Welcome to Personal, Social, Health and Emotional Education (PSHE)

Why do we learn Personal, Social, Health and Emotional Education (PSHE)?
Head of Department
Our approach
Primary
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Secondary
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Year 10
Year 11
Year 12
Year 13

Why do we learn Personal, Social, Health and Emotional Education (PSHE)?

Our broad and balanced PSHE & RSE curriculum programme builds on knowledge throughout all key stages which in turn deepens pupils understanding of themselves and creates reflective and independent learners thus empowering pupils and having an impact on both academic and non-academic outcomes for pupils, particularly the most vulnerable and disadvantaged students. This will enable them to leave school equipped with skills they will need throughout later life to be successful, active, healthy and happy citizens. Our holistic programme is implemented through tutor time, PSHE and also through additional events such as careers events, apprenticeship events and assemblies programme.

Ark Academy’s PSHE curriculum aligns with the PSHE Association’s guidance, ensuring high standards. We utilise resources provided by ‘Life Lessons’ where needed as part of our commitment to high quality resources.

Head of Department

Vice Principal: Careers Lead

Mr O'Carroll

s.ocarroll@arkacademy.org

Our approach

Our PSHE and RSE curriculum sets out to develop students’ attributes such as curiosity, independence, resilience, self-esteem, risk management, teamwork, critical thinking, knowledge and awareness through three main themes; health and wellbeing, relationships (RSE) and living in the wider world (including economic wellbeing and aspects of careers education). The relationships & sex and health aspects of our curriculum are in line with the recent statutory requirements. The relationships & sex and health aspects of our curriculum are in line with statutory requirements.

The PSHE curriculum is designed as a spiralled programme, where key themes are revisited each year with increasing complexity. For example, the concept of relationships is introduced as peer interactions in Year 7, progressing to romantic relationships by Year 9, and covering healthy sexual relationships and consent in the senior years. This ensures students are well-prepared for the emotional and social challenges of each developmental stage.

Primary

At Ark Academy, we value the non-academic side of learning as much as the academic. Personal, Social, Health, Citizenship and Economic education is critical to how we ensure that our mission is achieved. We aim for “every child to go to further education – or the career of their choice – and play a full role in our democratic society”. The aims of the curriculum are supported by our key value: Civitas. This underpins notions of kindness, care for others, being part of a wider society and keeping ourselves safe.  

Year 1

Autumn 1 Autumn 2

Being Me

  • Feeling special and safe
  • Being part of a class
  • Rights and responsibilities
  • Rewards and feeling proud
  • Consequences
  • Owning the ‘Learning Charter’

Celebrating Differences

  • Similarities and differences
  • Understanding bulling and knowing how to deal with it
  • Making new friends
  • Celebrating differences in everyone
Spring 1 Spring 2

Dreams and Goals

  • Setting goals
  • Identifying successes and achievements
  • Learning styles
  • Working well and celebrating achievement with a partner
  • Tacking new challenges
  • Identifying and overcoming obstacles
  • Feelings of success

Healthy Me

  • Keeping myself healthy
  • Healthier lifestyle choices
  • Keeping clean
  • Being safe
  • Medicine safety
  • Road safety
  • Linking health and happiness
Summer 1 Summer 2

Relationships

  • Belonging to a family
  • Making friends
  • Physical contact preferences
  • People who help us
  • Qualities as a friend and person
  • Self-acknowledgment
  • Being a good friend to myself
  • Celebrating special relationships

Changing Me

  • Life cycles – animal and human
  • Changes in me
  • Changes since being a baby
  • Linking growing and learning
  • Coping with change
  • Transition

All Year 1 subjects 

Year 2

Autumn 1 Autumn 2

Being Me

  • Hopes and fears for the year
  • Rights and responsibilities
  • Rewards and consequences
  • Safe and fair learning environment
  • Valuing contributions
  • Choices
  • Recognising feelings

Celebrating Differences

  • Assumptions and stereotypes about gender
  • Understanding bullying
  • Standing up for self and others
  • Making new friends
  • Gender diversity
  • Celebrating difference and remaining friends
Spring 1 Spring 2

Dreams and Goals

  • Achieving realistic goals
  • Perseverance
  • Learning strengths
  • Learning with others
  • Group co-operation
  • Contributing to and sharing success

Healthy Me

  • Motivation
  • Healthier choices
  • Relaxation
  • Healthy eating and nutrition
  • Healthier snacks and sharing food
Summer 1 Summer 2

Relationships

  • Different types of family
  • Physical contact boundaries
  • Friendship and conflict
  • Secrets
  • Trust and appreciation
  • Expressing appreciation for special relationships

Changing Me

  • Life-cycles in nature
  • Growing from young to old
  • Increasing independence
  • Assertiveness
  • Preparing for transition

All Year 2 subjects  

Year 3

Autumn 1 Autumn 2

Being Me

  • Setting personal goals
  • Self-identity and worth
  • Positivity in challenges
  • Rules, rights and responsibilities
  • Rewards and consequences
  • Responsible choices
  • Seeing things from others’ perspectives

