PSHCE

PSHCE education is a school subject through which pupils develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to keep themselves healthy and safe, and prepared for life and work.

A well-delivered PSHCE programme can have an impact on both academic and non-academic outcomes for pupils, particularly the most vulnerable and disadvantaged.

PSHCE plays a vital role in helping our young people make sense of an increasingly confusing world, where a basic understanding of life outside GHS is essential. We aim to give them the opportunity to listen to and be heard by others in a safe and inclusive environment; to challenge views that may go against British values; to make them aware of legal implications for themselves and others; to understand what healthy relationships look like; to inform them where they can go to for further advice; in short, to give them the tools they will need to become successful citizens.

Our PSHCE curriculum aims to develop skills and attributes such as resilience, self-esteem, risk-management, teamworking and critical thinking in the context of three core themes: health and wellbeing, relationships and living in the wider world (including economic wellbeing and aspects of careers education).

According to the PSHCE Association (the national body for PSHCE), there is evidence to show that PSHCE education can address teenage pregnancy, substance misuse, unhealthy eating, lack of physical activity, emotional health and other key issues. An effective PSHCE programme can also tackle barriers to learning, raise aspirations, and improve the life chances of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged pupils.

Since 2020, the majority of PSHCE education has been compulsory in all schools, and we are very fortunate in that we have designated curriculum time to meet these statutory requirements.

What Does PSHCE Consist Of?

Our PSHCE curriculum is carefully designed and regularly reviewed to ensure it meets the needs of our students. It fully covers all aspects of statutory Health Education, Relationships Education, and Sex Education. Further details about the content and approach of our PSHCE and RSHE provision can be found in the relevant policies, which are available in the Policies section of our website. For further enquiries about PSHCE, please contact T Soneji (PSHCE Lead) at tsoneij@greenford.ealing.sch.uk

How Is PSHCE Delivered?

PSHCE is taught to all students during a dedicated lesson once per fortnight and is delivered by their form tutor. The curriculum follows a spiral approach, meaning that key themes and topics are revisited over time. This allows students to deepen their understanding and build on prior learning as they progress through the school.

Where appropriate, certain topics are supported by external providers with specialist expertise. These workshops may take place in small groups or as whole year-group sessions and are designed to complement and enhance our core curriculum. Students consistently recognise these sessions as valuable and engaging opportunities to explore key issues in greater depth.

Recent external partners have included:

The Metropolitan Police and Ambulance Service for Your Life, You Choose (Year 7)
Ealing Health Improvement Team for Healthy Lifestyle Talks (Year 8)
Transport for London for the Project Guardian programme (Year 9)
The Breck Foundation for Online Safety Education (Year 7)
Voicebox for discussions on Healthy Masculinity (Year 10)
Ealing Health Improvement Team for Sexual Health Talks (Year 10)

Inclusion

Inclusion is central to our PSHCE provision. The curriculum is carefully planned and sequenced to support all learners, with resources that are age-appropriate and differentiated to ensure accessibility for every student. Teaching actively challenges all forms of discrimination and promotes understanding of the protected characteristics as set out in the Equality Act.

We ensure that lessons are free from stereotypes and that a wide range of identities, experiences, and perspectives are represented, helping students to develop respect for others and a strong sense of equality.

British Values

Our PSHCE curriculum is underpinned by a strong commitment to British Values. These include democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. These values are embedded throughout PSHCE and reinforced across the wider curriculum, supporting students in becoming responsible, respectful, and active members of society.

How to Support Your Child

Parents and carers continue to play a crucial role in their child’s education throughout secondary school, particularly in supporting learning within the PSHCE curriculum. While young people are developing greater independence, open communication at home remains essential. We strongly encourage parents to engage in regular conversations with their child about what they are learning in PSHCE lessons and how these topics relate to their everyday experiences.

Discussing issues such as mental and physical health, online safety, relationships, and personal responsibility helps reinforce key messages taught in school. This supports their emotional wellbeing and encourages them to seek guidance when needed.

Supporting the development of emotional literacy is particularly important during adolescence. Helping young people recognise and articulate emotions such as stress, anxiety, excitement, or disappointment enables them to manage challenges more effectively and build resilience. Parents and carers can also support wellbeing by encouraging healthy routines, including, balanced nutrition, sleep, and physical activity.

