Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education @ CCHS

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

At Clacton County High School, we take pride in our varied and interesting Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) provision. We are committed to facilitating excellent teaching and learning through three simple rules: Ready. Respectful. Safe. These simple rules permeate across all aspects of our behaviour and academic curriculum and lie at the heart of our approach to the teaching and delivery of our Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE). PSHE is an integral part of the curriculum at Clacton County High School and is specifically designed to educate our students about Personal, Social, Health and Economic matters. 

Through the delivery of a wide range of PSHE topics, we give our students the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to keep themselves healthy and safe and to prepare them for life and work in modern Britain. PSHE lessons help students to understand relationships in order to thrive as individuals, as family members and as members of society. From making sensible decisions about alcohol, to succeeding in their first job, PSHE helps students to recognise and cope with many of the challenges and responsibilities they will face growing up. 

PSHE education enables our students to become healthy, independent and responsible members of society. It aims to encourage them to be a critical thinker and to understand how they are developing personally and socially, tackling many of the moral, social and cultural issues that are part of growing up. Students are provided with opportunities to learn about rights and responsibilities and to appreciate what it means to be a positive member of a diverse society, developing a sense of self-worth by contributing to school life and the wider community. 

Through our PSHE curriculum, we aim to develop key character skills, including decision making, informed risk taking, good communication and self-regulation strategies. We encourage the exploration of, and respect for, values held by different cultures and groups within our local community, and promote the development of positive attitudes. We highlight the importance of honesty and respect in all relationships, and nurture sensitivity to the needs and feelings of others. We aim to enable students to develop a deepening knowledge and awareness of their own health and wellbeing, including their mental and physical health. 

The ultimate aim of our broad and diverse PSHE curriculum is to help our students to achieve their academic potential, and leave school equipped with a starter pack of skills that they will continue to develop throughout their lives.   

At Key Stage 3, PSHE lessons are timetabled into the curriculum. Students receive direct teaching of PSHE lessons via a fortnightly lesson that is taught by the timetabled subject teacher. 

At Key Stage 4, the school uses direct teaching via a fortnightly rolling programme of study. Students are taught by the same subject teacher for the majority of their PSHE lessons. 

DPROUD Days @ CCHSuring the academic year, PSHE sessions focus on a variety of topics including:
• World Mental Health Day
• World Human Rights Day
• Relationships Education & Teen Pregnancy/Parenting
• Extremism, Racism and Tolerance
• An introduction to Sign Language
• Internet safety
PROUD Days @ CCHS• First Aid and CPR Training
• Ethics - Animal Testing & Human Rights
• Democracy
• An introduction to the Open University
• Money - including payday loans and creating a budget
• Careers - CV writing, careers fair, options available post-16
• Revision Techniques

In addition to their timetabled lessons, a weekly PSHE form tutor programme is also in place. Every week students will be provided with an activity that supports, builds on, or further enriches their PSHE curriculum offer.
Key Stage 4 form tutors also spend time with their groups consolidating knowledge from previous lessons, addressing any misconceptions, and measuring the extent to which students can apply this knowledge to situations. 

There is an element of PSHE in pastoral care and the school will ensure that PSHE and pastoral care teams work together to ensure that students feel comfortable indicating that they may be vulnerable and at risk.