Celebrating Differences

  • Families and their differences
  • Family conflict and how to manage it
  • Witnessing bullying and how to solve it
  • Recognising how words can be hurtful
  • Giving and receiving compliments
Spring 1 Spring 2

Dreams and Goals

  • Difficult challenges and achieving success
  • Dreams and ambitions
  • New challenges
  • Motivation and enthusiasm
  • Recognising and trying to overcome obstacles
  • Evaluating learning processes
  • Managing feelings
  • Simple budgeting

Healthy Me

  • Exercise
  • Fitness challenges
  • Food labelling and healthy swaps
  • Attitudes towards drugs
  • Keeping safe and why it is important in online and offline scenarios
  • Respect for myself and others
  • Healthy and safe choices
Summer 1 Summer 2

Relationships

  • Family roles and responsibilities
  • Friendship and negotiation
  • Keeping safe online and who to go to for help
  • Being a global citizen
  • Being aware of how my choices affect others
  • Awareness of how other children have different lives
  • Expressing appreciating for family and friends

Changing Me

  • How babies grow
  • Understanding a baby’s needs
  • Inside body changes
  • Family stereotypes
  • Challenging my ideas
  • Preparing for transition

All Year 3 subjects 

Year 4

Autumn 1 Autumn 2

Being Me

  • Being part of class team
  • Being a school citizen
  • Rights, responsibilities and democracy (school council)
  • Rewards and consequences
  • Group decision-making
  • Having a voice
  • What motivates behaviour

Celebrating Difference

  • Challenging assumptions
  • Judging by appearance
  • Accepting self and others
  • Understanding influences
  • Understanding bullying
  • Problem solving
  • Identifying how special and unique everyone is
  • First impressions
Spring 1 Spring 2

Dreams and Goals

  • Hopes and dreams
  • Overcoming disappointment
  • Creating new, realistic dreams
  • Achieving goals
  • Working in a group
  • Celebrating contributions
  • Resilience
  • Positive attitudes

Healthy Me

  • Healthier friendships
  • Group dynamics
  • Smoking
  • Alcohol
  • Assertiveness
  • Peer pressure
  • Celebrating inner strength
Summer 1 Summer 2

Relationships

  • Jealousy
  • Love and loss
  • Memories of loved ones
  • Getting on an falling out
  • Girlfriends and boyfriends
  • Showing appreciation to people and animals

Changing Me

  • Being unique
  • Confidence in change
  • Accepting change
  • Preparing for transition
  • Environmental change

All Year 4 subjects  

Year 5

Autumn 1 Autumn 2

Being Me

  • Planning for forthcoming year
  • Being a citizen
  • Rights and responsibilities
  • Rewards and consequences
  • How behaviour affects groups
  • Democracy, having a voice, participating

Celebrating Difference

  • Cultural differences and how they can cause conflict
  • Racism
  • Rumours and name-calling
  • Types of bullying
  • Material wealth and happiness
  • Enjoying and respecting other cultures
Spring 1 Spring 2

Dreams and Goals

  • Future dreams
  • The importance of money
  • Jobs and careers
  • Dream job and how to get there
  • Goals in different cultures
  • Supporting others (charity)
  • Motivation

Relationships

  • Smoking, including vaping
  • Alcohol
  • Alcohol and anti-social behaviour
  • Emergency aid
  • Body image
  • Relationships with food
  • Healthy choices
  • Motivation and behaviour
Summer 1 Summer 2

Relationships

  • Self-recognition and self-worth
  • Building self-esteem
  • Safer online communities
  • Rights and responsibilities online
  • Online gaming and gambling
  • Reducing screen time
  • Dangers of online grooming
  • SMARRT internet safety rules

Changing Me

  • Self- and body image
  • Influence of online and media on body image
  • Puberty for girls
  • Puberty for boys
  • Growing responsibility
  • Coping with change
  • Preparing for transition

All Year 5 subjects  

Year 6

Autumn 1 Autumn 2

Being Me

  • Identifying goals for the year
  • Global citizenship
  • Children’s universal rights
  • Feeling welcome and valued
  • Choices, consequences and rewards
  • Group dynamics
  • Democracy, having a voice
  • Anti-social behaviour
  • Role-modelling

Celebrating Difference

  • Perceptions of normality
  • Understanding disability
  • Power struggles
  • Understanding bullying
  • Inclusion / exclusion
  • Differences as conflict and celebration
  • Empathy
Spring 1 Spring 2

Dreams and Goals

  • Personal learning goals, in and out of school
  • Success criteria
  • Emotions in success
  • Making a difference in the world
  • Motivation
  • Recognising achievements
  • Compliments

Healthy Me

  • Taking personal responsibility
  • How substances affect the body
  • Exploitation, including ‘county lines’ and gang culture
  • Emotional and mental health
  • Managing stress
Summer 1 Summer 2

Relationships

  • Mental health
  • Identifying mental health worries and sources of support
  • Love and loss
  • Managing feelings
  • Power and control
  • Assertiveness
  • Technology safety
  • Take responsibility with technology use

Changing Me

  • Self-image
  • Body-image
  • Puberty and feelings
  • Conception to birth
  • Reflections about change
  • Transition

All Year 6 subjects  

Secondary

The first theme is ‘Health, Safety and Wellbeing’. This aims to help students keep safe by making them aware of the dangers facing them in areas such as drugs, knife crime, and online harms, developing their ability to make the right choices, their knowledge of how to seek support for themselves and others. Guidance on keeping mentally and physically healthy is developed by providing information and encouraging discussion of real scenarios and choices in lessons.

