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PSHE

Head of Department: Miss J Boyd

PSHE and Citizenship

The aim of the curriculum is:

1. To foster awareness in the pupils that prevention is better than cure and supply information relating to the possible effects on their health of smoking, drugs, lack of physical exercise and an unbalanced diet.
2. To enhance self esteem so that pupils can make choices based on knowledge and not peer pressure.
3. To promote a healthy lifestyle, taking into account the many influences on the individual pupil such as family, community, peer group and the media.
4. To provide accurate information about health and safety matters and encourage pupils to make informed choices.
5. To develop pupils to move into the world as good citizens, with knowledge of the law and justice system.
6. To give pupils the skills to make informed decisions in their lives with regards further education, jobs, careers and money by preparing them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences they will come across as they progress into adulthood.

Sex Education

The aim of the curriculum is:

1. To meet the needs of all the pupils through the provision of a balanced, comprehensive and co-ordinated curriculum within which teaching about personal relationships and sexuality can occur.
2. To encourage communication by providing an acceptable vocabulary for discussing sexual matters without causing embarrassment or offence.
3. To provide accurate and appropriate information at each stage in a pupil’s development and to assist all pupils in understanding their own and others' physical, sexual and emotional selves.
4. To provide this information within a moral framework and to foster confidence, respect and a sense of responsibility to self and others.
5. To enable pupils to develop an understanding of the responsibilities of partnership, parenthood and the value of family life.

At Thorpe House every class has a timetabled lesson of PSHE each week. The curriculum is delivered by the Form Tutor in the Junior School, and by a subject teacher from Year 7 upwards. A programme of subjects is set up for each Year group, often presented around a theme. Subjects are often repeated in later years as the needs, understanding and the maturity of the students develop. If the class tutor feels the need to address a current theme or trend e.g. healthy eating or the effects of the recession, then this is encouraged. The sessions take the form of class discussions, worksheets and informative videos. Pupils are also encouraged to do personal research and make presentations thus team work and communication skills are developed and encouraged. By the time the boys have reached the senior part of school they are confident and have built up positive teacher-student relationships. This means they are more secure in talking about adolescent issues and making good suggestions of topics they feel are appropriate to discuss. As well as the timetabled lessons, assemblies, talks and tutor monitoring help to develop pupils to meet the objectives of the PSHE curriculum and encourage boys to take an active part in being model citizens.