As teenagers spend increasing amounts of time online, it is important to regularly reinforce expectations around digital safety, respectful communication, and ethical online behaviour. Open discussions about online risks and responsible decision-making can help young people navigate the digital world safely and confidently.

Finally, parents and carers can help by discussing who their child can turn to for support, both at home and in school, and by reassuring them that seeking help is a positive and responsible step.

For more specific support on PSHCE-related topics, please visit the following links

You can read more about our content at specific key stages plus the key concepts of our PSHCE curriculum below.

KEY CONCEPTS

There are 9 key concepts which we will look to develop through the Programme of Study:

Identity: their personal qualities, attitudes, attributes and achievements and what influences these; understanding and maintaining boundaries around their privacy, including online.
Relationships: including different types and in different settings, including online.
A healthy, balanced lifestyle: including physical, emotional and social health, and balancing within relationships, work life, exercise and rest, spending and saving and lifestyle choices.
Risk and safety: including identification, assessment and how to manage risk, rather than simply avoiding risk for the sake of self and others.
Diversity and equality: in all its forms, with special attention to the protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act of 2010.
Rights, responsibilities and consent: including the idea of universal human rights, fairness and justice, and consent in different contexts.
Change and resilience: as in managing change, and developing skills, strategies and ‘inner resources’ we can use when faced with challenges.
Power: as in, how it is used, how it manifests itself through behaviours including bullying, persuasion, coercion and how it can be managed or challenged through negotiation.
Careers: including enterprise, employability and economic understanding

PSHCE AT KEY STAGE 3 AND 4

At Key Stage 3, students will build on the knowledge and understanding, skills, attributes and values they have acquired and developed during the primary phase. PSHCE education acknowledges and addresses the changes that young people experience, beginning with transition to secondary school, the challenges of adolescence and their increasing independence. It teaches the knowledge and skills which will equip them for the opportunities and challenges of life. Students will learn to manage diverse relationships, their online lives, and the increasing influence of peers and the media.

At Key Stage 4, students deepen knowledge and understanding, extend and rehearse skills, and further explore attitudes, values and attributes acquired during key stage 3. Their PSHCE education will reflect the fact that they are moving towards an independent role in adult life, taking on greater responsibility for themselves and others. Please see a more detailed overview of the PSHCE curriculum below:

Year 7

Year 7 focuses on transition, safety and belonging, helping students adjust to secondary school while developing positive habits and respectful relationships.

Autumn Term: Transition, Safety and Wellbeing (Key theme: Health and Wellbeing)

Students begin by exploring transition to secondary school, managing change and forming new friendships. These topics are essential in helping students feel safe, confident and supported in a new environment. Online safety is introduced early to ensure students understand how to protect themselves in digital spaces.

Healthy lifestyle education introduces diet and basic first aid, laying foundations that will be revisited in later years as students learn more about physical and mental health.

Spring Term: Respect, Conduct and Identity (Key them: Living in the wider world and relationships)

Students explore what it means to be an upstander and learn about bullying and cyberbullying. This work establishes expectations for conduct and empowers students to challenge harmful behaviour. Anti-racism, misogyny and sexism are introduced to help students recognise prejudice and develop empathy and respect for others.

These themes link closely to later work on diversity, consent and healthy relationships in Years 8 and 9.

Summer Term: Relationships, Inclusion and Puberty (Key Theme: Relationships)

Students learn about neurodiversity and LGBTQIA inclusion, reinforcing earlier discussions around respect and equality. They explore the physical and emotional changes of puberty and begin learning about healthy relationships, values and boundaries. Gender stereotypes are challenged, preparing students for deeper discussions around identity, consent and relationships in later years.

Year 8

Year 8 builds on Year 7 foundations by deepening understanding of mental health, physical health, digital literacy and relationships.

Autumn Term: Mental and Physical Health (Key theme: Health and Wellbeing)

Students explore emotional wellbeing, mental health and the impact of the internet, revisiting online safety themes introduced in Year 7 but with greater independence and critical thinking. Coping strategies are developed to help students manage stress and challenges.

Physical health topics such as exercise, illness and cancer awareness encourage students to take responsibility for their own health, linking to Science and reinforcing healthy lifestyle learning from Year 7.

Spring Term: Citizenship and the Digital World (Key theme: Living in the wider world)

Students study digital literacy, learning how to identify fake news, misinformation, harmful content and online risks. This builds on earlier cyberbullying and online safety learning and prepares students for increased online independence.

