PSHCE Curriculum Overview

Curriculum overview

“PSHE education is a school curriculum subject in England that helps children and young people stay healthy, safe and prepared for life – and work – in modern Britain.” PSHE Association (2022)

Personal, Social, Health, & Citizenship Education (PSHCE) at The King Alfred School – an Academy (TKASA) aims to provide a coherent program for all students throughout their journey with us. As a multidisciplinary team of tutors, teachers, and support staff, we aim to encourage high aspirations not just in our own academic subjects and specialisms, but for the student as a whole.

PSHCE at TKASA aims to help students to:

· Develop strategies to promote their own and others physical and mental wellbeing

· Promote their spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development – with a focus on British Values and Citizenship

· Identify and develop their personal qualities, attitudes, skills, attributes, and achievements

· Provide expert, up-to-date careers guidance that gives them the best information and opportunities available, and helps their progression into further education, training, and/or employment.

· Develop understanding of relationships between friends, family, and others – how to stay safe, express consent, and be able to communicate when they do not feel safe.

PSHCE at TKASA makes a significant contribution to student’s social, moral, spiritual and cultural (SMSC) development, which in turn contributes to their behaviour, safety, and wellbeing. PSHCE promotes students’ personal development by helping them to build their confidence, resilience, and self-esteem. Risk identification and management, along with how to make informed decisions, helps our students to make their own choices for their future – whether that is for their chosen career or general life decisions, taking into consideration the issues and requirements found locally in Somerset.

Our PSHCE program has been developed with the intent of following the three main themes suggested by the PSHE Association – health & wellbeing, relationships, and living in the wider world. These themes run vertically throughout Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4, so all students will be learning about a health & wellbeing topic. Some topics are revisited with more detail as the curriculum progresses, further embedding the Science of Learning strategies used within TKASA.

These themes are delivered via 1 hour PSHCE lesson per fortnight, delivered by the same teacher for years 7-10. In Year 11, the tutor team consists of subject specialists and Heads of Department – in order to provide the morning tutor time intervention/support program.

The Year 11 program has a slightly reduced program due to the examination season in the school’s final term of the academic year.

Year 12 and 13 program has been realigned with the rest of the TKASA themes from 2022/23 onwards and is delivered during the 30 minute tutor time on a weekly basis. The Year 13 program is slightly out of step with the rest of the school due to the impending UCAS deadlines in October (for Oxbridge, Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary Science etc) and January applications for university.

The Big Picture for 2022/23 can be found at the following link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EzulLHUF-NfGPfrNHwuinyErLFeV18tqBlpxvbJTJg4/edit?usp=sharing

The PSHCE Statement of Intent can be found here: click here

And the current version of the RSHE Guidance can be found here: click here