Altrincham Grammar School for Girls

Personal, social, health and economic education is a key contributer to the holistic development of every child in the school. Embedded within the school ethos is the desire for every girl to develop her potential to the full and to flourish as an individual. PSHE provides one such context in which the pupils can explore and develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes which enable them to make the most of their abilities and take responsibility for themselves.

PSHE is a subject which aims to equip pupils with the confidence to make informed decisions about many of the personal and ethical issues that they do and will face in life. At AGGS it is important that PSHE education lives up to its relevant and challenging nature. While the programmes of study for each year group are informed by the National Curriculum’s non-statutory guidelines the lessons are very much tailored to the interests and needs of AGGS pupils. This ensures that each course addresses real issues in a meaningful and practical way as is appropriate to each year group.

“This is a school within which every child really does matter and where tolerance and harmony are tangible.” (OFSTED 2005).

At AGGS the primary ways in which pupils receive their entitlement of PSHE is through taught lessons as part of the curriculum and through extra-curricular events and activities that are arranged throughout the academic year.

PSHE is taught as a timetabled subject alongside Citizenship and is delivered at KS3 and KS4. These two subjects are foundational in contributing to the five Every Child Matters outcomes of helping children understand how to be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic wellbeing. In addition, both subjects can make significant contributions to the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils. Furthermore, the nature of the subject is such that it provides ample opportunities for the five strands of S.E.A.L to be developed which include self-awareness, managing feelings, understanding the importance of being empathetic, being motivated to be successful with every challenge and using a wide range of social skills. Finally, PSHE lessons crucially provide the place in which the school can fulfil its legal requirements of educating the pupils about careers, drugs, work-related learning and sex and relationships.