PSHE and C Intent Statement

We have a collective commitment as an educational community to prepare each student for a successful, independent and happy future.  Our students come to us with a range of Complex Learning Difficulties and Disabilities which often present them with significant challenges in forming relationships, keeping healthy, managing self-care needs, and understanding social situations. Our Personal, Social and Health Education and Citizenship (PSHE and C) provision has a crucial role to play in ensuring our young people acquire the knowledge and skills they need to negotiate these life-shaping challenges and thrive as individuals, friends to others and as family members.

Much more than simply being a subject allocated dedicated time in the weekly curriculum programme, we therefore identify that PSHE and C is an integral part of the wider curriculum which stands upon the platform of Independence for Adulthood, supported  by our 4 pillars for learning (See curriculum building blocks document). It is embedded within our culture and ethos of learning which supports the development of students’ health and well-being, self-esteem and confidence and underpins our commitment to helping young people build emotional and social stability and resilience during their time in school.

Our PSHE and C provision is designed to support all our students in becoming healthy, independent, active and responsible contributors to their diverse community in adulthood and to achieve economic wellbeing. It is designed to help students understand how they are developing personally and socially, and to nurture healthy, positive attitudes towards spiritual, moral, social and cultural issues that are an integral part of growing up in modern communities, both in local and national contexts. It encourages young people to be enterprising and resourceful and supports them in making positive transitions, and using their own voice to make positive decisions for their own futures. Crucially, it encourages them to establish and reflect on their own values and attitudes and to manage their emotions and responses when encountering conflicting values and attitudes from others in their community both locally and nationally.

A Curriculum for Independence and Long-Term Inclusion

In ensuring that our programmes are inclusive and fully relevant, teachers leading learning in PSHE and C use the information available about individual and group needs to refine and prioritise learning for their groups whilst following the topic programme set out in the Long Term Plan (LTP).  Through our curriculum and the dedicated programmes that we deliver, we aim to help young people to:

• Establish a sense of identity, developing and understanding their own values and attitudes as members of a local and national society.
• Develop a sense of critical reflection that enables them to take a balanced view of the information, attitudes and opinions they are faced with and be prepared adjust their views or those of others on the basis of their values.
• Understand what it means to contribute positively to society and to uphold modern British Values.
• Understand how to protect themselves to  from drug and alcohol abuse, eating disorders, gang culture, child sexual exploitation, extremism, female genital mutilation and forced marriage.
• Understand what a healthy lifestyle means to them now and in the future, and to develop independence in managing this for themselves.
• To develop the understanding and qualities required - such as resilience, respect, reliability, empathy - to manage and sustain healthy relationships with friends, family and long-term partners.