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Student Wellbeing

Here you will find:

 

Airedale Academy's Student Wellbeing

Curriculum Intent Statement

It is the intent that the curriculum will directly link to the schools context as well as local, regional and national priorities giving the young people within the academy the information they need to help them develop into upstanding members of the community who have the ability to think critically and be morally and ethically responsible for their own actions. Having a solid foundation in place through the student wellbeing curriculum will enable the pupils to understand  that actions have consequences, enabling them to make their own decisions with the full knowledge of how their choices could affect themselves and others either now or in the future.

The Student Wellbeing curriculum offered within the Airedale Academy will give pupils the knowledge and understanding of healthy, nurturing relationships of all kinds, not just intimate relationships and will be inclusive of all individuals regardless of their gender or sexual identity. The curriculum offered within the academy will  enable all pupils to know what a healthy relationship looks like, what makes a good friend and a  good colleague. It will cover the characteristics of  successful marriages and other types of committed relationships.

The curriculum will help ensure that students within our care are safe and stay healthy ensuring they know how to access contraception and sexual health advice and where to go if they need support.  Along with this the curriculum will look at other aspects of physical and mental help and give the pupils realistic and useful advice on how to look after their own and other people's physical and mental wellbeing.

Understanding of how to develop intimate relationships as well as giving pupils strategies to resist pressure to have sex (and not applying pressure) will be reinforced throughout the curriculum. Throughout the curriculum, links to government legislations and laws will be referenced as this will give pupils the information needed to make informed decision as they know the consequences of partaking in criminal activity. The curriculum will  teach the pupils what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour in relationships ensuring the pupils understand the positive effects that good relationships have on their mental wellbeing, identify when relationships are not right and understand how such situations can be managed.

Throughout the curriculum links will be made to national, regional and local initiatives and priorities including County Lines, Prevent CVE/CSE and involvement in serious and cybercrime. It will also use inhouse and local data. This will ensure the curriculum is fit for purpose and bespoke for our pupils needs.  Lessons will be taught to pupils in an age appropriate way but will also be led by school and local authority statistics of trends within the locality of the school to ensure the content is relevant and representative of the school context.

The curriculum will be taught with care and compassion and as an academy we will foster a thirst for knowledge where students feel confident enough to give their opinions and ask questions regarding sensitive topics. The curriculum will help develop pupils confidence and self esteem in themselves as well as those around them. It is paramount that the curriculum encourages an understanding of sexuality and gender identity and gives the pupils the skills needed to challenge all form of discrimination and inequality

 

Implementation

The student wellbeing curriculum will be delivered through discreet Student Wellbeing lessons in all year groups from 7 - 11. It will use the foundations gained in primary school to build upon key concepts and knowledge and will be developed using a recap model so that topics are built upon over time with more age appropriate content being added at the correct stage. Cross curricular links will also be identified and referenced within discreet lessons as built upon where appropriate.

Alongside discrete lessons Student Wellbeing will be covered during year group assemblies where current and topical priorities will be identified and covered to help aid not only the Student Wellbeing curriculum but the pupils understanding and knowledge of current issues (priorities). This will give the students the knowledge and skills to think critically.

Dropdown days including in class sessions, assemblies and carousels will be included in the curriculum and will supplement the wellbeing curriculum sessions. Dropdown sessions and assemblies will be led by key speakers, theatre groups and members of the local health service and authority including Spectrum Health or inhouse with members of the Student Wellbeing team. Where possible these sessions will be evaluated by the students and staff  in a timely manner from this feedback adaptations will be made where appropriate to ensure the students make rapid and sustained progress.

Pupils will be assessed on the skills, knowledge and understanding gained within their lessons once per half term. Key assessments pieces will allow pupils to showcase their skills and knowledge through independent learning tasks, paired work and group work. In addition to these key assessment pieces during some lessons pupils will be given the opportunity to assess their own learning throughout the lesson.  Discussions, questioning and debates will also be used as a formative assessment tool within lessons and will allow staff to address any gaps in knowledge and common misconceptions the students may hold

Regular meetings will be held with safeguarding, school community police officer and pupil wellbeing teams in order to identify where reactive and proactive lessons are planned and delivered in addition to the curriculum in order to address key issues that come to light within the school community. The Wakefield RSE network will also be attended on a regular basis and information cascaded from local schools will be used to adapt and improve the wellbeing curriculum wherever appropriate.

 

Impact

Within the local area there has been a large number of violent and antisocial behaviour convictions. Having a high quality Student Wellbeing implemented within Airedale Academy that looks at the consequences of getting involved in serious crime will help aid a reduction in serious crime in the locality of the school. Informing  pupils of the consequences of being involved in serious crimes will allow them to make informed choices about their future.

The Wakefield area has a higher than national average teenage pregnancy rate of 20% with the percentage of under 16s becoming pregnant being 1.2 per 1,000 higher than the national average. As well as this the percentage of pregnancies leading to abortions in under 18s is 40.9% lead to abortion. Due to these high statistics. Including lessons in area improving the pupils knowledge and understanding of safer sex, pregnancy and birth, the responsibilities of parenting will help reduce the number of pupils within school becoming pregnant by giving them the support they need. As well as this it is important that the pupils understand the physical and emotional implications of abortions and all the options if they become pregnant as well as ensuring pupils can access the full suite of support they need

Within the school community there are a number of pupils who identify as transgender or are LGBTQ it is therefore important to ensure that a fully inclusive curriculum is in place so that these pupils feel supported and  safe within the school environment as well as ensuring that they know their rights as members of the wider community. Having an inclusive curriculum also ensures that all pupils within the school have an understanding of LGBGTQ issues and as such show empathy towards these pupils within the school community. This will also help reduce the number of homophobic and transphobic incidents in school.

The Airedale area has historically had a high level of teenage alcohol and drug use therefore having a high quality drug and alcohol education in place will help reduce the number of children drinking at a young age or abusing drugs either during their school career or in the future. Teaching pupils about ways of managing their mental health and body image are  equally as important as information from the Wakefield Health Improvement Team show that in the local area the main sources of worry are school stress and worrying about the way they look.

Giving pupils an understanding of wider priorities including the PREVENT duty in a way that is balanced will allow the pupils to make their own informed decisions. This will improve the pupils understanding of extremism and radicalisation and the reasons that people become involved in these groups. It will also enable them to see that anyone can be radicalised regardless of their background. Alongside teaching about the PREVENT duty teaching students about issues faced by people of different backgrounds including FGM and blackLGBT history will encourage empathy and understanding of what other people go thorough and how they can be persecuted. Thus, reducing hate speech and hate related motivated incidents within the context of the school and local community.