Our mission at Oakbank is to “ensure that our students thrive, that they succeed at university, or in higher education, have great jobs and lead happy, fulfilling lives”. Essential to fulfilling this mission is our implementation of a carefully sequenced PSHE curriculum, adhering to and going beyond the Department for Education’s (DfE’s) statutory guidance.

Intent:

Our curriculum is planned with the intent to:

The Oakbank PSHE curriculum is designed to provide all our students with a broad and balanced curriculum encompassing personal, social, health and economic education. Our curriculum aims to enable our pupils to learn, grow and make safe and informed decisions about their future. Our aspiration is for all pupils to know what the British Values are and, in particular, to understand the value of celebrating other people’s opinions, beliefs, religions and life choices. 

Our intention is that pupils leave Oakbank School with the knowledge and skills to be responsible and active members of society. We aim to build pupils’ knowledge and understanding each year and give pupils’ opportunities to reflect on their personal development over time. We aim to educate our pupils about how to take care of their mental and physical health, and we also aim to encourage pupils to seek help when they need it. Furthermore, we want our pupils to understand the value of building safe and positive relationships. PSHE and personal development lessons will empower pupils to understand wider world issues and add to their cultural capital. Pupils will be exposed to a range of global issues and will build up a sense of responsibility of being part of a diverse, global community. 

We provide pupils with engaging lessons taught by expert teachers who know the needs of the pupils in their class. PSHE lessons at Oakbank intend to provide our young people with a safe and inclusive space for them to ask questions, discuss thought-provoking topics and confidently share their opinions. Our age-appropriate curriculum adheres to, and goes beyond, the National Curriculum. The spiral curriculum helps pupils to revisit and build upon existing knowledge and skills each year. For example, developing knowledge about online safety by examining online identity in Year 7, online risks in Year 10 and the law in Year 11. Our carefully planned curriculum ensures we meet the statutory guidance on Physical Health and Mental Wellbeing as well as the statutory guidance for Relationships and Sex Education (RSE). We also tailor our curriculum to meet the needs of our pupils in the local community. Our lessons offer appropriate challenge to all students to ensure greater depth and breadth in learning with additional support offered to our PP students. We promote literacy in PSHE with an array of reading materials, including use of texts, case studies and articles.   

We allow students to learn from their mistakes, using assessment at the most appropriate times to identify and address gaps in knowledge. Pupils will practice knowledge recall at the beginning of each lesson and complete some form of discussion or written activity in each lesson which can be used to monitor progress. Pupils will also be encouraged to reflect on their own personal development as they progress through their PSHE education.    

At Oakbank, we are dedicated to preparing students for the next phase of their education or employment, taking account of pupils’ aspirations, the local, national and global job markets. We aim to encourage pupils to be aspirational and strive to achieve in their academic and personal lives. We intend for pupils to leave school with a sense of purpose for their future and knowledge of how to reach their potential. We aim to give pupils experiences beyond the classroom with opportunities for development in assemblies, tutor time and workshops.