Year 8 PSHE Curriculum
Throughout Year 8 PSHE, students will continue to develop the knowledge and skills needed to lead healthy, safe and successful lives. They will explore health and wellbeing, learn about careers and future opportunities, understand belonging and community, and examine the opportunities and challenges of the online world. Students will also study healthy and unhealthy relationships, developing their understanding of respect, boundaries and communication. Alongside these topics, they will build their awareness of personal safety and risk management, learning how to make informed decisions and seek support when needed.
What will I study?
There are six themes studied throughout PSHE. These include:
- Term 1 – Health and wellbeing
- Term 2 – Careers
- Term 3 – Belonging and community
- Term 4 – The online world
- Term 5 – Healthy and unhealthy relationships
- Term 6 – Personal safety and managing risk
What skills/qualities are required?
- Working with others.
- Communications skills – both verbal and written.
- Respect and understanding of differing viewpoints.
- Ability to work independently.
How will I learn?
Whilst PSHE is mainly taught by tutors in form time using booklets to record learning, a variety of supporting materials are also used. These include outside speakers, video clips, discussion questions and other more interactive activities. Learning is also supported by weekly Head of Year assemblies and House assemblies.
| Topic | Description of Topic | Sub Topic | Lesson |
|---|---|---|---|
| Autumn Term | |||
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1 Health and wellbeing |
In this unit, students develop decision-making skills that support a healthy lifestyle and their wellbeing: from considerations about food, exercise and sleep, to assessing the impact of climate change on young people’s wellbeing. |
Food for thought |
Making healthier choices |
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Dental health |
Maintaining dental health |
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Physical activity |
Being active! |
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The sleep factor |
Healthier sleep habits |
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Climate change: empathy and agency |
Climate change and wellbeing |
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Navigating different views |
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HPV educate |
HPV educate |
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Firework safety |
Firework safety |
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2 Careers |
Careers |
What are my interests? |
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Job Applications and CV Writing |
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Challenges and Rewards of Work |
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Creating your life vision |
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What does success look like to me? |
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Careers and the Climate |
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Interests Profile |
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| Spring Term | |||
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3 Belonging and community |
This unit focuses on how to create respectful and cohesive communities. It helps students recognise and challenge bias, stereotypes and discrimination and promote inclusion. This unit also explores aspects of Citizenship and British Values |
Belonging and community |
Identity and Community |
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Bias and Stereotypes |
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Discrimination and the Protected Characteristics |
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Values and Constrictive Disagreement |
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Diverse and Supportive Communities |
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4 The online world |
This unit helps students to recognise how their behaviour can be manipulated online, through algorithms and targeted content. It helps students assess how online platforms generate income through users. This unit also explores aspects of Financial Literacy. |
Online financial harms |
Click and pay: phones and financial risk |
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Gaming, social media and algorithms: The pressure to spend online |
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Money matters: Seeking help and support |
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Under the influence |
The business of influence |
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Feeding the algorithm |
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| Summer Term | |||
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5 Healthy and unhealthy relationships |
This unit introduces a range of relationship issues facing young people, including harassment, image-sharing and gendered violence, and how to get support. |
NSPCC: Talk Relationships |
Healthy relationships |
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Sexualised media |
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Safer online relationships |
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Sexual harassment and harmful sexual behaviour |
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Consent |
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Sharing of nudes |
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Preventing gender-based violence |
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6 Personal safety and managing risk |
This unit is an opportunity for students to assess risk and support their personal safety in a range of contexts, including on the roads, around water, and in relation to alcohol and other drugs. |
MIB: Drive insured |
Staying safe on the roads |
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Canal and River Trust: Water safety |
Have you got their back? |
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British Heart Foundation |
Classroom RevivR |
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Drug education |
Understanding drugs |
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Tobacco and nicotine |
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Alcohol and risk |
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