Students receive a broad range of lessons across six core themes:  

• Staying safe online and offline,  

• Rights, responsibilities and British values, 

• Celebrating diversity and equality,  

• Relationship and sex education,  

• Life beyond school,  

• Health and wellbeing.  

The spiral curriculum builds on prior knowledge and provides opportunities for students to revisit key themes with increasing depth and complexity. In KS3, students develop a foundation understanding of topics such as online safety, healthy relationships, diversity and future aspirations. In KS4, these themes are revisited through a more mature lens, exploring topics such as consent, coercive relationships, financial independence, workplace expectations, online exploitation and preparation for Post-16 pathways. This progression reflects the personal, social and emotional development of young people as they prepare for adulthood.  

RSHE equips students with the tools to navigate the challenges and opportunities of adolescence and early adulthood. The curriculum develops students' understanding of healthy relationships, consent, personal safety, financial responsibility, employment pathways, mental wellbeing and their role as active citizens in modern Britain.  

Lessons are carefully structured into accessible learning activities that encourage participation from all students. Teaching approaches include discussion, debate, case studies, scenarios and reflective activities that allow students to explore complex topics in a safe environment. Teachers use formative assessment throughout lessons through questioning, discussion and retrieval activities to gauge understanding and address misconceptions. Reactive teaching ensures learning is adapted to meet the needs of students and respond to emerging questions or concerns. As students mature, greater opportunities are provided to analyse, evaluate and apply their learning to real-life situations.  

Positive and trusting relationships are central to effective RSHE teaching. Teachers create a respectful and supportive environment where students feel confident discussing sensitive issues and seeking support when needed. All staff are trained in safeguarding procedures and understand the potential for disclosures during RSHE lessons. Students are regularly signposted to internal and external support services. 

Mental health, emotional wellbeing and resilience are embedded throughout the curriculum, helping students to recognise when support may be required for themselves or others. The KS4 curriculum adopts a positive, evidence-informed approach that empowers students to make safe and responsible choices rather than relying on fear-based messages.  

Through RSHE students learn skills to help them develop and thrive at each stage of development as they are exposed to and educated on the wider world, choices and consequences.

Students complete a silent reflection every lesson. Many topics covered with RSHE can raise many more questions for students and their reflections are a place for them to identify their thoughts, feelings and further questions. Due to the nature of RSHE, discussion and debate is encouraged and this is an opportunity for students to be open and raise any concerns they have as well as asking about school, outside school or life in general.  

RSHE supports the careers curriculum at the Upper Academy through the spiral curriculum. Each unit has career paths linked to it whilst some of the units within this are focused on life after school, choosing further and higher education as well as career paths. In RSHE we use the Unifrog platform to allow students to explore a variety of careers and explore how their personalities, likes and dislikes can lead to a career they have yet to explore.  Students are also exposed to trips and visits from employers, universities and external agencies to support with careers and oppurtunities.  

Academy values are embedded throughout the RSHE spiral curriculum with students being supported to challenge misconceptions, prejudice and end discrimination. Students complete units on diversity and equality and are provided with opportunities to ask about the student values and guided about how to show support for these.  

Literacy and numeracy are used throughout RSHE with different activities using these skills throughout the different units. Examples of this are, writing letters or messages of advice to individuals and learning to budget effectively. Staff check student booklets for literacy, reminding students to correctly use capital letters and other grammar as well as supporting students with spellings.  

In RSHE, we have clear expectations with a focus on positive praise and rewards. We offer a wide variety of teaching and learning styles within RSHE education, with an emphasis on the teacher as facilitator of discussion and debate. We focus on an immersive and engaging learning environment with displays linked to current learning. The curriculum focuses on relevant, contemporary issues that students may encounter as they move towards adulthood. 

Each half term is a new unit following our spiral curriculum. Focus is continually shifting to learn and develop new skills to help students prepare for life. Lessons have a strong focus on self-reflection from students with them completing one of these at the start and end of each lesson allowing students to judge their progress each lesson.  

Students are offered opportunities to stretch their thinking throughout the curriculum whilst also having access to experiences such as outside agencies visiting groups of students. 

Students are encouraged to be reflective each lesson and monitor their own progress honestly. In lessons, staff take a positive approach which does not attempt to induce shock or guilt but focuses on what children and young people can do to keep themselves and others healthy and safe and to lead happy and fulfilling lives full of openness and honesty.  

Lessons are adapted to suit the needs of the class; we focus on reactive teaching and fitting the lessons to suit the needs/questions that arise during the lesson not continuing with a topic until students have developed their understanding of the topic in hand.  

As RSHE is so heavily discussion based, formative assessment is used continuously. Questions that arise and reacted upon with staff using hinge questioning as well as using techniques to ensure the whole class understands the topic. Students also have to respond to real life situations and scenarios by offering advice or guidance to the individual. Students are also given a reflective task each lesson allowing them to evaluate how well they feel they have met the lesson aims and objectives.  

RSHE teachers are familiar with the TAG groups within their classes and how this may impact on the lessons they teach. They are reactive to adapting lessons where necessary to suit student’s individual needs. High expectations are consistently enforced with the use of RSHE respect rules and encouraging students to take pride in the work they produce. Considerations made for SEND students who may need adjusted lessons to accommodate a different emotional maturity as well as students in Wellbeing.  

RSHE is not an assessed subject. Students’ progress is represented by the development of their personal understanding and preparation for life. Students demonstrate progress by responding to situations and explaining and discussing concepts explored within the curriculum. 

RSHE lessons are engaging, discussion based and support student development in other aspects of their academic journey by engaging them with the process of learning, development and success. Success may look different depending on the student. Students demonstrate success through developing greater self-awareness and emotional resilience, making informed and responsible decisions, respecting differing viewpoints, confidently discussing sensitive and complex issues, applying their learning to real-life situations, and preparing themselves for further education, employment and adult life. 

How does the subject support lifelong learning? 

KS4 RSHE provides students with essential knowledge and skills that extend far beyond school. Through the curriculum, students develop an understanding of healthy and respectful relationships, consent and personal safety, physical and mental wellbeing, financial responsibility, employment and career pathways, and their role as active citizens within the wider community. 

 Students build the resilience, critical thinking and self-management skills needed to thrive in further education, employment and adult life. The ultimate aim of RSHE is to empower young people to become informed, responsible and confident individuals who make positive contributions to society and continue to learn and develop throughout their lives.  

The skills and coping mechanisms learned in RSHE encourage students to continue learning what can support them in life. RSHE strives to ensure students are inquisitive and want to challenge things they see outside of school.