PSHE / CitCom
Citizens in Communities
At Netherhall we believe everyone should be equipped with the knowledge, insight and resilience needed to be a healthy and successful individual able to navigate the demands of modern society, both now and in the future. To this end, students are allocated one lesson of Citizens in Communities (CitCom) on their fortnightly timetable, which incorporates the three strands of Health and Wellbeing, Relationships, and Living in the Wider World that the government prescribe as statutory for the delivery of PSHE, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE), Work-Related Learning (WRL) and, at Key Stage 4, Core RE. More specifically this includes:
Relationships: developing and maintaining positive and healthy relationships of all kinds, including friendships; recognising and dealing with unhealthy relationships, including bullying; understanding how to communicate effectively and confidently within relationships.
Health: healthy lifestyles; healthy eating and exercise; mental and emotional health and wellbeing; drug, alcohol and tobacco education.
Risk: assessing and managing risks and opportunities such as making independent choices and recognising and responding to peer pressure; personal safety on and offline, including on social media.
Economic wellbeing: budgeting, saving, pressures and influences on spending and risks associated with gambling and other financial choices.
Career choices: enterprise skills, different career pathways.
Employability: key skills needed to succeed in the workplace; preparation for the world of work.
Other subjects that contribute to the teaching of CitCom include Science, Computing and PE.
The CitCom programme of study is regularly reviewed.
Parents and carers receive information through a letter sent home which details the specifics about what the students will be taught during the year.
Relationships and Sex Education (RSE)
RSE is taught within the CitCom programme of study. Each class has three hour-long sessions in each school year covering topics appropriate to the maturity of the pupils. The aim is to encourage all pupils to develop an informed and responsible attitude to relationships, disease and contraception and is presented in such a manner as to encourage the pupils to have due regard for moral considerations and the value of family life.
Parents have a right to withdraw pupils under the age of 16 from all or part of Sex Education where it does not form part of the National Curriculum.
The Netherhall Relationship and Sex Education policy can be viewed on our Policies page