PSHE stands for Personal, Social, Health, and Economic education. It is a comprehensive and holistic approach to education that focuses on the personal development and well-being of students. PSHE covers a wide range of topics and skills, including:
At Paignton Academy PSHE is taught as a one-hour lesson in both KS3 and KS4. The PSHE curriculum is taught under 4 main themes:
1. Relationships
2. Living in the wider world
3. Health and wellbeing
4. Citizenship
The intention of our PSHE curriculum is to provide our students with knowledge, skills, and the understanding that are essential for their personal development, well-being, and success in life.
The intention of the PSHE curriculum is also to support students' holistic development, empower them with essential life skills, and prepare them to become confident, responsible, and well-rounded individuals in society.
Intent of PSHE at Paignton Academy
From September 2020 schools have been required to teach Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education as part of their planned curriculum.
Click here for our full curriculum overview
The curriculum is designed to be a spiral curriculum that is carefully planned and sequenced to provide age-appropriate subject knowledge. The content builds upon previous knowledge and allows student’s understanding to develop as they grow older. Students are given opportunities to learn ways to manage their own physical and mental health, and essential to all topics is helping students to identify when they may need to seek further help and support.
PSHE is designed to allow students to manage themselves and thrive in the rest of the curriculums. Relationship education is designed to show the differences between healthy and unhealthy relationships. This allows students to have the ability to recognise abusive relationships and safeguard them for the future.
An essential part of our PSHE curriculum is to teach about careers. We provide students with opportunities to learn about different career choices, paths they can take and how the modern world of work looks. Diversity and stereotypes are covered to show students the possibilities they have in the future.
Academic research shows that a strong PSHE curriculum can have significant impact on attainment across all subjects. If students can manage their own wellbeing successfully, they will likely thrive academically.
As a school we welcome parental involvement and feedback. If there are any concerns about the curriculum or parents would like to see materials we use in lessons, please contact the school.