PSHEE (Personal Social Health and Economic Education) and RSHE (Relationships, Sex & Health Education) at King’s Bruton, aims to prepare pupils to face the world ahead; they will need to be well equipped to deal with the stresses of modern life, be able to mix with people from all walks of life, and they will also need a global view of a world where boundaries and differences between people are constantly changing.

The delivery of PSHEE is monitored by the Head of PSHEE, the PSHEE Governor, the Deputy Head (Pastoral), Deputy Head (Academic) and Deputy Head (Sixth Form). Pupils’ development in PSHEE is monitored by Tutors through discussion. The content is evaluated by pupil quizzes, questionnaires and teacher feedback.

PSHEE Curriculum

3rd to 5th Form pupils have a dedicated lesson of PSHEE fortnightly where lessons are delivered by teachers with a particular experience, expertise and interest in this area. Tutors are used to support the PSHEE & RSHE programme and some elements are also covered through other areas of the School’s curriculum, e.g. Religion, Science, English and History with 3rd Form.

There are also external lectures for the whole school and three whole school PSHEE days one of which focuses on Relationships. There is a Sixth Form Enrichment Programme focusing upon ‘lifestyle issues’ (drugs, eating disorders, disability, alcohol and sex, managing screen time dependency.)

PSHEE Curriculum

Curriculum design and delivery of PSHEE is split into three separate core themes, although in reality there will always be extensive overlap. PSHEE education addresses both pupils’ direct experience and preparation for their future. The PSHEE curriculum contains a number of elements of statutory Relationships and Sex Education RSE 2023 and Keeping Children safe in Education 2023.

Curriculum 3rd Form

Wise Up

Learning Outcomes - Pupils will Learn

  • how to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy friendships.
  • about different types of families and parenting, including single parents, same sex parents, blended families, adoption and fostering.
  • how to assess risk and manage influences, including online.
  • about ‘group think’ and how it affects behaviour.

Content of Lessons

  1. School and teenage relationships. When are these healthy or not. Stereotypes and Bullying, including sexuality and identity. Equality Act 2010.
  2. Cyber bullying. How to be safe online. Grooming and sexting. Trust and risk.
  3. Dealing with changes in life. Grief, illness, divorce.
  4. Managing my digital life. Staying safe online. Making wise choices. Summary of the scheme.

Substances & Mental Health

Learning Outcomes - Pupils will Learn

  • about positive social norms in relation to alcohol use.
  • Risks of smoking and vaping, THC vapes and the law.
  • about legal and health risks in relation to tobacco, drug and alcohol, including addiction and dependence
  • about the relationship between physical and mental health - balancing work, leisure, exercise and sleep

Content of Lessons

  1. Attitudes & beliefs, legal and health risks of alcohol.
  2. Vaping – risks and the law.
  3. Drugs: Types, Attitudes and beliefs and the School rules, Class of drugs, Risks of drugs.
  4. Mental Health & Effects & Activities to support Mental Health.

Relationships (Girls)

Learning Outcomes - Pupils will Learn

  • about readiness for sexual activity, the choice to delay sex, or enjoy intimacy without sex
  • about myths and misconceptions relating to consent
  • about the continuous right to withdraw consent and capacity to consent
  • about STIs, effective use of condoms and negotiating safer sex
  • about the consequences of unprotected sex, including pregnancy
  • how the portrayal of relationships in the media and pornography might affect expectations

Content of Lessons

  1. Law, School policy, Healthy and Unhealthy relationships, Media and peer pressure, consent, sexual exploitation, and rape. Delay sexual experimentation.
  2. Puberty, menstruation, fertility and Contraception. Help and advice.
  3. STI’s, Transmission and treatment. AIDS/HIV Breast cancer. Toxic shock.
  4. Choices; Abortion, Adoption, Motherhood. (Miscarriage) FGM

Relationships (Boys)

Learning Outcomes - Pupils will Learn

  • about readiness for sexual activity, the choice to delay sex, or enjoy intimacy without sex.
  • about myths and misconceptions relating to consent.
  • about the continuous right to withdraw consent and capacity to consent.
  • about STIs, effective use of condoms and negotiating safer sex.
  • about the consequences of unprotected sex, including pregnancy.
  • how the portrayal of relationships in the media and pornography might affect expectations.

