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VIEW FROM THE CLASSROOM
Helping children understand a complex world
located in east Leeds. It has the highest level of children eligible for Free School Meals in the city and the second highest volume of children with special educational needs. The number of children who have English as an additional language is nearly double the city-wide average and there are 47 different languages spoken in our school. In 2017, the school was placed in Special Measures by Ofsted in 2017 and became part of The GORSE Academies Trust later that year. In its first inspection following academisation, Richmond Hill Academy was graded ‘Good’ overall with three areas of ‘Outstanding.’ Our school values of courage, aspirations,
respect and excellence matter deeply to us and we are very proud of the school’s journey so far.
I
n our ever-popular View from the classroom feature this month we are
delighted to hear from Anna Mackenzie, Principal at Richmond Hill Academy, part of The GORSE Academies Trust, which has recently had its work in the PSHE space hailed as ‘breathtaking’ by Ofsted. Anna discusses the work the school has done on improving PSHE provision, the impact this has had on the school, and the benefits that have accrued.
Tell us about your school Richmond Hill Academy is a large primary school
Why did you choose to focus on PSHE? At Richmond Hill Academy we want to ensure that all children receive a high quality Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education. Our priority is to help our children to develop skills to manage their lives, emotions, relationships and their futures. PSHE at our school provides children with a comfortable and safe environment to discuss how they are feeling, their health and the development of their bodies, as well as keeping them safe by enabling them to understand what a healthy relationship looks like. By doing this, we are ensuring our children
leave primary school as honest individuals who are kind and understand their own emotions and
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how to manage them in a healthy and positive way. We understand that this is a central and vital part of all pupils’ education, and despite it being a non-statutory subject, it is paramount that we provide children with the skills and knowledge that they need throughout their time at school and their everyday lives. The subject makes a crucial contribution to schools' duties. At Richmond Hill Academy, we encourage our
pupils to play an active and positive role in contributing to the life of the school and its wider community. Through doing this, we help develop children’s independence, responsibility and help create a strong sense of self-worth. We believe that PSHE provides the vital start
through discrete and focussed lessons to develop each child’s values in order for them to become a positive member of society, who celebrates diversity in all its forms and can implement changes within their community both now and in years to come.
How do you implement PSHE? As a school, we follow the Islington theme to educate our pupils on: Sex and Relationships (SRE), drugs and tobacco, keeping safe and managing risk, mental health and wellbeing, careers and financial wellbeing, identity and society and equality and physical wellbeing. This offers a clear and comprehensive scheme of work in line with the National Curriculum. The Islington scheme will equip our children with the
July/August 2022
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