As a school, we value the development of the whole child, striving to prepare all students for the world of Manchester and beyond. We invest significant curriculum time for carefully planned and evaluated activities so that all students will gain a sense of place by understanding where Manchester has come from and how they can contribute to its future.
The school’s open culture promotes all aspects of pupils’ welfare and personal development. They have opportunities to learn how to navigate the wider world and keep themselves safe through a carefully planned curriculum which is delivered by school staff and external organisations. Students have one hour a week timetabled Personal Development lesson with their form tutor. RSE, Health and Citizenship are a statutory part of secondary education.
All year groups receive one hour lesson of Personal Development per week delivered by Form Tutors. Pupils also receive stand-alone sex education sessions delivered by trained health professionals from both the School Nurse Service, Manchester Healthy Schools and Brook.
Across all Key Stages, pupils will be supported with developing the following skills:
These areas of learning are taught within the context of family life taking care to ensure that there is no stigmatisation of children based on their home circumstances (families can include single parent families, LGBT parents, families headed by grandparents, adoptive parents, foster parents/carers amongst others), along with reflecting sensitively that some children may have a different structure of support around them (for example: looked after children or young carers).
Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) is taught within the Personal Development curriculum. Biological aspects of RSHE are taught within the science curriculum, and other aspects are included in Religious Studies (RS), IT and reinforced across other areas of the school.
The aims of relationships and sex education (RSE) at our school are to:
We want our students to be independent but consider others, acting responsibly and sensitively to others so that both they and wider society benefit. We want your son to develop a positive sense of self awareness and self-esteem whilst also understanding the development of relationships within families, in friendships and wider contexts.
Specific staff are trained by Brook to safely and confidentially distribute condoms to young people in our care. We ensure we provide balanced, factually accurate information and follow Fraser Guidelines to ensure young people are able to make safe, positive and healthy decisions about their relationships. This mirrors the provision for young people from the NHS and Brook in Manchester. If you would like to speak to us about this in more detail, please contact the school reception.
For twenty minutes each morning, students follow a daily routine that supports independence and prepares them for the day ahead:
Wellbeing check-in - how are we feeling? Do we need any support to be able to cope with the challenges of the day?
The Day News - exploration of today's news through group reading and discussion
Thought for the day - a moment of quiet reflection or prayer before leaving for our first lesson
These are crucial to developing student's understanding of the wider world and how they can make a valuable contribution to it.
We encourage our students to take on additional responsibilities and lead around the school, experiences that are hugely valued by post-16 providers, universities and employers. In every year group, students can apply for leadership responsiblities or start their own club or fundraising cause through our Smart School Council Community, providing they have the support of a member of staff.
We expect all students to engage with the additional elements of our personal development offer.
| Subject Documents |
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| Personal Development Curriculum |
| RSE Policy |