Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

At Harris Girls’ Academy East Dulwich we place high importance on supporting student welfare and their knowledge of the world around them.

Strategically we have planned a unique Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) curriculum to tackle these challenges which are underpinned by the following statements:

• We want to prepare our students for the outside world and want to ensure that they are adequately equipped for the challenges of contemporary society and the challenges that they may face as young people.
• We want our students to be dutiful citizens who contribute to their communities and help others as well as themselves.
• We want our students to know their rights so that they can protect themselves from harm and support their peers in doing so.
• Lots of our students will face challenges outside of the Academy where PSHE can directly impact their navigation of these instances.
• We want our students to know signals and signs that might mean they are vulnerable and what to do if they think that this is happening to them. This is part of our safeguarding responsibility too.

Sex and Relationship Education

Our PSHE curriculum includes Sex and Relationship education and we believe this is critical for our pupils and our school, because it allows opportunities to support the development of self-confidence and resilience; helps pupils to know how and when to ask for help, and to know where to access support if necessary. Our aims for the curriculum are to teach our students how to keep themselves safe and healthy, and how to manage their academic, personal and social lives in a positive way. 

The intended outcome of our programme is that pupils will have the knowledge that will enable them to make informed decisions about their wellbeing, health and relationship choices. In turn, this will prepare students to develop the capacity to make sound decisions if facing risks, challenges or complex contexts. 

We would like our pupils to develop the following skills: personal, interpersonal and social effectiveness, managing risk and decision making. Personally, we would like our pupils to develop and maintain a healthy and realistic self-concept which in turn will build assertiveness, confidence and respect. Socially, for pupils to understand they have a responsibility to be compassionate and empathetic for others. Finally, to develop the attributes of managing risks by weighing up the positives and negative risks to themselves or to others. 

Part of our programme of course covers violence and harassment of a sexual nature and ensures that the academy addresses the pervasive nature of sexual harassment and violence. The Ofsted review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges in June 2021 revealed that nearly 90% of girls and 50% of boys said that being sent explicit pictures or videos of things they did not want to see happens a lot or sometimes to them or their peers, and children and young people told (Ofsted) that sexual harassment occurs so frequently that it has become ‘commonplace.’ Our curriculum is designed to ensure that our pupils are acutely aware of how to treat others respectfully including permission seeking and giving, how to recognise unhealthy relationships and how to seek support. It makes clear that sexual violence and harassment is never acceptable.

We ensure that SRE is inclusive and meets the needs of all our pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) by arranging targeted small group intervention and differentiation of materials to allow all students accessibility. 

Further details can be found in the documents downloadable below. PSHE is taught by coaches over two half an hour slots every week and through 'drop down' days and is an integral part of assemblies.