and appreciate that it sits somewhere within a spectrum of sexuality. Students know where to access support about sexual orientation or being LGBTQ+.
- Respectful/Assertive Communications, students can manage a range of relationships using tact, diplomacy, negotiation, and compromise. Students can discern which assertive communication techniques are best suited to them and their relationships.