Content of Lessons

  1. Puberty, Menstrual Cycle, The male and female sex organs, masturbation, being a teenager in the modern world.
  2. Healthy relationships, School Relationship Policy, Sexualisation of young people, Law, rape and consent. LGBTQ+, Sexting.
  3. Sex and pregnancy, STI’s. Testicular cancer. Sexual violence/harassment/upskirting/forced marriage.
  4. Abortion and Contraception. FGM. Child Sexual exploitation.

Careers & Aspirations

Learning Outcomes - Pupils will Learn

  • about transferable skills, abilities and interests.
  • how to demonstrate strengths.
  • about different types of employment and career pathways.
  • how to manage feelings relating to future employment and skills for employability
  • about GCSE and post-16 options.

Content of Lessons

  1. Range of careers out there. Jobs they would consider doing. Introduction to Unifrog.
  2. What might I like to do in the future?
  3. Skills of leadership and how to get the most out of Unifrog
  4. What next? GCSE selection.
Curriculum 4th Form

Wellbeing 

Learning Outcomes – Pupils will learn

  • how to reframe negative thinking
  • strategies to promote mental health and emotional wellbeing
  • about the signs of emotional or mental ill-health. Causes and nature of stress and management strategies.
  • how to access support and treatment
  • about the portrayal of mental health in the media
  • the importance of sufficient good-quality sleep for good health, the importance of screen-free time before bed and how a lack of sleep can affect weight, mood and ability to learn.  
  • how to challenge stigma, stereotypes and misinformation

Content of lessons

  1. Anxiety and stress: Definition, identifying personal causes and support in school.
  2. Attitudes to Mental Health: Stigma/shame surrounding mental health.
  3. Sleep, the importance of sleep and the negative physical and mental side effects of not getting enough.
  4. Coping strategies and options available to manage poor Mental Health

Substances 

Learning Outcomes – Pupils will learn

  • about the impact of drugs and alcohol on individuals, personal safety, families and wider communities
  • how drugs and alcohol affect decision making
  • how to keep self and others safe in situations that involve substance use.
  • how to manage peer influence in increasingly independent scenarios, in relation to substances, gangs and crime
  • exit strategies for pressurised or dangerous situations

Content of lessons

  1. Substance use and assessing risk looking at drink driving and risks at parties.
  2. Substance use and managing influence looking at case study of a festival.
  3. Classes of Drugs and Case Study on Ketamine.
  4. Addiction and where to seek support.  

Relationships 

Learning Outcomes – Pupils will learn

  • about the ethical and legal implications in relation to consent, including manipulation, coercion, and capacity to consent
  • about various forms of abuse
  • about unhealthy, exploitative and abusive relationships
  • how to access support in abusive relationships and how to overcome challenges in seeking support
  • how to recognise and respond to pressure, coercion and exploitation, including reporting and accessing appropriate support
  • about relationship values and the role of pleasure in relationships.
  • about the opportunities and risks of forming and conducting relationships online
  • how to manage the impact of the media and pornography on sexual attitudes, expectations and behaviours

Content of lessons

  1. Relationship abuse: Physical, emotional, Sexual, Domestic abuse, VAWG, Sexual assault, Consent. Coercive control. Harassment. Gaslighting. The Law and where to get help.
  2. Characteristics and benefits of a healthy, respectful relationships versus those of unhealthy ones. Harassment and stalking. Romantic, family, friend, and work relationships. Where to find help.
  3. Sexting. Reasons and risks. Law, Sextortion, up skirting, downblousing, and revenge porn. Where to find help.
  4. Pornography, definition, and law. Effects on; mental health, sexual expectations, body image and sexual violence. Where to find help.