Citizenship education introduces democracy, British values and the rule of law, helping students understand their rights, responsibilities and role in society.

Summer Term: Relationships and Consent (Key Theme: Relationships)

Students revisit healthy relationships, focusing on recognising unhealthy behaviours. Consent is introduced in greater depth, providing a foundation for later RSHE learning in Years 9–11. Students explore risks associated with abusive relationships, helping them understand how to seek help and support.

Year 9

Year 9 supports students as they face increasing independence and begin making important decisions about their future.

Autumn Term: Health, Body Image and Lifestyle (Key theme: Health and Wellbeing)

Students explore body image, sleep, diet and energy drinks, revisiting health themes from Years 7 and 8 but with a stronger focus on personal responsibility and peer influence. This supports wellbeing during a year of increased academic pressure.

Spring Term: The World of Work and GCSE Choices (Key theme: Living in the wider world)

Students learn about different careers, the changing job market and how their interests and strengths link to future pathways. This learning directly supports GCSE option choices and builds on earlier employability skills introduced in Character and Careers.

Summer Term: Risk, Safety and Relationships (Key Theme: Relationships)

Students explore substance misuse, the law, vaping and peer pressure, building on earlier health education. Learning about gangs, grooming and county lines raises awareness of child criminal exploitation and personal safety.

Relationships education focuses on healthy communication, child sexual exploitation, sexting and sexual bullying, revisiting consent and online conduct in more complex and realistic contexts.

Year 10

Year 10 focuses on practical life skills, informed decision-making and healthy relationships.

Autumn Term – Mental Health and Personal Finance (Key themes: Health and Wellbeing and Living in the wider world)

Students revisit mental health with a focus on reframing thinking and accessing support. Personal finance education introduces budgeting, gambling, financial risk and responsible money management, preparing students for greater independence.

Spring Term Extremism, Values and Relationships (Key Theme: Relationships and Living in the wider world)

Students learn about radicalisation, extremism, diversity and British values, reinforcing earlier work on respect and inclusion. Relationships and Sex Education develops understanding of consent, contraception and STIs, building on prior learning from Years 8 and 9.

Summer Term – Digital Safety and Relationships (Key Theme: Relationships)

Students explore the impact of pornography, online safety and grooming through workshops and enrichment activities. This supports healthy relationship choices and digital literacy as students prepare for adulthood.

Year 11

Year 11 supports students through post-16 transitions, exam pressure and adult responsibilities.

Autumn Term: Careers and Post-16 Pathways (Key theme: Living in the wider world)

Students explore post-16 options, careers guidance and personal strengths. They learn how to prepare applications, interviews and personal statements, building on earlier careers education from Years 8–10.

Spring Term: Relationships and Responsibility (Key Theme: Relationships)

Students study consent, forced marriage, honour-based violence, pregnancy, fertility, long-term commitments and parenting. These topics help students understand adult relationships, responsibilities and the importance of seeking support.

Summer Term: Resilience, Stress and Achievement (Key theme: Health and Wellbeing)

The final term focuses on resilience, ambition and stress management, supporting students through exams and transitions.They will also focus on staying safe over the summer holidays and preparing for the transition to adulthood.

PSHCE AT KEY STAGE 5

By the end of Key Stage 5, many of our students will leave home for the first time and live independently, possibly in distant locations. Therefore there is a balance throughout this Programme of Study between preparing students to manage their current lives and laying the foundations for managing future experiences. As students progress through the key stages, this balance shifts towards teaching related to young people’s current experiences.

PSHCE in KS5 aims to ensure students continue to learn about issues with real-life relevance to them, at a crucial transition point in their lives.

As a number of our Post 16 students will not have progressed through the Key Stages at GHS, they will bring with them a range of experience and understanding, meaning that we will need to revisit and reinforce earlier learning, as this key stage represents the last opportunity to ensure that students have the knowledge and understanding, skills, strategies and attributes they need for independent living and the next stage in their education or career.

With that in mind, the following will be covered:

Health and wellbeing

Self concept
Mental health and emotional wellbeing
Healthy lifestyles
Managing risk and personal safety
Sexual health
Drugs, alcohol and tobacco

Relationships

Relationship values
Forming and maintaining respectful relationships
Consent
Contraception and parenthood
Bullying, abuse and discrimination

Living in the wider world

Choices and pathways
Work and career
Employment rights and responsibilities
Financial choices
Media literacy and digital resilience