Year 8 – Personal Development

Overview

All pupils will participate in designated hour-long Personal Development lessons once per two weeks, incorporating the following content:

Autumn/Winter	Spring/Summer
PSHE – Healthy relationship and lifestyles Dealing with the causes and consequences of anxiety, depression and stress: Our pupils will investigate the nature of common mental health concerns and explore effective ways to cope with them. Respectful relationships: We will consider the unhealthy nature of peer pressure and coercion and develop assertiveness in the context of healthy relationships and staying safe. Healthy lifestyles: Pupils will explore the consequences of smoking, vaping, alcohol consumption, drug use (illegal and prescription), and addiction. They will also learn where to seek help. Exploitation, county lines and knife crimes: In the context of staying safe, we will explore the dangers and prevalence of knife crime, county lines, and exploitation in Greater Manchester.	Citizenship – Social justice and democratic participation The nature of social inequality and social justice: Pupils will investigate the ‘cycle of inequality’ within a local context and consider methods to break it at personal, local, and national levels. The British constitutions and institutions: We will explore the nature of government in the UK, including parliament and monarchy. Political representation and the roles of MPs: We will look at democratic participation, the role of MPs, and the potential to influence change. Voting and impact: We will explore voting systems in the UK, debate effectiveness, and explore solutions to improve voter turnout and its effect on social inequality. Character development and social action: Pupils will engage in child-centred social action, applying employability skills and demonstrating our school’s Character Development Pillars.

Autumn/Winter

Spring/Summer

PSHE – Healthy relationship and lifestyles

Dealing with the causes and consequences of anxiety, depression and stress: Our pupils will investigate the nature of common mental health concerns and explore effective ways to cope with them.

Respectful relationships: We will consider the unhealthy nature of peer pressure and coercion and develop assertiveness in the context of healthy relationships and staying safe.

Healthy lifestyles: Pupils will explore the consequences of smoking, vaping, alcohol consumption, drug use (illegal and prescription), and addiction. They will also learn where to seek help.

Exploitation, county lines and knife crimes: In the context of staying safe, we will explore the dangers and prevalence of knife crime, county lines, and exploitation in Greater Manchester.

Citizenship – Social justice and democratic participation

The nature of social inequality and social justice: Pupils will investigate the ‘cycle of inequality’ within a local context and consider methods to break it at personal, local, and national levels.

The British constitutions and institutions: We will explore the nature of government in the UK, including parliament and monarchy.

Political representation and the roles of MPs: We will look at democratic participation, the role of MPs, and the potential to influence change.

Voting and impact: We will explore voting systems in the UK, debate effectiveness, and explore solutions to improve voter turnout and its effect on social inequality.

Character development and social action: Pupils will engage in child-centred social action, applying employability skills and demonstrating our school’s Character Development Pillars.

SRE

As part of their series of Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education lessons, our pupils will take part in Sex and Relationship Education (SRE). In Year 8, content focuses mainly on strategies for identifying and managing pressure, including resisting pressure and not pressuring others; how people can communicate and recognise consent, how when consent can be withdrawn; the law relating to consent, exploitation, abuse, grooming and coercion; and the impact that all of this can have on relationships. The purpose of these lessons is: to give pupils the knowledge and skills to make informed and safe choices; to build confidence and skills to deal with situations they may encounter; and to help them to stay safe and know where to ask for help if needed. All content will be taught in an age-appropriate way in the context of physical and emotional safety, being able to use the correct language, and feeling confident to ask questions and discuss in a mature and appropriate way. At times, carefully chosen external visitors and speakers may contribute to the SRE programme. In these cases, lesson content is agreed in advance and visitors are always supervised by a member of school staff. Any materials distributed by external agencies will be available for you to view through our school website prior to the element being taught. If you have concerns or would like to discuss RSE or PSHE further, please make an appointment to speak with our Assistant Headteacher, Mr Thompson.

E-Safety / PREVENT

The following Personal Development content is delivered and assessed through the Computing curriculum:

First to a Million

How pupils can protect themselves, including what to do if something goes wrong.
How difficult it is to remove something a user wishes they had not shared.
The risks of sharing material online and that removing compromising material can be difficult.
The impact of unhealthy or obsessive comparison with others online. Over reliance on on-line relationships including social media.
Your rights and responsibilities online.
How to identify harmful behaviours and where to get help if pupils are affected.

Sharing Nudes

How pupils can protect themselves, including what to do if something goes wrong.
What is illegal online, especially what may be seen as normal e.g. sexting.
Some online behaviours are abusive, they are negative, potentially harmful and sometimes illegal.
People can behave differently online to how they would face to face.
The risks of sharing material online and that removing compromising material can be difficult.
The impact of unhealthy or obsessive comparison with others online. Over reliance on on-line relationships including social media
Your rights and responsibilities online.
How to identify harmful behaviours and where to get help if pupils are affected.

Online Hate

Extreme behaviour online.
Misinformation and being aware of misleading information can be shared inadvertently.
The laws protecting and governing what information and opinions can be shared online.
The concept of filter bubbles and how content online is targeted towards individuals based on their digital interactions.
The impact filter bubbles can have on people’s actions outside of the online world.
How filter bubbles and the content we see online can lead to extreme behaviours.

Careers

Year 8 will participate in careers education during form time through the nationally recognised STEPs Careers Programme. During this time pupils will have the opportunity to reflect on their school experience in the context of setting them up for the expectations of the workplace; budgeting; understand the benefits of learning about careers, employment and enterprise; evaluate their personal strengths and weaknesses and make use of this to engage in careers exploration; and further understand labour market information and changes in the world of work. The importance of careers education and building upon our personal qualities is reiterated through assemblies presented by our resident careers adviser, Ms Amdurer.

Super Learning Days & Curriculum Enrichment

Year 8 pupils have the opportunity to attend workshops to enhance their understanding of PSHE/RSE, Citizenship, Careers and E-safety. In Year 8 this will typically involve:

Global policing visit outlining the importance of being safe with a focus on choices and consequences, being a responsible citizen, water safety and knife crime awareness.
The Peak Education Company provides fun exercises to encourage interaction, team building and resilience.

Pupils engage in democratic processes through the nomination of form captains and the nomination of a school charity.

Our school library contains a great selection of recommended reading relating to Personal Development. Pupils who engage in opportunities for independent enquiry related to Personal Development through the school library or through engagement in extracurricular clubs are recognised for their efforts with Personal Development subject badges and access to external visits, such as our London Parliament trip organised by our House of Lords link teacher, Mrs Tong.

Mr Thompson, Assistant Headteacher (Personal Development and Curriculum)
Ms Amdurer, Careers coordinator and adviser (CEIAG)
Miss Mahboob, Personal Development coordinator
Mr Panter, E-safety/PREVENT coordinator