Careers and Aspirations 

Learning Outcomes – Pupils will learn

  • about options post-16 and career pathways
  • about responsibilities in the workplace
  • about application processes, including writing CVs, personal statements and interview technique
  • how to evaluate strengths and interests in relation to career development

Content of lessons

  1. Future careers – using unifrog to help research.
  2. CV writing – what makes a good or bad CV
  3. Letter of application.
  4. How to contact employees and useful questions to ask them.

Morrisby testing is completed in the summer term with follow up interviews.

Curriculum 5th Form

Safety

Learning Outcomes – Pupils will learn

  • about positive and safe ways to create content online and the opportunities this offers
  • about the law and illegal financial activities, including fraud and cybercrime
  • how to handle unwanted attention online and social media may pressurise the pupil into sharing information. 

Content of lessons

  1. Online Safety: protecting identity, distortion in Social media, social engineering & cybercrime.
  2. Misinformation including fake news, Disinformation, Online Blackmail, catfishing & conspiracy theories

Diversity 

Learning Outcomes – Pupils will learn

  • about gender identity, expression and sexual orientation including sources of support and reassurance and how to access them
  • to recognise situations where they are being adversely influenced, or are at risk, due to being part of a particular group or gang; strategies to access appropriate help 
  • the legal rights, responsibilities and protections provided by the Equality Act 2010
  • strategies to challenge all forms of prejudice and discrimination

Content of lessons

  1.  Diversity: What do we understand about gender, identity and sexual orientation?
  2. Equality Act and why we need it. Support that is available to challenge prejudice and discrimination.

Healthy Relationships

Learning Outcomes – Pupils will learn

  • the importance of stable, committed relationships, including the rights and protections provided within legally recognised marriages and civil partnerships.
  • about ‘honour based’ violence and forced marriage and how to safely access support.
  • understanding the concept of FGM and the physical and emotional damage it can cause.
  • how to recognise and respond to extremism and radicalisation factors which contribute to young people becoming involved in serious organised crime.
  • the concepts and laws relating to harms which are exploitative, including sexual exploitation, criminal exploitation and abuse, grooming, and financial exploitation.  

Content of lessons

  1. Core values and how to be inclusive: What are the different types of relationship? What is important to us in a relationship? Why is it important to reflect on our values and those of others?
  2. Communities & Social influence: Different types of communities and what behaviour do they encourage. Other faiths and cultures and how their relationships differ

Finance

Learning Outcomes – Pupils will learn

  • how to effectively budget and evaluate savings options
  • how to prevent and manage debt, including understanding credit rating and pay day lending
  • how data is generated, collected, and shared, and the influence of targeted advertising. The rise in monetary scams and fraud especially during covid pandemic
  • how thinking errors, e.g. gambler’s fallacy, can increase susceptibility to gambling
  • strategies for managing influences related to gambling, including online
  • about the relationship between gambling and debt

Content of lessons

  1. Saving & Using Money: Different sources and purposes of money. Assessing and managing risk in relation to financial decisions. Loans ranging from overdraft to mortgages. The role of a Loan shark and risk involved.
  2. Gambling: Including online and its consequences. How to manage pressure or influence to gamble.

What next? (Careers)

Learning Outcomes – Pupils will learn

  • how to employability, including managing online presence and taking opportunities to broaden experience
  • about rights, responsibilities and challenges in relation to working part time whilst studying
  • how to maintain a positive personal presence online
  • how to manage work/life balance

Content of lessons

  1. Employment: Value of part time work. Researching opportunities/CVs/How to look for and apply for positions​. Assessing and improving online personal ‘brand’​
  2. Pathways: A-levels, BTECs and  Apprenticeships
Curriculum 6th Form

Please click here to view the Sixth Form PSHEE Curriculum

Core Themes

The scheme of work has three core themes, the same for each key stage with a clear development between Key Stage 3 and 4. Each core theme is divided up into topic areas:

1. Health & Wellbeing

(Physical and mental health; Sexual health and fertility; Digital resilience; Substance misuse)

2. Relationships

(Healthy relationships; Equal opportunities)

3. Living in the Wider World

(Learning and target setting; Careers and progression; Money matters)

Staff Contact

Academic Departments

Academic Departments

Related Stories

More Stories

Portals