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Blog for Term 6

Date: 15 Jun 2021

Blog for the start of Term 6

We hope you had a great and restful break and now you are ready for an eventful last term.

Another academic year nearly over and what a marathon this year has been too. All being well we hope to see more stability in the coming year, most staff have been vaccinated and we are all more conscious of hygiene rules, which will help in continuing to protect us.

The main focus of this week’s post is RSHE and Sexual harassment, with so much in the news again and the Ofsted findings, we need to make sure we are ready to deliver an effective and comprehensive curriculum. Here is a link to the full report which includes a set of recommendations for  school and college leaders. The Sex Education Forum statement, Ofsted review of sexual harassment and abuse in schools is a wake-up call -  which can be found here and the PSHE Association guidance on preventing sexual harassment in schools

Ofsted’s key recommendations for School/College leaders is; to create a culture where sexual harassment and online sexual abuse are not tolerated, and where they identify issues and intervene early to better protect children and young people. In order to do this, they should assume that sexual harassment and online sexual abuse are happening in their setting, even when there are no specific reports, and put in place a whole-school approach to address them. This starts with a carefully sequenced RSHE curriculum, based on DfE’s statutory guidance that specifically includes sexual harassment and sexual violence, including online bullying.

To start with, I would like to highlight that we are aware that most Swindon schools are up to date and ready to deliver the new curriculum. However in this constant changing environment it is always good to keep on top of all new information to reaffirm what we know. Let’s start by looking at the ‘RSHE Ready’ podcast series from the PSHE Association. The podcasts explore key considerations and actions for schools to take when implementing statutory RSHE requirements. The series features contributions from leading voices in the education sector involved in the accompanying ‘3 steps to RSHE success’ guidance

You can access the 7 podcasts here, which range from Curriculum Planning, Parental Engagement, Pupils views of PSHE/RSHE, Planning and Teaching in SEND settings all the way to Choosing age appropriate resources.

We all know effective assessment allows teachers and pupils to reflect on learning, increase motivation and demonstrate impact. These assessment guides for key stage 1-2 and key stage 3-4 explain how PSHE teachers can use an ipsative model of assessment in PSHE education, and describe a wide range of methods available to assess progress, with accompanying examples from real classrooms.

Secondary assessment guide.pdf

Primary assessment guide.pdf

The Sex Education Forum are offering webinar on 16th June which provides guidance in terms of teaching about Consent. For more information and costs use this link. There are various training packages they offer and produce bespoke packages for organisations too. However if you drop us a line on; SwindonHealthySchools@swindon.gov.uk  and we determine a common theme/ need across Swindon schools, we will try and facilitate this.

The Alice Ruggles Trust has released an updated set of three lesson plans and accompanying materials. The lessons promote awareness of unhealthy relationship behaviours and stalking in order to help protect young people from the potential risks in such situations. The lessons are offered free to schools to ensure young people learn essential safeguarding information and skills in an interactive yet safe and age-appropriate way.

Chameleon PDE are offering free webinars; they will be delivering a free session on Thursday 17th June 4-6pm. The session is: Sexual abuse, harassment & misogyny in secondary schools. If you want to register for the event contact richard@chameleonpde.com

NWG Network are offering a webinar; child Sexual abuse in ethnic minority communities. IICSA is hosting a webinar to give professionals an opportunity to ask questions about their findings and hear directly from their research and engagement teams. The Race Equality Foundation will also be joining as they discuss access to and mistrust of services - including experiences of racism and discrimination, shame and honour and education. This free, online event will take place on Tuesday 29 June, 12:30 pm - 1:45 pm via Zoom. You'll be able to join from your laptop or phone. If you'd like to attend, please complete this short form and IICSA’s Engagement team will send you access instructions the day before the event.

Furthermore, secondary schools in central and southern England are invited to participate in a study of ‘Positive Choices’, a free RSHE package. This aims to promote healthy relationships, good sexual health and prevent sexual harassment. It enables schools to fulfil statutory requirements regarding RSHE, social and emotional wellbeing, personal development and safeguarding. Schools will be randomly allocated in early 2022 to receive the package or get £500 to act as a comparison school. Implementation would begin in September 2022. Positive Choices includes materials focused on years 9 and 10 plus training from a specialist provider. Comparison schools are free to develop their RSHE provision as they see fit but can only access Positive Choices materials once the trial ends. The research is led by an experienced team from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineProfessor Chris Bonell, the lead investigator, is very happy to be contacted to answer any queries or provide more information at chris.bonell@lshtm.ac.uk

We hop this post shows how many resources and how much support is on offer to school, please take advantage. If you need more information or guidance drop us a line on: swindonhealthyschools@swindon.gov.uk