Personal and Social Health Education (PSHE) and Global Citizenship

PSHE at Key Stages 3 and 4 helps pupils to lead confident, healthy and responsible lives as individuals and members of society. Although PSHE is a timetabled lesson, through the pastoral care of all staff we not only work in lesson time but the wide range of activities across and beyond the curriculum allows pupils at Greensteds to gain practical knowledge and skills to help them live healthily and deal with the spiritual, moral, social and cultural issues they face as they approach adulthood. PSHE gives pupils opportunities to reflect on their experiences and how they are developing. It helps them to understand and manage responsibility of a wider range of relationships as they mature, and to show respect for the diversity of, and differences between, people. At Greensteds we ensure that pupils develop their self esteem and encourage them to believe in their own ability to succeed, enabling them to take responsibility for their learning and future life choices.

During Key Stage 3 pupils learn about themselves as growing individuals and changing individuals and as members of their communities with more maturity, independence and power. They become more self aware, and are capable of more sophisticated moral reasoning. They take more responsibility for themselves and become more aware of the views, needs and rights of people of all ages. They build on the experience, confidence and competence they developed within our Junior School PSHE lessons, learning new skills to help them make decisions and play an active part in their social and personal life. They are taught about the importance of a healthy lifestyle, coping well with body changes and feelings. They also learn how to cope with changing relationships and understand how these can affect their health and well-being.
Within the global citizenship syllabus they learn to identify the role of religious and social institutions and the systems that influence their lives and communities. They learn about fairness and respect for democracy and diversity at school and global levels.

As they progress through the school at Key Stage 4 the pupils use the skills they have acquired to take on new and more adult roles in school and the wider global community. They develop the self-awareness and confidence needed for adult life, further learning and work. They have opportunities to show that they can take responsibility for their own learning and career choices by setting personal targets and planning to meet them. They develop their ability to weigh up alternative courses of action for health and well-being. Through increased moral reasoning, clarifying their opinions and attitudes they can realise the consequences of their decisions.
The global citizenship syllabus at Key Stage 4 has a growing emphasis on critical awareness and evaluation with the pupils actively encouraged to debate and discuss. At Greensteds we prepare them for the next stage in their lives and mentoring them through the decisions and choices open to them.