Personal, Social, and Health Education (pshe) and Life Skills
PSHE and Relationships and Sex Education
At the Hazeley Academy, we aim to promote positive mental health and wellbeing for our whole school community (children, staff, parents and carers), and recognise the importance of mental health and emotional wellbeing is to our lives in just the same way as physical health. We recognise that children’s mental health is a crucial factor in their overall wellbeing and can affect their learning and achievement. We aim to ensure that children are able to manage in times of change and stress, that they are supported to reach their potential and can access help when they need it. We also teach through Life Skills lessons and Drop Down Days about what they can do to maintain a positive mental health and how to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health. We believe in the importance of students being able to access help and support when needed and that they know where to find that help.
Please contact the Hazeley Mental Health Lead, Lesley Mckenzie if you have any queries or questions.
Overview of Subjects Covered - see document below
Our Life Skills programme identifies the key concepts, skills and attributes that are developed through Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) to support young people to manage their lives now and in the future and we fulfill our statutory responsibility. Our priority is to safeguard students, support their spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development and prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life.
PSHE education helps young people to achieve their academic potential, and leave school equipped with skills they will need throughout later life.
There are three core themes:
- Health and Wellbeing
- Relationships
- Living in the wider world
Hazeley Life Skills plan for KS3 and KS4
The full details can be found in the attached documents.
A growing body of research shows that pupils who are emotionally healthy do better at school. PSHE education helps children and young people to achieve their potential by supporting their wellbeing and tackling issues that can affect their ability to learn, such as anxiety and unhealthy relationships. PSHE education also helps pupils to develop skills and aptitudes - like teamwork, communication, and resilience - that are crucial to navigating the challenges and opportunities of the modern world, and are increasingly valued by employers.
Advice and information for parents
Please see attached the documents for the parent letter, full Life Skills PSHE curriculum and frequently asked questions.
Here is the link to the Department of Education guide to Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) (Secondary):
Updated 9 July 2020
Here is a link from the NSPCC on how to talk to your child about relationships and sex at home:
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/sex-relationships/healthy-relationships/
Please find a link to - Teen Mental Health – A Guide for Parents
The right of withdrawal from September 2020
The statutory guidance for RSE and Health Education will come into effect in all secondary schools from 2020, including academies, free schools and independent schools.
In secondary education from September 2020:
Parents will not be able to withdraw their child from any aspect of Relationships Education or Health Education.
Parents will be able to withdraw their child (following discussion with the school) from any or all aspects of Sex Education, other than those which are part of the science curriculum, up to and until three terms before the age of 16.
After that point, the guidance states that ‘if the child wishes to receive sex education rather than be withdrawn, the school should make arrangements to provide the child with sex education during one of those terms.’
Where pupils are withdrawn from sex education, schools should document the process and will have to ‘ensure that the pupil receives appropriate, purposeful education during the period of withdrawal.’
Miss L Mckenzie