Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education (PSHCE)

News

Year 7 and Year 10 picnic - Thursday 9th July 2009

Once again the Year 10 forms rose to the challenge of providing Year 7 (in house groups) with challenging team building activities – and heaps of food! We were really impressed with how organised they were and how they pulled together to make the activities varied and successful. Thank you, Year 10 (and we do tell them not to bring very much food – but there are always mountains – and somehow it always disappears).

Rags and Riches – Year 12 Citizenship Day - Friday 12th June 2009

On return from study leave for AS exams, Sixth Formers at Oxford High took part in a citizenship day focusing on the theme of fashion. They heard about Oxfam’s work with the developing world and how they are recycling clothes in more ways than one, visited local museums to look at textiles and costume, and tried their hands at spinning, weaving and rag rug making.

In their feedback on their ‘Rags and Riches’ Citizenship Day the Year 12s used words like ‘inspiring’, ‘fun’ and ‘a really bonding experience’. The idea behind the day was to provoke debate, provide knowledge and encourage team building, and the theme was the global textile industry. What sort of messages do we give off via our clothes? Should we be thinking more carefully about what and where we buy? How can we be ethical consumers and cutting edge fashionistas at the same time?

The day began with one of its highlights, hearing from Mrs Anna Thorne about Oxfam’s latest initiative, Oxfam DIY, involving top designers and second hand clothing. She had brought some of the outfits with her, and we were enthralled to see and hear how we can recycle, look glamorous and help the less well off all at once. Later on a group of girls got to make the OHS version of Oxfam DIY using bags of clothes kindly donated by the Cowley Road Oxfam (watch their window to see what we produced). Others visited local museums to look at textiles and costume, had a go at spinning or rag rug making, or selected yet more clothes from Oxfam and experiencing some of the ways and materials with which humans have dressed themselves throughout the ages. The People and Planet workshop came up with an initiative for recycling fashions in school. The whole year ended the day by putting on a sustainable and fair trade fashion show using clothes from Oxfam, Trading for Development and paper dresses they’ve made themselves. Many thanks to Mrs Thorne and Oxfam, Judith Condor-Vidal, Ashmolean guide Mrs Sheila Hills, the Oxford Guild of Spinners and Weavers and all the others who ran activities.

Year 10 Model United Nations General Assembly - Thursday 7th May 2009

Year 10 MUNGA saw excellent levels of knowledge on issues and country background from the students, as well as some interesting notions regarding national dress. They came fully prepared for heated debate on global warming, and even if they didn’t save the planet, the Greenpeace team’s costumes certainly stole the show and their impassioned intervention certainly raised the temperature in the hall. The emergency debate on Sudan and Darfur brought everyone to their feet.

“We genuinely learnt a lot on a diverse range of topics, which we would not have learnt had we not done MUNGA.”

“We appreciated the way that the sixth formers gave up their afternoon to help.”

“We liked having a go at the USA and listening to their rubbish excuses!”

Oxfordshire Model United Nations General Assembly - Monday 9th March 2009

“After several weeks spent researching our countries, we made our way to Exeter Hall in Kidlington for a model session of the UN General Assembly. This year, 4 teams from OHS took part, representing USA, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Brazil and Iran. The USA team from OHS immediately made their presence known with their sparkly cowboy hats and flashing badges.

“The first debate was about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; we had to review how successfully it had been implemented over the past 60 years. The USA team made the opening statement, praising the efforts of certain countries but complaining that others were not doing enough to protect human rights. The OHS team from Iran immediately took issue with this, asking the Americans to assess their own human rights record before criticising that of other countries. Thus, predictably, the Assembly was immediately split along pro and anti American lines. From then on, it proved to be quite difficult to reconcile the two sides!

“After the main debate, we split into three committees, each of which discussed a different topic: climate change, nuclear weapons and food security. By the end of the session, each committee had drafted a resolution to be put forward in the final general meeting at the end of the day.

“The final activity was an emergency debate on the crisis in Sudan, which was led by the members of the Security Council. This was a fairly difficult task as we had to get our heads around a complicated topic very quickly. It did however give us a sense of the kind of pressures faced by real politicians at meetings of the UN.

