PSHCE
Curriculum Overview
This overview sits alongside the PSHCE and RSHE Policy that can be found on the Policies page.
It is our vision to ensure all learners at Batley Grammar School develop holistically and are equipped to improve themselves and others by:
- Improving their health and wellbeing
- Helping them understand how to build positive relationships
- Equipping them with the knowledge and skills to live in the wider world
We aim to nurture learners in a caring educational environment, enabling them to grow into confident, respectful, independent and successful young people. In so doing, equipping them with the depth of character and enthusiasm necessary to aspire, thrive and prosper in future academic and wider social endeavours. Our educational aims are:
- To encourage the highest achievement levels of which learners are capable and, in so doing, to promote a love of learning
- To promote and develop the physical, spiritual, moral, cultural and social wellbeing of all learners
- To create a caring environment with well-mannered, respectful, hardworking and happy learners, showing consideration for others
- To develop self-respect, self-esteem, self-confidence and self-discipline
- To promote teamwork between learners, parents/carers and staff
- To develop responsible and enthusiastic individuals with a growing ability to work as independent learners
- To equip learners to understand the world beyond school and to make an effective contribution to it.
Our PSHCE and RSHE curriculum helps fulfil the educational aims above. Throughout the subject we ensure learners grow to be tolerant and well-rounded individuals who treat others with respect and equality. The Equality Act 2010 is embedded in our core aims for PHSCE, whereby learners are encouraged to challenge stereotypes and treat all people equally irrespective of race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, cultural background, gender, sexuality, disability, domestic circumstances, age, illness, employment status, or political beliefs. Learners are taught the importance of overcoming such social injustices and how to recognise and respond to discrimination.
In secondary phase, our PSHCE programme is allocated between 1-4 lessons over a fortnight, dependent on the key stage and year group, and is also supported through daily ‘Communication for Learning’ form time sessions. Drop down days are also planned, wherein topics such as first aid, road safety and sexual health (in Key Stage 4) are delivered by external professionals.
Our PSHCE Curriculum is mapped into three core themes:
- Health and wellbeing
- Relationships
- Living in the wider world
Through our curriculum, we ensure the new compulsory elements of PSHE are integrated within a broader education programme which includes comprehensive coverage of economic wellbeing, careers and enterprise education, as well as education for personal safety, including assessing and managing both negative and positive risk. We ensure our school is represented in the local PSHCE meetings run by Kirklees Council and relevant training courses to ensure our curriculum is enhanced by new developments and correctly reflects our local area. Our provision is further enriched by working closely with C&K Careers to develop learners’ financial literacy and understanding of employment and further education. We firmly believe that working with external organisations can enhance delivery of these subjects, bringing in specialist knowledge and different ways of engaging with young people. We ensure all content delivered by external agencies is thoroughly checked before any lesson delivery to ensure it is appropriate and meets the full range of students’ needs, including those with special educational needs.
Our Year 7 learners also complete a ‘Character Education’ lesson once a fortnight; this enables them to develop an ability to understand who they are and how they can deliberately recover when faced with adversity. Learners cover a range of topics including how the brain works, effective revision strategies, growth mind-set and mental wellbeing. Our whole school graduation programme, based upon ‘LORIC’ principles (Leadership, Organisation Resilience, Initiative and Communication), helps all learners to be prepared not only for exams, but for life.
The PSHCE long-term plan is available here.