PSHCE
Head of PSHCE: Mr G Mylles
CURRICULUM VISION
Our intent is to provide an opportunity for our students to engage with and investigate issues that are relevant to their lives in modern day Britain, reflect on their own wellbeing, and become well rounded members of society with a more expanded worldview.
In particular our students will:
- be able to take and apply the knowledge from the classroom to their lives outside of school as well as their classwork and assessments.
- feel actively involved in the design of the lessons, curriculum and its development.
- take an active part in producing a class charter that is individual to that group, to ensure that a basic level of respect is agreed upon by the students, particularly when discussing topics that could be thought-provoking or controversial.
- be empowered to be active members of their communities, and learn the tools of how to tackle whatever issues they go on to be passionate about in life.
- understand how systems operate both locally and nationally, and are informed, politically conscious citizens by the time they leave mandatory education.
CURRICULUM PROVISION
What is PSHCE?
PSHCE stands for Personal, Social, Health, Citizenship and Economic Education. PSHCE is a school subject through which pupils develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to keep themselves healthy, safe, and prepared for life and work in modern Britain. PSHCE programmes have an impact on both academic and non-academic outcomes for pupils, particularly the most vulnerable and disadvantaged.
Why do we study PSHCE?
There are many important topics and themes that do not fit directly into the curriculum of the other subjects taught in a school environment. To ensure that these are not lost or overshadowed by other priorities, we deliver our PSHCE curriculum as discrete lessons, overseen by a subject specialist Head of Department. This ensures that our students are given the appropriate time and space to explore what can often be difficult, emotional and sometimes controversial topics in a safe, supportive environment.
What do we study?
Our units of learning focus on four key themes:
- Health and wellbeing
- Relationships and sex education (RSE)
- Wider World
- Citizenship
The curriculum aims to develop skills and attributes such as resilience, self-esteem, risk-management, team working and critical thinking in the context of these four core themes, including economic wellbeing and aspects of careers education.
To view a full summary of our KS3 and KS4 PSHCE curriculum please click here
To view information about PSHCE within our "Broadening Horizons" Programme at The Green School Sixth Form please click here
CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION
How do we study PSHCE?
Lessons are structured to provide opportunities for all students to explore the topic in a way which they feel comfortable. Activities will often involve research tasks and small group discussion, before wider class discussion is facilitated by the teacher. At the start of the academic year, a 'Class Charter' is produced by the students that is individual to that group. This is to ensure that a basic level of respect is agreed upon by the students, particularly when discussing topics that could be thought-provoking or controversial.
Presentation of Work
Each student’s book should be neat, legible and contain their very best work. Date and title of each lesson must be underlined. Each unit will start with a unit checklist for self- assessment and each end of unit has a feed forward sheet to allow for student reflection and improvement. When students are completing feed forward they must use green pen to provide a response.
Home Learning
The home learning that is set through PSHCE lessons will vary in activity and level of challenge. Activities may range from reading up on a current affairs issue in advance of a lesson, designing a poster or advertisement about a topic we have studied, or even a long form essay aimed to develop literacy skills. Often home learning will require the students to make links with other areas of the curriculum, or current affairs that may affect them personally.
Co - curricular activities
- Starting in 2023 a student run newspaper will be overseen by the PSHCE department, giving students a chance to develop their journalistic abilities and write about what goes on in our school community as well as the wider world
- Financial Literacy workshops are delivered each year by outside providers including MyBnk and The Money Charity. These sessions not only support our curriculum provision, but give students the opportunity to interact with people from the workplace, and gain an insight into the world of work.
- We have links with the Metropolitan Police, who have given talks about knife crime and responsibility with the boys to coincide with our citizenship unit on crime.
- An annual trip to the Houses of Parliament provides the opportunity for our students to understand how our government and political system work.
How parents/carers can support their children
- Parents can best support their children in PSHCE by discussing the subject matter with them. Everything in the curriculum is designed to be relevant to students' lives, particularly when we learn about mental health for example, with statistics showing a rise nationally in mental health issues amongst young people.
- There will also be points where we will discuss topics that could be controversial, by having an open and honest discussion at home, as well as in the classroom, students can become more well rounded, analytical thinkers.
- Relationships and Sex Education - Parents have the right to request that their child be withdrawn from some or all of sex education delivered as part of statutory RSE
Recommended Reading
Newspapers - We are always looking to link our curriculum to current affairs, so just keeping up with the news can be very beneficial to aiding understanding of complex topics
CURRICULUM IMPACT
Assessment
- Formative assessment is used throughout lessons as part of the curriculum, either through group discussions/debates.
- There are summative assessments at the end of every unit that aim to give the students different ways to demonstrate their learning. These include; GCSE Style Citizenship papers, creating online campaigns, drama performances, art and design tasks, activism tasks, speeches.
- At the start of every Unit of Learning we complete a baseline assessment to judge the students current understanding, these are then revisited at the end of the Unit to show the students progress.
Careers Leading on from PSHCE
The skills developed in PSHCE are what we call 'soft skills' and are important to any job in any industry. We all require a broad understanding of topics and issues that do not fit within the defined curriculum subjects. Our ability to comment on, analyse and discuss these with confidence is one of the ways that we integrate ourselves into society and the world of work.
- Careers in Public services such as social work, policing, NHS and teaching are areas that a strong background in PSHCE would support.
- To view more information about our school Careers programme please click here.