Once again, here are the KS3 topics for the next half term with some sources of support.

Year 7

Students are looking at self-awareness through identifying core values. Strategies to deal with anxious feelings or worry, listening skills, dealing with difficult friendships and a revisit of personal safety online. They will also be completing baseline assessments on forms.

L1 –You and your values.

L2 – You and your opinions.

L3 – Feeling worried/anxious.

L4 – Rivalries.

L5 – Personal safety online revisit.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/skillswise/speaking-and-listening/zdfwgwx

https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/conditions/anxiety/

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/

Year 8

Students are looking at the facts about some drugs and alcohol as well as peer influence.

They will also be looking in to how they manage their time including internet gaming addiction and if they are addicted to their mobile phone.  Their baseline assessment will be on Forms.

L1 – Recreational drugs and new psychoactive substances.

L2 – Dangerous illegal drugs.

L3 – Impact of drugs.

L4 – The law and drugs.

L5 – How do you spend your time?

https://www.talktofrank.com/get-help/worried-about-a-child

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/49961887

https://nationalonlinesafety.com/guides/screen-addiction-guide-for-parents

Year 9

They will also be looking at the facts about drugs and how to make positive and informed choices relating to them. They will also start to look at money again, moving on to how it can affect your mental health. Their baseline assessment will be on Forms.

L1 – Health risks of drugs.

L2 – Legal risks of drugs.

L3 – Managing risk.

L4 – Long term effects of drugs.

L5 – Controlling money.

https://www.talktofrank.com/get-help/worried-about-a-child

https://www.brook.org.uk/your-life/drugs/

https://natwest.mymoneysense.com/students/students-12-16/

For KS4, Year 10 are moving on to different families. There is a video to show how the role of a woman has changed over the years and a description of all of the different types of family before a quiz on Forms.

Year 11 are exploring the website https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/looking-after-yourself/sexuality-and-mental-health/#what-is-sexuality?

They have some questions to answer on Forms and are invited to also have a look at the https://lgbtplushistorymonth.co.uk/ website in celebration of LGBT+ history month.

Mrs Cahill
Life Skills Co-ordinator

I am pleased to announce that we have sourced some excellent textbook resources for the statutory content for the RSE and health education aspect of Life Skills. These are the most up to date resources and together with the current one’s students will have the most current information and support in these areas. The SOW for Life Skills now shows where these books are used for individual lessons starting after February half term.  It is also a superb opportunity for literacy and reading skills at PGHS. At present this is just for KS3, however there will be a KS4 set of resources coming out in May 2021, which we have already sourced. 

Mrs Cahill

Year 7 have been looking at the Citizenship topic of ‘Democracy’. They explored the meaning of democracy and how students can get involved. They looked at the main political parties, their leaders and the four special features of a democracy. Students also looked at the law and voting. They gave their opinion on whether they think that the voting age is correct. They then investigated ways that they could participate in democracy in school, for example by joining the student council.

‘Shout outs’ to Vidhya P and Sasha H of 7H.

Year 8 are coming to the end of their finance lessons and have used the NatWest Money Sense resource to explore consumer rights. They used the interactive quizzes and video to test their knowledge and learn about the Consumer Rights Act and the responsibility of the consumer. They also had the opportunity to look at the student’s section with games and videos on money matters.

‘Shout outs’ to Abigail P, Victoria K and Gracie H for their great scores.

Year 9 have started to look at gender identity and stereotyping. They completed a key term match up game on the different gender identities. They looked at the meaning of LGBTQ and they investigated the meaning of stigmas and stereotyping and completed an activity on gay stereotypes. They also looked at ‘Lee’s Story’ that led them to possibly stereotyping and identifying Lee as gay, lesbian or homosexual, dresses like a boy and isn’t very girly, when in fact Lee is a girl who is heterosexual and dresses practical as she likes lots of sport. Students will continue to look at other areas of this important topic, such as homophobia, biphobia and transphobia over the coming weeks and have been given areas of advice and support such as the OK2BBE website, https://www.stonewall.org.uk/help-advice/coming-out/coming-out-young-person, and https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/coming-out.html.

‘Shout outs’ to Grace H and Naomi J of 9J.

Year 10 investigated drug classification, the law and consequences. The responses to the questions on forms was extremely positive with almost 100% of students knowing the different classes of drugs and over 90% of students knowing that you could be arrested if under 18 for drug offences. All students that responded could name a place of support or advice on drug related matters.

