At Ridgeway High School our mission is to transform lives through learning. Through personal development, we do this by equipping students with the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to play a full and active part in society and to live a healthy, safe and successful life in modern Britain.
Personal development is a discrete subject on the timetable, taught for one hour each week in all year groups. It is also delivered through assemblies, form time, lineup routines and our Charter Days (four of them across the year), and it forms a key part of the fabric of school life. This supports the students to develop exemplary character, serving
PSHE education is a curriculum subject that helps children and young people stay healthy and safe and prepares them for life – and work – in modern Britain. Along with RSE and careers (mentioned below), it covers economic wellbeing and personal safety. We believe that PSHE education also helps students to achieve their academic potential.
Our RSE programme encompasses the development of attitudes, beliefs and values about relationships, sexual identity and intimacy and sexuality over five years. Age-appropriate lessons are delivered openly and honestly, in line with the school’s RSE and child protection policies. Younger (key stage 3) students focus more on the relationships aspect whereas older (key stage 4) students also learn about aspects of risk-taking behaviour, including unprotected sexual activity and the misuse of drugs.
Our careers education and guidance programme makes a major contribution to preparing young people for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life. A planned programme of activities supports them in choosing 14–19 pathways that suit their interests and abilities and helps them to think about possible future career decisions.
Citizenship education is about helping young people understand the rights and responsibilities they have as members of society. Citizenship offers the opportunity to celebrate our communities. It enriches the curriculum and empowers our students as active citizens. Citizenship aims to ensure that students:
• know their rights and responsibilities
• analyse and discuss significant issues
• understand how society works
• learn how to play an active role in society
SMSC is spiritual, moral, social and cultural education. We see SMSC as an integral part of each student’s educational experience at Ridgeway, part of the nurturing of well-rounded, active citizens, ready for the wider world they are soon to enter as adults.
We follow a thematic approach, which means that the personal development content for each year group is organised around six themes.
The six themes are:
Click this link to see a list of the specific topics that students cover each week.
