PSHE

Home / PSHE

PSHE (Personal, Social & Health Education)

Statement of Intent

The LDA PSHE Curriculum intends to teach pupils how understanding ourselves and the wider world is essential in order to be a part of it.

Curriculum Aims

The LDA PSHE Curriculum builds on the KS3 National Curriculum and aims to provide pupils with the knowledge to develop a deeper understanding of wider society. It supports pupils in understanding how to maintain physical and mental health; provides an understanding as to what constitutes a healthy relationship, and how to stay safe. The curriculum promotes British Values and the importance of equality and diversity. The PSHE Curriculum is complemented and further developed across both Key Stage 3 and 4 through a Personal Development Curriculum taught during Form Time.

Curriculum Pathway

Click here to view the PSHE curriculum pathway.

Curriculum Model 2022 – 2023

In KS3 pupils will experience one lesson of PSHE per week.

Overview

Year 7

Healthy living: Year 7 pupils will consider the challenges of change, and what it means to grow up in the modern world. This will cover the physical changes that they may be going through, staying healthy (both physically and mentally) during this time, and ensuring that they are able to meet any challenge with the confidence that they need. Also, there will be significant focus placed on maintaining our emotional and mental wellbeing and managing our emotions during times of difficulty.

Life in the wider world: Year 7 is their introduction to a brand-new community; the community at Lord Derby Academy. While this brings massive opportunity, this can be a daunting prospect so there will be much discussion into what goes into their identity and makes them who they are. In a year full of change and challenge, it is important that we do not lose sight of ourselves and foster the self-confidence we need to be assertive and succeed. To build on this idea of community, year 7 pupils will consider what makes a community special and how we keep our communities safe.

Relationships: Relationships are a major focus across KS3 PSHE so we begin our study by considering what a healthy relationship looks like. This will primarily be focused on family, friends and platonic relationships in order to support our pupils in constructing positive relationships and challenging unhealthy/abusive relationships (like bullying in all forms. There will be some mention of positive romantic relationships and the challenges that may crop up but this is focused around the emotional effect of relationships like this in order for pupils to build a realistic understanding of relationships like this.

Year 8

Healthy living: Year 8 pupils will consider addiction and the effect it can have on a person. During this, they will discuss health issues like smoking, alcohol and drugs but they will also consider the role of things like advertising and gambling on a person. This will help guide pupils away from destructive habits as well as helping them understand why somebody may become addicted with sympathy. There will also be further discussion on supporting mental health and wellbeing. This will help pupils build resilience to emotional stress, provide support during difficult times as well as understanding more about mental health issues that may affect people negatively

Life in the wider world: Year 8 will further develop our pupils’ understanding of community and what it takes to build a supportive community by challenging bullying, discrimination and, even extremism. Pupils will also consider their role in British democracy by discussing the role of government in this country. By the end of this topic, pupils will know how the government process of the United Kingdom works as well as where they fit in with responsibilities like voting. Additionally, year 8 pupils will begin their study of their future aspirations. This will prompt pupils to consider their own dreams for the future and what it will take to get there, thereby building resilience to any challenge that they may face on that path. Finally, year 8 pupils will begin to consider the role of finance in their current life as well as their future. This will encourage intelligent financial decisions as well as preparing them for the wider world after Lord Derby Academy.

Relationships: As always, relationships will play a major part of year 8 PSHE study. This year, there will be a focus on romantic relationships and what it means to commit to somebody else for the rest of that partnership, potentially for the rest of their lives. They will consider what goes into a positive and healthy romantic relationship, as well as what may be considered an unhealthy relationship (what should they be wary of?). This will develop into more mature topics, like abuse (both physical and emotional) in relationships. This is important as it provides pupils with an understanding of early signs of abuse in order to recognise them quickly, as well as providing pupils with ways of finding support if they were to find themselves in danger.

World religions: Each year will focus on particular religions as part of their PSHE study. The UK is a multi-faith society, and so religious freedom is celebrated here. Our study is designed to create understanding of the different religions and to foster a sense of familiarity. The religious focus of year 7 will be based around the Dharmic religions of Hinduism and Sikhism. We are building on what was discussed in year 7 by now looking at two major UK religions. One again, the focus of this will be to foster an understanding of the religions and cultures by knowing their practices and why they are culturally significant.

Year 9

Healthy living: Year 9 will build upon topics from the previous years with a more mature focus. For example, year 9 will build upon the addiction topic in year 8, by examining the effect of drugs on the body. This will help pupils make educated decisions about their own body and to stop them making decisions that could cause them harm, and get them in trouble with the law as they are illegal substances. There will also be discussion surrounding gangs, street crime and knife crime to further support our pupils in making positive decisions and preventing criminal exploitation

Life in the wider world: Year 9 will develop previous understanding of communities by addressing a modern understanding of identity and challenging discrimination. This will help pupils maturely and securely address things like sexism, racism and homophobia and encourage a positive community. Further still, year 9 will continue the work started in year by learning how to manage their money. This is a life skill that will help them for the rest of their lives. Finally, in order to support the options process in year 9, pupils will be discussing their aspirations, careers and the job market. This will help them consider their future and what it will take to achieve their aspirations. This will be completed through PSHE lessons as well as supported through PDC sessions too

Relationships: In year 9, pupils will further develop their understanding of relationships by considering sexual relationships and what is meant by ‘safe sex’. This topic is designed to provide honest guidance and support to pupils in a topic full of misinformation. This will allow pupils to create a healthier understanding of sexual relationships, free from abuse, manipulation and expectations. Pupils will get a full understanding of the law surrounding sex, as well as a deeper understanding of what ‘safe sex’ actually means. Pupils will also spend a lot of time considering the emotional aspect of a sexual relationship, and the feelings that come connected to a relationship like this. If everything is understood, then this topic will help pupils make positive decisions about their body while also giving them the confidence to be assertive when they say no. As always, there will be much discussion on where to go to get support if pupils have further questions.

World religions: Each year will focus on particular religions as part of their PSHE study. The UK is a multi-faith society, and so religious freedom is celebrated here. Our study is designed to create understanding of the different religions and to foster a sense of familiarity. The religious focus of year 9 will be on the Abrahamic religions of Christianity, Islam and Judaism. While many pupils may be aware of these religions, the purpose of this topic is to further illustrate the connections that these religions have in their origins. Pupils will consider why there is so much conflict and discrimination between these religions despite the common ground that they all have. As always, this topic will also allow pupils to learn more about the different religious and cultural practices that take place in the United Kingdom.

KS3 Modular Overview

Click here to view the detailed overview of the PSHE curriculum content taught throughout KS3. Each modular overview provides information on the knowledge and skills taught at each stage within the intended curriculum.

Faculty

Mr D Lindsay: Head of PSHE, PDC and R.E.
Miss I Williamson: Teacher of History/PSHE