“Overall, the day was extremely rewarding. As well as giving us a greater appreciation of the countries that we were representing, it gave us many insights into the world of international politics. We came to realise just how predictable factions within the UN are – and how frustrating it is to wait your turn while every other country has their say! One of us was also the Deputy President, which meant she got a chance to chat with the knowledgeable Malcolm Harper, the event’s guru and adviser!”

Oxford High Students are runners up in Unicef J8 competition - April 2008

In March, Poppy Maxwell and I, together with two boys from MCS, took part in the J8 competition. J8 is a citizenship competition run by Unicef linked to the G8 summit, which gives young people the chance to come up with their own solution for the major issues facing the world today such as climate change and HIV/AIDS. The winning team from each country travels to the G8 summit (this year in Japan), where they prepare a communiqué that is ultimately presented directly to the G8 leaders.

Saving the World - Olivia Elder (Y12) sheds some light on solving the world’s problems at J8

“This was our second time of entering the competition (most people thought we were mad). Although it was nice that we knew each other a lot better this time around, it did mean that things got a lot more heated (and more easily distracted) at meetings: last year, we had just deferred to each other politely…

“In April, we found out that our team, Future Vision, had been selected as one of the finalists for the UK and were invited to a selection day in London which for me was probably the highlight of the whole competition. After a short presentation by each of the teams (ours, typically, was only finished off in the café ten minutes beforehand), we took part in a series of different activities. The best session was one entitled “Meet the Expert”, in which we were able to discuss our ideas with professionals, such as a diplomat and charity workers. It was also great to be able to meet other teams and share their very different perspectives on global issues. There were some minor disagreements between the teams during the discussions, and we were very glad that we had George and Sumukh on our team to quote complicated figures at anyone who tried to contradict us. However, in general everyone got along well and we all made some new friends.

“Although we didn’t win, we did manage to come second which we were all very pleased with. Overall, J8 was a fantastic experience that I would definitely recommend. Not only did it give me the chance to meet new people, but it also made me think a lot more carefully about the world, which I think is very important. We’ve all agreed that we won’t enter again, but thinking about it, maybe we will. After all, third time lucky…”

Year 10 Model United Nations General Assembly May 15th 2008

Year 10 had prepared over several weeks for their mini-MUNGA and came to the afternoon well informed about their countries and the issues. 

The United States head of state opened the debate on human slavery with a speech extolling the high ideals of the US constitution and the fact that the US had long moved on from its unfortunate past.  It was not long however before Cuba was on the attack, the United Kingdom came to the aid of its transatlantic friend, and within a short while Zimbabwe was on its feet to denounce its one-time colonial master and its allies. 

Many country teams came in a version of national dress, with the French particularly flamboyant (shaky accents and shaky moustaches adding humour to the occasion).

While committees convened to frame resolutions on human slavery (all highly idealistic and eventually passed), the security council met to learn the details of an emergency debate on Darfur.  The ensuing debate was passionate, with Sudan making an especially eloquent plea to be left alone to manage its own affairs: in vain, as Sudan and its Chinese friends were overruled by the vast majority of the countries voting.

“It was really good fun … it’s made me think I might want to do something like that when I’m older,” was a comment from one of the Indian delegates afterwards. 

Year 9 Health Day

On Wednesday February 27th Year 9 had a day off-timetable for a series of sessions promoting a healthy lifestyle.  In previous years we have run these activities during timetabled Tutor Period sessions, but have responded to girls’ requests for more time and more work in smaller groups.  They thoroughly enjoyed the initial presentation from DRED on harmful substances.

“The atmosphere was great fun but serious.  The powerpoint was good… Bob and Barry seemed really friendly and you felt like you could talk out everything and ask questions.”
“I really enjoyed this session because it was really informative and it was easy to relate the info into your own life.  I learnt loads about different types of drugs and what they do … I also learnt about what a big effect drugs can have on you generally.”

The students responded warmly to discussions in smaller groups for the rest of the day.  DRED led groups in talking about alcohol and caffeine drinks, while CWAC (Children With Aids Charity) facilitated discussions on relationships and self-esteem.  A break from all the talking was the yoga session, with a chance to relax at the end of it.

 “DRED didn’t tell us never to drink, just to drink sensibly.”
“The videos were very powerful … made us all aware of the risks associated with alcohol.”
“The CWAC session was legendary.  I found it really informative because we could ask ANYTHING because a teacher wasn’t there … Amena was fantastic!”
“It was really useful to know what was myth and what was fact…”
“She talked to us as if we were her own age and wasn’t patronising … we got to ask questions, do activities and learnt a lot.”

