Life - PSHE

Life Lessons - (Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education)

The Life curriculum encompasses;

• PSHE 
• RSE
• Fundamental British Values
• Health and Wellbeing
• Citizenship
• Careers
• Protected Characteristics

Intent

At Oulton Academy, Life is an embedded part of our broad and balanced curriculum. In Life, an Oulton academy student will develop the qualities and attributes needed to positively function and contribute in a rapidly, ever-changing and diverse world. Focusing on three core areas of Health and Wellbeing, the Wider World and Relationships, our curriculum is taught as a spiral programme to ensure learning in RSHE is revisited, reinforced and extended in age and key stage appropriate contexts, which allows students to revisit areas of learning that will help them to become empathetic and mindful individuals, family members and members of the community and general society. It will prepare them to manage many of the most critical opportunities, challenges and responsibilities they will face growing up in such challenging times. 

Life education at our academy holds as its core principles our five academy values of Leadership, Resilience, Respect, Reflection, Motivation and self confidence, which are interleaved within our topics at each level. 

Within our curriculum, we actively promote British Values of Democracy, the Rule of Law, Individual Liberty, and Mutual Respect for and Tolerance of those with Different Faiths and Beliefs and those without Faith to prepare our students for life in their local community, as well as preparing them for life and work in modern Britain.  

Our intent is to deliver a curriculum which is accessible by all so students can know more and retain more. This will enable our students to become healthy, responsible and informed members of society beyond the academy gates.

All our year groups have weekly timetabled Life but we are also planning Drop Down Days as a further approach to the development and further implementation of Life skills and understanding, particularly elements of RSE (parents may exercise the right to withdraw their child from elements of sexual education but not health education. This will be made explicit on the academy website). 

Objectives

The overarching aim for Life education is to provide pupils with:  

• Accurate and relevant knowledge linked by our core themes of Health and Wellbeing, The Wider World and Relationships.  
• Opportunities to revisit learning and transform knowledge into personal understanding and development.  
• Opportunities to explore, clarify and – if necessary – challenge their own and others’ values, attitudes and beliefs. 
• Opportunities to explore their rights and responsibilities in modern Britain. 
• The knowledge, skills and strategies they need in order to live healthy, safe and balanced lives. 
• Clear access to support where it may be needed. 

Implementation

Our Life program follows the three core themes stipulated by the PSHE Association as being: 

Health and Wellbeing

Our students are taught: 

• How to maintain physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing.  
• How to manage risks to physical and emotional health and wellbeing.  
• How to identify different influences on health and wellbeing. 
• Different ways of keeping physically and emotionally safe.  
• About managing change, such as puberty, transition and loss.  
• How to be role models and make sensible and responsible choices regarding drugs and alcohol. 
• How to make informed choices about health and wellbeing and to recognise sources of help with this.  

The Wider World

Our students are taught: 

• How to encourage a Growth Mindset. 
• To respect equality and to be a productive member of a diverse society. 
• About where money comes from, keeping it safe and the importance of managing it effectively.  
• How money plays an important part in people’s lives. 
• Employability, work experience and the workplace. 
• About respect for the self and others and the importance of responsible behaviours and actions.  
• About rights and responsibilities as members of families, other groups and ultimately as citizens.  
• About different groups and communities.  

Relationships

Our students are taught: 

• What a healthy relationship looks like and the laws around consent. 
• How to develop and maintain a variety of healthy relationships within a range of social/cultural contexts and how to cope emotionally with the end of a relationship. 
• How to recognise risky or negative relationships including all forms of bullying and abuse.  
• How to respond to risky or negative relationships and ask for help.  
• How to respect equality and diversity in relationships. 
• Gender identity, including homophobia, transphobia and gender stereotyping. 
• Parenting skills and what different family structures look like. 
• About the risks with online relationships and how to access help. 
• The risks of unprotected sex, including STIs, HIV/AIDS and unplanned pregnancy. 

Weekly timetabled lessons of Life for Key Stages 3 and 4 ensure that all learners have access to the curriculum and the spiral structure allows for the revisiting and reinforcing in age and key stage appropriate contexts. Assemblies, academy displays and the Earn Your Stripes initiative will further the implementation of the three core themes of our Life curriculum. 

At Oulton Academy, we are aware that the delivered curriculum must reflect the needs of our students and this will require some agility in our teaching and learning.  

Impact

• Our students will become healthy, informed and responsible members of the local community and society. 
• Students will be on their journey to prepare them for life and work in modern Britain. 
• Our students will demonstrate and apply the British Values of Democracy, the Rule of Law, Individual Liberty, Mutual Respect and Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith. 
• Students will demonstrate a healthy outlook towards diversity and personal identity, resulting in higher tolerance and less bullying. 

Further Information

A draft curriculum plan is attached below:

Life-5-Year-Plan.pdfLife in Form Time 5-Year-Plan.pdf
If you require more detailed information, please email the Subject Leader. Mr  V Marklew:

VMA@oa.catrust.uk

Relationships & Sex Education Lesson Examples

Our lessons are reviewed and audited every half term and are subject to changes and updates where appropriate.