Year 11 looked at the pressures online and again, had a great set of responses on forms. Almost 100% of students knew to report to CEOP if they felt they were being put under pressure to have sex or being made to feel uncomfortable online.

As next week is ‘Safer Internet Week’, all students will be focusing on this as part of their Life Skills lessons, as well as in their computing lessons and other areas of school life.

KS3 students will focus on unreliable internet content and KS4 students will look at the role of influencers. In a world where internet usage has dramatically increased, it is more important than ever that students engage with this. The theme for this year is ‘together for a better internet.’

Mrs R Cahill

Life Skills Co-ordinator

After starting the term with a reflection on lockdown and focusing on positive thinking, Life Skills lessons went ahead as planned, if not a little different for KS4.

Year 7 have recently been focusing on body changes, including the changes that occur during puberty and the importance of a good diet, sleep and personal hygiene. Each student received a pack from ‘ALWAYS’ containing some sample towels and an advice booklet for both themselves and parents so that they could discuss this at home if necessary. The students approached this topic with maturity and asked some intelligent and important questions. They also looked at how to deal with challenging circumstances that can happen during this time of change.

Year 8 have been looking at positive relationships, online safety, racism and discrimination. They have had some great discussions and enjoyed the lessons on online safety, especially the rap that Miss Hollier used in her lesson!

Year 9 have been extremely mature and resilient in their recent lessons on healthy and unhealthy coping strategies, including the sensitive topics of self-harm and eating disorders. Students have been sign posted to areas of support if needed for this topic, such as ‘Young Minds’ and the Rainbow Journal that can be ordered online free of charge.

Years 10 and 11 have been making the most of the extended time for Life Skills. Year 11 have been focusing on college applications before moving on to the topic of Sexuality and Year 10 have been looking at intimate relationships and consent. Again, they have been signposted to places of support such as ‘BROOK’.

Life Skills is an area of the curriculum that is constantly being reviewed and adapted to meet the needs of the students. In October, parents were invited to attend the parent council meeting to discuss the Sex Education Policy at PGHS and also share their views and ask any questions. This was very successful and I would like to expand this parental group in the future. As you are already aware, RSE and Health Education is statutory. As part of this process, we have started a parental consultation on this. The next step is for parents and governors to view a draft copy of a new policy for this and complete a parental questionnaire. Please look out for this in the new year.

There will also be a weekly newsletter article starting in January. This is to keep parents aware of the topics that are being covered at all key stages and signpost any areas of support or help for discussing sensitive topics further at home. This is in addition to the school website. It is also an opportunity to share some of the great work that students do in these lessons.

I look forward to working with parents in the new year and sharing the work that students complete throughout the next term. Here is some of this terms recent work:

Mrs R Cahill.

Life Skills Co-ordinator and Teacher of Science

All of the students have started the academic year in Life Skills with a reflection on their experiences and thoughts about lockdown. KS3 students are now looking at some of the content that they would have covered in the spring and summer term last year before moving on. KS4 are having weekly form time sessions.

Here are the reflections from some of the Life Skills staff, as well as snippets of the work that KS3 students have been doing since our return in September:

‘In Life Skills, the girls have been learning numerous aspects that can help them deal with important day to day situations, both in and outside school, as well as guiding them to understand how to approach potentially challenging aspects in the future.

Students engage with thought provoking tasks and classroom debates so all opinions and views can be expressed. Current topics include ‘Friendships’, ‘Relationships’, ‘Feelings’, ‘Thoughts’ and ‘Behaviours’, as well as Sex Education elements.

These are all essential factors that students learn to a deeper and more confident level, hopefully leading to a better understanding and safer choices.’

Miss H Owen.

‘7J are enjoying their Life Skills lessons and are contributing to all the new skills and values effectively. They have explored the ‘Friendships’ and ‘Relationships’ topics and are now working on ‘Healthy Lifestyle and Balanced Diet’. They are very dedicated to all class tasks and paired work. Year 8 and 9 are currently exploring ideas on different relationships and friendships including intimate relationships. All students have developed effective communication skills including assertiveness, active listening and the valuing of others’ feelings. They have also explored a range of positive and negative thoughts, feelings and behaviours which can impact their life. ‘

Ms M Shahi.

‘In Year 7 Life Skills, we initially thought about how we have overcome difficulties and obstacles.

We have had some great discussions about all the fantastic achievements that we have accomplished.

We have also thought about the things that we hope to achieve in the future and how we will achieve these ambitions.

Each student has created their own trophy which tells us some of the things that we are most proud of achieving. ‘

Mr J Bretherton.