Learning for Life is delivered as part of our Personal Development Curriculum is led by our Subject Leader, Miss K Taylor, who is happy to answer any of your queries about our subject.

Learning for Life Intent

Learning for Life is taught in school to prepare students for life outside of and beyond school. Our aim is to develop happy, healthy and safe young people. Learning for life enables all pupils, irrespective of background, the ability to make respectful and informed choices in order to keep themselves and others safe. The curriculum aims to help students understand how they are developing personally and socially, and tackles many of the moral, social and cultural issues that are part of growing up. We provide our students with opportunities for them to learn about rights and responsibilities and appreciate what it means to be a member of a diverse society. Students are encouraged to become critical thinkers and develop their sense of self-worth by playing a positive role in contributing to school life and the wider community.

 

Using the PSHE Association Programme of Study, we have developed a curriculum plan which is responsive and adapted to our students’ needs to ensure the context-specific curriculum offers opportunities for all students to learn the skills and knowledge they need to prepare them for the future. The golden knowledge in the curriculum ensures our students develop the knowledge and skills to enable them to lead happy, healthy and safe lives and make positive contributions to a modern, diverse Britain.

 

We strongly believe that Learning for Life plays a vital part in our students’ education therefore is taught once per fortnight, to all students throughout the school. In addition to this, various topics are covered in PD time and through school assemblies. The curriculum is split into three core themes of: Health and Wellbeing, Relationships and Living in the Wider World. The curriculum is spiralised and students will visit each of these themes in each year at an age-appropriate level.
 

The Learning for Life curriculum covers a wide variety of SMSC themes and equips WMA students with the knowledge required in the following areas:

• Health and Wellbeing – Physical, mental and emotional health (including the dangers of alcohol, tobacco, vaping, and substance use)

• Relationships – Relationship and Sex Education (including consent, managing conflict, making decisions, and healthy relationships both online and offline)

• Living in the Wider World – Personal finance, British Values, the Equality Act, SMSC, Extremism and radicalisation, Careers (including next steps – preparing for post-16 options)

Year 7

• Transition to Secondary School: As part of their transition to secondary school students will look at what makes a good student, rights and responsibilities, anti-bullying, self-esteem, communities and identities.
• Child Exploitation: Students will be made aware of the different forms of criminal and sexual exploitation as well as being taught how to recognise the signs of grooming. Students will also learn about the law surrounding consent and the lessons are designed to help students determine what are healthy and unhealthy behaviours in a relationship.
• Careers and Aspirations: Students will be introduced to a diverse range of careers and careers of the future. They will also look at what a career is, what an entrepreneur is and what the term work-life means.
• Relationships: During this topic, students will look at the importance of respectful friendships and relationships. They will also look at different types of families, how to deal with separation and divorce and coping with loss/bereavement.
• Health and wellbeing: During this topic students learn about puberty, the menstrual cycle and PMS (Premenstrual syndrome), and FGM (Female Genital Mutilation).
• Managing Finance: This topic is a useful introduction to the world of finance, students will learn how to budget and save, they will look at what value for money is and what it looks like, different types of bank accounts and interest rates.

Year 8

• First Aid: Students will learn what the signs and symptoms of an allergic reaction are and how to treat them. They also learn how to carry out a primary survey, put someone into the recovery position and perform CPR. This topic also covers how to deal with serious bleeding and someone who is choking.
• Healthy Lifestyles: Students will look at what factors contribute to leading a healthy lifestyle. In addition, they will also have the opportunity to explore and discuss various lifestyle choices. Topics covered include diet, exercise, eating disorders, mental health, smoking, vaping and alcohol.
• Careers: Following on from the work covered in Year 7, students will look at the challenges and rewards of work, careers and the climate. In addition to this they will begin to think about their own interests and what success means to them.
• Relationships: During this topic students learn about what discrimination is and how to tackle prejudice relating to race, ethnicity, religion, disability, gender, sexuality and socio-economic factors. The students are made aware of the protected characteristics and The Equality Act 2010.
• Sexual Health: Students will be taught about contraception, STI’s (sexually transmitted infections), consent, sexting, the law and pornography.
• Managing Finance: Improving on their knowledge from Year 7, students will study the risks associated with spending and borrowing, and the rewards associated with saving. They will look at protecting themselves (insurance) as well as the risks and consequences of gambling.

