PSHE and RSE
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The aim of our PSHE, RSE and Personal Development curriculum is to give our pupils the skills, knowledge and understanding to lead confident, healthy and safe lives both now and in the future as thriving individuals, family members and part of society in an ever-changing world. Within PSHE, we intend to nurture our school values of Belief, Honesty and Aspiration, so that these values are embedded and help our students aspire to be the best they can be, to have dreams for their future and know what is required to reach them.
Through our curriculum our pupils will:
- build their confidence, resilience and self-esteem, identify and manage risk, make informed choices about factors which may influence their health and wellbeing and understand what influences their decisions.
- learn to recognise, accept and shape their identities, to understand and accommodate difference and change, to manage emotions and to communicate constructively in a variety of settings.
- develop an understanding of themselves, empathy and the ability to work with others and learn how to form and maintain good relationships and better enjoy and manage their lives.
- develop essential skills for future employability.
.
Year 6
- Transition to BHA.
- Developing goals and personal targets.
- Learning skills. Learning how skills and interests relate to jobs and careers.
- Relationships education – personal identity and learning about families. Learning about healthy and unhealthy friendships, including communicating safely and respectfully online.
- Relationships and sex education – learning about growing up, puberty, positive and healthy relationships including introduction to consent.
- Mental and emotional wellbeing – managing challenges and change, changing emotions, self-support and how to seek support.
- The rule of law – belonging to a community, anti-social behaviour, challenging stereotypes, inclusion.
- Healthy lifestyles including sleep and dental health.
Year 7
- Law, crime and society
- Modern media and modern society
- Staying safe online and offline including alcohol, drugs smoking.
- Digital mental health and wellbeing.
- Friends, respect and relationships
- Puberty and body development
- Careers education
Year 8
- Celebrating differences
- Digital worlds and emerging dangers
- Dangerous society online and offline
- Identity, relationships and sex education
- Physical health and mental wellbeing
PSHE education makes a significant contribution to the development of a wide range of essential skills.
Essential Skills
Essential Skills and Attributes Developed
| Personal Effectiveness | Interpersonal and Social Effectiveness |
| 1. Self-improvement (including through constructive self reflection, seeking and utilising constructive feedback ad effective goal-setting) 2. Identifying unhelpful ‘thinking traps’ (e.g. generalisation and stereotyping) 3. Resilience (including self-motivation, perseverance and adaptability) 4. Self-regulation (including promotion of a positive, growth mind-set and managing strong emotions and impulses) 5. Recognising and managing peer influence and the need for peer approval, including evaluating perceived social norms 6. Self-organisation (including time management) 7. Strategies for identifying and accessing appropriate help and support 8. Clarifying own values (including reflection on the origins of personal values and beliefs) and re-evaluating values and beliefs in the light of new learning, experiences and evidence 9. Recalling and applying knowledge creatively and in new situations 10. Developing and maintaining a healthy self-concept (including self-confidence, realistic self-image, self-worth, assertiveness, self-advocacy and self-respect | 1. Empathy and compassion (including impact on decision making and behaviour) 2. Respect for others’ right for their own beliefs, values and opinions 3. Discernment in evaluating the arguments and opinions of others (including challenging ‘group think’) 4. Skills for employability, including • Active listening and communication (including assertiveness skills) • Team working • Negotiation (including flexibility, self-advocacy and compromise within an awareness of personal boundaries) • Leadership skills • Presentation skills 5. Enterprise skills and attributes (e.g. aspiration, creativity, goal setting, identifying opportunities, taking positive risks) 6. Recognising, evaluating and utilising strategies for managing influence 7. Valuing and respecting diversity 8. Using these skills and attributes to build and maintain healthy relationships of all kinds |
| Managing Risk and Decision-Making (integral to all of the above) | |
| 1. Identification, assessment (including prediction) and management of positive and negative risk to others 2. Formulating questions (as part of an enquiring approach to learning and to assess the value of information) 3. Analysis (including separating fact and reasoned argument from rumour, speculation and opinion) 4. Assessing the validity and reliability of information 5. Identify links between values and beliefs, decisions and actions | |
Additional Learning Opportunities
- Daily form time activities
- Visits to school by Worcester Magistracy to talk about the rule of law, order, crime, as well as careers in these fields.
- Outside speakers from the world of work and colleges, higher/further education providers
- Enrichment afternoon activities for Y7 and Y8 include first aid, enterprise activities, IDEA (Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award), financial education, wellbeing, first aid and sports leadership.
- Aspects of the 'Living in the Wider World' curriculum strand are taught through humanities
- Aspects of ‘Health and Wellbeing’ are taught in science, PE and food technology lessons.
- Aspects of online safety and wellbeing are included in the computing curriculum.
- British Values and the Protected Characteristics are embedded in the English and humanities curricula.
- Drop-down days e.g. ‘Learn to Earn’ money management day, ‘Step into the NHS’ careers day.
- Assemblies: Assemblies take place weekly for the whole school and for each year group. Assemblies have a theme linked to developing aspects of student’s character including their emotional and cultural literacy and aspects of SMSC. Assemblies can include developing student’s education around significant national or international awareness events. The assemblies also offer the opportunity to celebrate student achievements.
We constantly review and adapt our PSHE and RSE curriculum to meet the changing needs of our students and our school community.
Last Update : January 2026