George Dixon Academy

Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) 

Including Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education

At George Dixon Academy, we believe that the purpose of the PSHE curriculum is to equip pupils with the necessary knowledge and skills to prepare them for the ever-changing world; enabling our pupils to be healthy, happy, discerning and learn well.

“As Children approach adulthood, we need to give them the right tools to keep themselves safe and to flourish. This relies on them getting the right information at the right time, so that they know about the risks and how to avoid them, but also making sure that they are not exposed to too much too soon, taking away the innocence of childhood” (Department for Education, 2024 P1).  To get this right, the PSHE curriculum incorporates all outcomes in the PSHE Association programmes of study and meets all statutory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) requirements. Curriculum content is regularly updated to reflect changes in legislation and societal trends. Furthermore, at all key stages, mindfulness practice is included every lesson to empower young people to understand their minds and self-regulate. 

In years 7-11, to ensure progression and a spiral curriculum, we use Jigsaw, the mindful approach to PSHE, as our chosen teaching and learning programme and tailor it to our students’ needs. In Sixth Form, we build on the content taught in the Jigsaw curriculum and revisit important knowledge and skills relating to health, wellbeing and relationships; laying the foundation for their transition into adulthood.

Through Jigsaw, pupils receive an appropriately sequenced PSHE curriculum that meets all statutory requirements and effectively allows for knowledge and skills to be built on overtime. The programme equips teachers with the necessary resources to deliver age-appropriate PSHE lessons and for pupil progress to be assessed overtime. The Jigsaw curriculum was created with the desire and mission to make learning and life chances better for children and young people by systematically developing their inner worlds, empowering them as unique individuals who have positive relationships with self and others. Lesson content has been created with the philosophy that every individual should be valued and respected for who they are thus empowering them to be happy, healthy and compassionate human beings and international citizens with agency.

Within PSHE, pupils are provided the opportunity to learn the knowledge and skills required to develop healthy relationships; navigate the increasing influence of peers and the media; recognise their responsibility and take on greater responsibility within situations; keep themselves safe within both their day to day and online lives; and manage the emotional and physical changes and challenges faced during this transition from pre-teens to adolescents and then into young adults.  This gives our students the tools to make better choices in life, whilst also understanding different viewpoints.

At KS5, we have listened to the views of what the pupils consider to be important to them whilst also recognising the fundamental knowledge and skills required as many of our pupils face potentially difficult decisions about further education; the independence, responsibility and pressures of adulthood; and the reality that many of them will leave home for the first time. The curriculum has been created to revisit important knowledge and skills relating to health, wellbeing and relationships whilst also laying the foundation for their futures.

The PSHE curriculum is engaging, inclusive, and encourages discussion. The knowledge selected within the curriculum all link back to the following domains:

• Being Me in My World - 'Who am I and how do I fit?'
• Celebrating Difference - Respect for similarity and difference. Anti-bullying and being unique
• Dreams and Goals - Aspirations, how to achieve goals and understanding the emotions that go with this
• Healthy Me - Being and keeping safe and healthy
• Relationships - Building positive, healthy relationships
• Changing Me - Coping positively with change

At George Dixon Academy, we see Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) as a valuable way to guide our pupil’s development; empowering and equipping them for life. High quality RSE enables our pupils to make informed choices, guided by their knowledge of their rights and the law. The knowledge and skills taught within the PSHE curriculum reflects the realities of growing up in today’s modern society and equips them with the understanding required to develop healthy and respectful relationships of all kinds.

The long-term goals of the PSHE curriculum are:

• Pupils will have an understanding of who they are as individuals and how they fit into ‘the world’. This includes friendship groups, online and as a global citizen.
• An in depth understanding of similarity and difference and the impact of these whether positive or negative.
• What does it mean to be aspirational? Pupils will have developed ambitions for themselves, their community, the planet, world, their future and have an understanding of not just what they want to become, but who they want to become.
• A confident understanding of how to be mentally and physically healthy and the consequences of unhealthy lifestyle choices.
• An in depth understanding into the complexity of relationships including relationship-building skills, range of relationships, consent and healthy and unhealthy relationships.
• Pupils will know how to manage all sorts of change positively from relationships, puberty, transitions in life, loss and bereavement.