Life Skills at Abersychan School Life skills is currently taught by all form tutors.  At KS3 and in year 11, pupils have 2 timetabled hours a fortnight in addition to the 60 minutes (3x20 minutes) form tutor period sessions.  In year 10 all pupils have 3 hours per fortnight due to the introduction of the Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification (WBQ) in September 2010, plus the form tutor time.

Form Tutor Time

Every Monday there is a whole school assembly. During the assembly, the ‘Thought of the Week’ is introduced to the pupils.  The 3 form tutor sessions are structured in relation to this ‘thought’.  During these sessions the pupils are required to write the ‘thought’ in their planners, discuss its meaning and how it relates to their own lives and finally, towards the end of the week, the pupils reflect on the ‘thought’. Life Skills lessons Year 7 Throughout this academic year, year 7 are following the SEAL programme ‘Grange-Enders’.  This programme incorporates the 5 themes of SEAL.  Each term the staff and year 7 pupils have a specific focus theme such as ‘Being Safe’ or ‘Making a positive contribution’ for example.  The pupils are issued with a ‘passport’ which staff are encouraged to sign when they observe a pupil fulfilling one or more of the targets.  An example of a target would be ‘I have made someone feel good’. In addition to this programme, the pupils have  Sex and Relationship Education lessons which focus on topics such as sexual relationships, puberty and periods.  The year group also participate in the ‘Kiddo’s Choice’ day which is delivered by external providers and focuses on anti-social behaviour. Year 8 & 9 The form tutors deliver the lessons.  Current topics include ‘All about me’ (year 9) and ‘Healthy/Unhealthy relationships’ (year 8).  In addition, the pupils experience talks from the Police Community Officer (PCO) on the topics of ‘Drugs’ and ‘Internet Safety’. Year 10 The WBQ team deliver all of the requirements of the WBQ, including the PSE elements. These are taught in a carousel, utilising staff strengths and interests.  The RE departments teaches a module of work which considers healthy and unhealthy relationships and during this module the PCO delivers a talk on domestic abuse. We also have a second cohort of pupils about to begin mental wellbeing training and these will become peer teachers once accredited.  Emotional wellbeing is one of the key areas for further development in the PSE development plan. Another skills-set that has been deemed essential is that of first aid training.  This year all of the year 10 pupils will be undertaking the accredited St. John’s Young Lifesavers first aid programme. During the summer term, the pupils will participate in the ‘DNA’ day, which focuses on substance/alcohol misuse and is delivered by a range of external specialists. Year 11 As with years 8 & 9, this group are taught by their form tutors.  The most recent topic for year 11 is has been ‘Car Ownership’ (Preparing for Lifelong Learning).  This module of work is supported by a talk delivered by the PCO on car crime. Sex and Relationship Education Within school, there is a Sex Ed. Team.  This team is responsible for the delivery of sex related education throughout the school. The group has received training from the sexual health team within the LEA.   Learning to Learn Year 7 & 8 currently have a discrete L2L timetabled lesson.  This programme of study focuses on the skills necessary for encouraging successful lifelong learning. School Council (Active Citizenship) The school has an active school council who meet once every half term. Hustings and elections took place at the start of the Autumn term across the whole school.  All pupils participated in the voting procedures. Resource Management For each topic area, there are ‘resource boxes’ set up.  Within these boxes there are the lesson plans and resources necessary for the delivery of the lessons.  These are stored in the PSE resource area and distributed as required.  In addtiona, al staff have access to additional resources e.g. Boardworks package, video clips etc. on the school’s intra-net.  Every classroom has an interactive whiteboard and all departments have laptop facilities.  The school plaza is available for Life Skills lessons as required. The use of ICT in PSE is greatly encouraged.