Personal Development Curriculum
"The best thing we could do is work as hard as we can for what is right and what is good."
- Alexandria Ocasio Cortez
Contact
Head of Department: Mr A Tyson
Email: tysona@harpergreen.net
Subject overview
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The Personal Development Curriculum at Harper Green School comprises:
- Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC)
- Personal, Social, Health, Citizenship and Economic Education (PSHE)
- Relationships and Sex Education (RSE)
None of these subjects are tested or formally examined but are incredibly important in enabling our young people to become well-rounded, happy and socially responsible young people.
Statutory guidance outlines what schools must cover, but not all that they should cover as part of broader PSHRE provision. Our curriculum offer at Harper Green School goes beyond statutory content in both breadth and depth, and although we recognise that parents and carers are the prime educators for children on many such matters, we aim to complement what they learn at home.
We advocate that young people are able to make the safest choices when they are armed with all of the relevant information, and in the increasingly complex world we live in, it is more important than perhaps ever before. We deliver content in a way that is objective and open. Only in doing so can we be confident that we are providing all of our young people with the knowledge that they need to make confident choices about their own health, careers, and economic choices.
Relationships and Sex Education, or RSE, is a statutory subject in all primary and secondary schools in the UK. This means that it is a compulsory part of every child’s education. The Department for Education rightly recognises that parents and carers are the prime educators for children on many such matters, and as a school, our aim is to complement what children learn at home.
PSHRE education at Harper Green is built on the school's key value of 'putting students first'. In an ever-changing world, it is paramount that our PSHRE curriculum is relevant to our students growing up in Farnworth and Bolton, and as a wider global citizen, and is based on answering the question, how will this help our students to lead happy and successful lives?
Throughout the five-year programme of study there is a key focus on developing the "whole child" - not only as an individual, but also as a valued member of the different communities in which they live. Our PSHRE curriculum reflects the experiences and barriers our students encounter in their daily lives and is taught in an environment of mutual respect with the aspiration that our students will then in turn have a positive impact in their own community and the wider world.
Our PSHRE curriculum provides all students with the opportunities needed to develop the knowledge, skills and attributes to remain safe and healthy as they move towards adulthood. The PSHRE curriculum runs through the life of the school and is central to our Personal Development Curriculum.
All students in Key Stage 3 will be taught PSHRE once a fortnight as part of the timetable. All lessons have been centrally planned in line with the statutory guidance including Relationships and Sex education (RSE).
Students will have opportunities to access certain aspects of the PSHRE curriculum in different subject areas, such as, but not exhaustive to, Science and RE. Weekly assemblies are also used to address and support the key themes running through the PSHRE curriculum.
Please note that all parents and carers have the right to withdraw their child from elements of the RSE curriculum. If you are concerned or would like to further discuss the right to withdraw, please get in touch with our Head of PSHRE Mr A Tyson in the first instance.
Please see the Harper Green PSHRE curriculum which can be accessed here.
Please see the slides associated with the WhysUp KS4 intervention on Friday 13th December, 2024