In Year 7 we help our new students settle into school with lessons on friendship and study skills. Here are some useful resources to support their transition:

• Moving to secondary school
• Making friends
• Study Skills

In Y7 We start discussing GCSE options and all the different academic paths that are available for them in the future. As soon as they are settled in the school, they learn how to take the most of their digital tools and we sign them in UNIFROG, the platform that we use to explore future options, during and beyond school.

It is important to us that our students understand that respect for diversity is a key value at our school, so our lesson on Inclusion and Diversity introduces them to that.

Digital safety is an important theme of Year 7 lessons as we try to guide our students to use the internet productively and safely.  To support your child in this you might like to take a look at these resources:

• Taking care of your privacy and digital footprint
• Staying safe online
• Social media apps: Settings and safety privacy settings
• Parental controls

Further guidance on E-Safety can be found  on our Safeguarding page here.

Our RSE strand in Year 7 looks at topics such as puberty and family relationships. Here are some useful resources:

• Puberty
• Periods
• Different types of families
• Family relationships

Our Year 7 Resilience Programme from Bounce Forward aims to build emotional resilience and the ability to deal with setbacks.

Year 8 students focus on physical and mental health, including healthy coping strategies. We look at puberty more in depth at the same time that we introduce the concepts of respect and consent in any relationship. When discussing health issues we study body image and how young people manage risk. Within this topic we discuss alcohol consumption, drugs, smoking and vaping. We also revisit internet safety (with a focus on nudes, exploitation and cyber bullying) and we prepare them for their Outward Bound adventure by revisiting how to improve their resilience skills and looking at leadership and teamwork.  In year 8 students study the Justice System and they perform a Magistrate Mock Trial within their L4L lessons. Their research project in the summer term is about “who they are”, where they present to their peers their own cultural heritage and what makes them the young people they are now.

Useful resources for Year 8:

• Childline advice on mental health
• Mind
• Relatiosnhips
• The Mock Trial

Year 9 L4L has core PSHE topics like RSE where we look at healthy relationships, consent, contraception, STIs and safe sex. Within the careers topic we keep working with Unifrog to find out more about their interests and all the suitable options for them beyond school. We analyse their GCSE options and discuss their next steps in life (in and out of school) after Y11. Although these are our main topics in Y9, we also cover topics such as First Aid, self esteem and confidence, online stress, family relationships, bereavement, and financial skills (budgeting, online banking, fraud, etc).

Useful resources for Year 9:

• Body Confidence using Dove’s self esteem project
• First Aid using resources such as these from The Red Cross
• Challenging Racism using resources from Show Racism The Red Card
• Careers advice for Year 9
• Applied digital skills from Google
• Money management and life skills with Barlcays
• Mock trial competition

In Years 10 and 11 the students are taught PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) on a rotation with Citizenship and Religious Studies. They cover topics such as:
PSHE: emotional wellbeing, personal safety, substance abuse, county lines, gambling, so called ‘honour’ based violence, radicalisation, FGM, safe sex, healthy relationships, conflict management, pornography, exploitation, harassment and consent. 

Useful resources:

• www.womensaid.org.uk
• www.thehideout.org.uk/young-people/home
• www.victims-first.org.uk
• www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

Citizenship: the Law, Human Rights, British Values, study skills and how to manage the exam season, careers (how to apply to a part time job, building a CV and performing a successful job interview) and personal finance (study loans, taxes, understanding the payroll).

The RS lessons cover ‘what is a religion’ with students researching a range of religions which have not been studied at KS3. 

In Year 12, students hear from a range of speakers on topics such as drugs education, road safety, study skills and relationships education. In the spring term, students start to consider options for higher education and alternatives.

In Year 13, all students take part in a fortnightly Current Issues programme where speakers come in to discuss topical issues. Additionally, all students complete a 10 week Community Involvement placement, where they go out and volunteer their time in the local community.