Year 9

• Child Criminal/Sexual Exploitation: Students will be made aware of the different forms of sexual exploitation as well as being taught how to recognise the signs of grooming.
• Respectful relationships: Students will learn about identifying healthy and unhealthy relationship behaviours, how to manage conflict and address abuse within a relationship,
• Careers Advice: With Year 9 being a key year for choosing GCSE options, this topic of work will focus on decision making and students will look at the different options/subjects available to them and the various pathways they can take post 16.
• Mental Health: Students will look at what mental health is and the factors that can promote emotional wellbeing as well at looking at healthy and unhealthy coping strategies.
• Health and wellbeing: This topic begins by exploring the students’ attitudes towards legal and illegal drugs. Following this the students learn about managing risk, the effects of various legal and illegal drugs, what the law says, and how to manage peer influence.
• Managing Finance: Students will learn about borrowing and debt and the various borrowing products available for different purchases. They will also be taught about security and fraud including online scams and 'phishing’.

Year 10

• Power, Politics and the Media: During this unit of work students will look at what UK Parliament is and what how it works including the role of MP’s and how laws are made and amended. There is a particular focus on what a democratic society is.
• Addressing Extremism: Students learn about what it is like to live in a modern diverse Britain, they visit the protected characteristics and The Equality Act 2010. Students then go on to look at what extremism is and how young people can be drawn in to it.
• Relationships: Revisiting knowledge acquired from previous years, students will gain further understanding of the different types of contraception available to them and how to practice safe sex. They will also revisit their knowledge of STIs and recap the legislation surrounding ‘consent’.
• Health and Well-Being: In this unit of work, students will build on their knowledge of legal and illegal drugs and the methods that can be taken to prevent addiction or help someone in need. They will look at substance use and assessing risk as well as managing peer influence.
• Careers: Students will begin to look at what careers are best suited to them based on their interests and values. They will also look at wellbeing in the workplace and what in person, hybrid and remote working looks like.
• Managing Finance: Following on from the work completed in Year 9, students will be given the opportunity to look at and understand bank statements, utility bills and pay slips (including Tax and VAT). In addition to this they will look at pensions and how they work.

Year 11

• Post 16 Options and Decisions: As Year 11 enter their final year, they will start to cement their plans for the future. Building a CV and drafting covering letters will be key to this topic as well as writing their personal statement and completing their college applications.
• Careers: Students will look at how to successfully prepare for college/job interviews (including interview techniques)
• Exam Preparation: In the lead up to their final exams, students will look at different revision techniques and how to structure their own revision timetable. 
• Life After School: A unit of work that covers a range of relevant issues for life beyond school. Year 11 will gain an understanding of what life is like after they leave Whitcliffe Mount including information with regards to pregnancy, paternal rights, the options of adoption and fostering and the menopause. They will continue to learn about healthy and unhealthy relationships including coercive behaviour and domestic abuse. They will also look at the responsibility that comes with passing your driving test and they be taught about voting and the different housing options available to them when they move out of home.

 

We aim to prepare students for life, helping them to really know and value who they are and understand how they relate to other people in this ever-changing world. We hope that through the teaching of the different threads in the PSHE and RSE curriculum, children will learn strategies to help them stay safe and healthy and be able to manage their personal and social lives in a positive way. Key topics are revisited so children can gain a good understanding of how to be healthy, how to create respectful relationships, and how to look after their mental wellbeing. Learning for Life, along with the British Values and the school ethos, develops the student’s understanding of Accountability, Self-confidence, Perseverance, Resilience, Integrity, Respect and Empathy.