The second theme is ‘Relationships and Sex Education (RSE)’. PSHE & RSE will provide students with the knowledge and skills to make appropriate, safe and legal choices around relationships and sexual activity, and to make students aware of issues around identity, gender and sexuality. The concepts of healthy and unhealthy relationships feature throughout the curriculum with a key focus on consent.

The third theme is ‘Living in The Wider World’. This aims to develop students’ knowledge and skills around global issues, looking at issues around the economy and financial well-being, and the work of local charities and groups in the community. Students are empowered to become informed and active citizens who know how democracy operates and how the UK is governed, are aware of their rights and responsibilities, are interested in volunteering and the charitable sector, and can manage their money effectively.

PSHE also contributes to our extensive careers education provision [CEAIG], developing students’ knowledge and skills that will help them make informed, ambitious and appropriate choices at the end of each key stage: choosing KS4 options, applying to sixth form or college, applying to university, to employment or apprenticeships. It supports them in making high quality applications for these destinations, developing their skills for the careers market of the future.

Year 7

Autumn 1 Autumn 2
Transitioning to Secondary School Identity [Being Me]
Spring 1 Spring 2
Community & Diversity Health Influeneces & Body Awareness
Summer 1 Summer 2
Independence & personal Safety MoneySense [Financial Decision making]

All Year 7 subjects  

Year 8

Autumn 1 Autumn 2
Building Positive Relationships Relationships: Friendships and Romatic Relationships
Spring 1 Spring 2
Citizenship & Social Action [First Give Competition] Citizenship & Social Action [First Give Competition]
Summer 1 Summer 2
Emotional Wellbeing Healthy Lifestyle & Risk Management [First Aid]

All Year 8 subjects  

Year 9

Autumn 1 Autumn 2
Year 9 Transition: Changes in Life, Mental helth 7 wellbeing Identity: Peer pressure, Exploitation & Knife Crime
Spring 1 Spring 2
Ark Ambitions: GCSE Pathways & Choices Community: Discrimination, racism and Prejudice
Summer 1 Summer 2
Health & Body Awareness [Body Image, Baduy Changes, and Consent] Indepdedance: safety, First Aid & healthy Choices

All Year 9 subjects  

Year 10

Autumn 1 Autumn 2
Relationships: Civil parnerships, Marriage, Parenting, Families, Healthy & Unhealthy Relationships inc. abusive relationships and sexual violence Relationships: Civil parnerships, Marriage, Parenting, Families, Healthy & Unhealthy Relationships inc. abusive relationships and sexual violence
Spring 1 Spring 2
Relationships [Consent & Sexual Harrasement] Bias, Extremism & Radicalisation
Summer 1 Summer 2
Wellbeing: Rights, Media Influence, mental Wellbeing & Addiction Ark Ambitions [Educational Pathways & Post 16 Options]

All Year 10 subjects Next Year 10 Subject - Design Technology

Year 11

Autumn 1 Autumn 2
Yr11 Transition: Adulthood & Self-Worth. Ark Ambitions [Informed Choices at Post-16]
Spring 1 Spring 2
Identity: Identity & Mental Health [Gender Norms and Gender indentity] Healthy Lifestyle: Body Awareness, Body Image, Consent & sexual Health
Summer 1 Summer 2
Effective Study Skills & GCSE Revision  

All Year 11 subjects Next Year 11 Subject - Design Technology

Year 12

Autumn 1 Autumn 2

Transition to Sixth Form

Personal Finance [Systems for Life]

 Vision for the future  & Activism [Community & Causes]
ring 1 Spring 2
Healthy Relationships and Emotional Maturity Personal safety [Drugs, Alcohol & Addiction]
Summer 1 Summer 2
Work Readiness [Living in the Wider World] Independent revision & UCAS Preperation

All Year 12 subjects Next Year 12 Subject - Business Studies

Year 13

Autumn 1 Autumn 2
Personal Safety Work Readiness
Spring 1 Spring 2
Difficult Relationships [Abuse, Bullying & Harassment]

Effective revision habits

Health Awareness & Support [FGM, Body Awareness & STIs]
Summer 1 Summer 2

Preparing for University

Study Skills and Independent Revision

  

All Year 13 subjects Next Year 13 Subject - Business Studies