Why Personal, Social and Health Education Matters at Leighton Park

Thursday 26th February is a typical Thursday for Leighton Park’s students and yet it offers one of the most interesting and diverse lessons of the week for students throughout the school; Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE). The subject is designed to educate young people about issues relevant to growing up and becoming changemakers of the future, confident enough to enact the school’s Quaker values in their day to day relationships and activities.

The school adheres to the government’s statutory guidance on PSHE programmes and has invested in Wellio, a platform which enable schools to stay compliant and to support teachers to deliver the content in an engaging, accessible way. The sessions cover everything from organ donation to pensions, from vaping to positive masculinity, and everything in between! Leighton Park supplements the excellent sessions offered by Wellio with a visiting speaker programme to help bring topics to life and encourage students to interact with experts.

This week Year 7 have a Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) session with Laura from Rabbits. Laura is well-versed on all things RSE and has the ability to make sensitive topics accessible, age appropriate often with a bit of humour thrown in.

Year 11 have a session with Jane Marshall from Optimising Futures. Jane was previously the Senior Admissions Tutor at Imperial College London and brings a wealth of experience in applications and careers advice. Jane will be delivering her talk ‘Why Bother?’ which focuses on why results at GCSE and the Sixth Form matter. She will also be exploring the benefits of different routes after Leighton Park such as university and apprenticeships. Sally Saunders, Assistant Head: Pupil Personal Development and PSHE co-ordinator, enthused “Students respond really well to Jane and always queue up to ask her questions a the end. She is a fantastic, engaging speaker!”

The Upper Sixth have a session with Jo Baldwin from Fiscorum delivering a thought-provoking session about budgeting, managing money and student finance. Jo will look at ways to make money go further and how to plan; all essential skills for life beyond Sixth Form.

Sally explains why PSHE is so valuable for Leighton Park students: “PSHE is a required aspect of the curriculum in the UK. However, it is much more than that; skills and knowledge gathered through sessions prepare students for the world around them. From health-related topics such as relationships and sex education to finance, pensions, politics and careers, it is far ranging. We partner with experts on specific aspects to ensure consistency and to make sure students receive up to date and relevant information. The curriculum is designed so that topics are covered at age-appropriate points and in a spiral form. This means that they are revisited and developed  across the years.”