At Trentham Academy, we believe in providing students with the skills and knowledge they need for a successful life in the modern world. The Aspire for Life curriculum is designed to encourage students to become successful learners who have a well-rounded understanding of life both in and out of school. At the Academy, we uphold our duty to promote British Values and to contribute to the development of students’ sense of identity through knowledge and understanding of the spiritual, moral, social and cultural heritages of Britain’s diverse society and the local, national, European, Commonwealth and global dimension of their lives.

The Academy acknowledges its responsibility to foster informed discussion and protect students from the potential harm caused by extremist attitudes of all sorts. (The Government has defined extremism in the Prevent Strategy as “vocal or active opposition to fundamental British Values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs.)

Within the curriculum we also cover RSHE (relationships, sex and health education). Relationships education is compulsory for secondary schools who are required to teach students relationships and sex education (RSE). Health education is now compulsory in all schools too. This is taught across all year groups within the academy and lessons develop in depth as students move through the years.

The government have introduced statutory requirements which has made the teaching of Relationship and Sex education compulsory in primary and secondary schools across the country. Sex education within the national curriculum of Science (including teaching about reproduction in humans) is also compulsory. However, parents/carers have the right to withdraw their child from aspects of sex education within PSHE up until 3 terms prior to their child’s 16th birthday. Parents/Carers do have a right to request that their child is withdrawn from sex education, but not from Relationships education or Health Education. Parents/Carers can therefore ask their school for their child to be withdrawn from some or all of sex education lessons. 

Learning opportunities cover a range of topics based on the following themes:

• Spiritual
• Moral
• Social
• Cultural
• Health
• Finance
• Citizenship

The curriculum is delivered over 15, 1-hour sessions across the academic year. This is accompanied by 3 drop down days in which students follow a PSHE timetable for the day. It is also part of our tutor time activity programme and our assembly themes have strong PSHE themes.

Curriculum Overview:

Year 7	Year 8	Year 9	Year 10	Year 11
Travel to school	E-safety	Oral Hygiene	Aspirations	Aspirations / researching FE
Firework safety	Bullying	Healthy relationships	Alcohol awareness	Healthy relationships
Tolerance	Alcohol awareness	Body modifications	Cancer awareness	British values
MIND (mental health)	Stereotypes	E-safety	Smoking and vaping	Media influence
Positive mindset	Aspirations	Positive mindset to work	Body image	Money skills 4 future
Dangerous relationships	Positive relationships	Road safety	Drugs awareness	Healthy eating
British values (democracy)	Positive mindset	Rule of law / law and order	Mindfulness	Careers
Human rights	Healthy lifestyle	Consent	Grooming	Misogyny and social media influence
Dangers of live chatrooms	Media info/fake news	Terrorism / Radicalisation	Pathway choices	Drug and alcohol abuse
Screen time & sleep	First Aid (burns)	Fraud	Aspirations	Organised crime
Resilience and independence	Resilience	Mutual respect	Nude image sharing
Age of responsibility	Freedom of speech	Toxic masculinity / social media	Modern families
Being safe with money online	Careers	Self defense	Organised crime
Careers	Mental Health	Careers	Know your bits
Herd mentality	Homophobic / appropriate language	Underage pregnancy	Revision skills

Drop Down Days:

Year 7	Year 8	Year 9	Year 10	Year 11
Day 1	Day 1	Day 1	Day 1	Day 1
Bullying	Drug Awareness	Aspirations	Upskirting	Gangs
E-safety	Careers	Neglect abuse	Gambling	Domestic abuse
Changing body	Periods	Drug abuse	Careers	Career fair
LGBTQ+	Diversity	Best buys	Mortgages & renting	Sexual health
HIV Awareness	Gambling	Screen time	Extremism
Day 2	Day 2	Day 2	Day 2	Day 2
Careers	Sexual exploitation	Racism	Stalking and harassment	Suicide prevention
Knife Crime	Labour market	Smoking / vaping	Healthy relationships	Revision skills
Managing money	CPR and organ donation	Employee / employer	Life skills	Maths 4 life
Body image	Contraception	Forced marriage and FGM	Contraception	Careers
Road Safety	Age of responsibility	Underage pregnancy	County lines	Managing money
Day 3	Day 3	Day 3	Day 3
Sexual Exploitation	Pathway choices	First Aid	STEM challenge
Water safety	Exploitation	Unacceptable language	Money for the future
Homelessness	Positive relationships	Democracy	Knife crime
Smoking and vaping	Budgets	Self-determination / esteem etc.	First Aid
Community cohesion	Human rights	Equality	Pornography

All information regarding the topics being covered are sent out at the beginning of the academic year. When a drop-down day is planned, the topics being covered on the drop-down day are shared with parents and carers; this gives parents and carers the opportunity to continue PSHE conversations at home.

Our PSHE curriculum is regularly updated to adapt to current issues that face society today. As a result, we provide a diverse and engaging curriculum that prepares students to be successful in the wider world. 

Links to useful Resources/ Exam Specifications/ Apps

www.citizenshipfoundation.org.uk – lots of information on being an active citizen

School Election Pack – Shout Out UK – election basics

www.parliament.uk/education – election & legal information

www.amnesty.org.uk – human rights

Find out more about our careers provision here