We’re very pleased that Year 9 enjoyed the day so much, and we’ll consider their suggestions for improving it further.

Year 12 and Year 6 team building, Tuesday 5th February 2008

The two year six classes came up from the Junior School for a session with the Sixth Form.  While one class went with 12S to bond over photographs, glue and picture frames in the Art Department, the other sprang into action with scissors, Selotape and newspaper in the Hall, under the guidance of 12X.  Read about their reactions in the Junior School section here.

Pastoral Picnic

On the penultimate day of term, the Year 10 forms each laid on a picnic for the Year 7s.  They chose a different themes – 10O was the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, 10G the colours of the rainbow.  10S went for Wimbledon and 10H for Harry Potter.  The Year 7s, split into their four houses, were expertly led in icebreakers, games and scoffing the spread provided by the Year 10s.  Staff were really impressed by the verve and organising skills of the older girls (especially at this stage in the term!).  They were equally impressed by the gourmandising skills of the Year 7s – who would have thought they could get through so much food?

It’s A Small World  – Year 12 Citizenship Day
Tuesday 12th June 2007

Most of us enjoy at least one holiday a year – maybe even more!  Many of those involve going “abroad”.  So what are the issues raised by tourism’s popularity?  Why do we choose our holidays?  What is the impact of travel on the places visited?  When did it all start?  Does travel really broaden the mind?

On return from study leave Year 12s took part in a Citizenship Day focusing on the theme of tourism. They heard speakers from People and Planet and from Tourism Concern, visited city centre attractions such as Oxford Castle to look at the way Oxford plans for and treats its visitors, and engaged with the global impact of their own holiday choices. 

Students began the tourist experience on an open topped red bus into Oxford laid on courtesy of Citysightseeing Oxford – definitely a highlight of the day!  It culminated with a dramatic tour guide to tourism, from the 18th Century Grand Tour to the modern Gap Year experience, put on by the students themselves.

Citizenship isn’t just something to be seen in the abstract – it’s a way of engaging with the world.  The day was a fun and hands on way of thinking about our behaviour as tourists and the impact of tourism globally – an industry which employs 11% of the planet’s workers.

Presentations on Health and Personal Safety

Years 8, 9 and 10 had a very useful presentation from the CEOP Centre on child exploitation and on-line protection; you can find out more by looking at their website.  Both Year 9 and Year 10 have heard presentations on alcohol from DRED UK, an outside group with specialist expertise in this area.  Y12 and 13 heard Emma Cole from Positive Voice deliver her hard hitting message about relationships and taking care of your sexual health; Year 13 had a visit from the Suzy Lamplugh Trust to prepare them for personal safety in the wider world, especially on Gap year travel.

Justice and the Law

Year 10 ran the Magistrate’s Court Mock Trial, with the expert help of real life magistrate Andrée Blakemore, while Year 11 completed their Criminal Justice module with a Crown Court Mock Trial, assisted by Mrs Louise Gullifer. They also had a ‘Body Matters’ activities session, which included a Pilates session and a skincare workshop with Lush beauty products as well as a Rock’n’Roll option (vital to complete the sex’n’drugs aspect of PSHCE!).

Our thanks go to parents and others who have given their time to enhancing the PSHCE programme this year, and those who have already offered to come in next year. We really do value their expertise and are delighted to welcome those who are prepared to talk to a class or a year group.

Oxfordshire Model United Nations General Assembly 2007

On 12th March 2007 16 Year 12 students headed for Kidlington’s Exeter Hall to debate refugees, water, women’s health and other global issues with their peers from other Oxfordshire schools. We were representing China, The Democratic Republic of the Congo Israel, Lebanon and Venezuela, and before long our Heads of State were on their feet, speechifying, arguing and proposing resolutions. One student, Natasha Morrison, acted as Deputy President and got to sit on the platform with Malcolm Harper, the venerable Acting President.

Our China team were very ready to assure the rest of the room that they really ought to be flocking to the China table in order to win friends and influence people; the DRC spoke of that country’s continuing problems, despite massive UN involvement; Lebanon of course had much to say about the aftermath of the recent war there. Israel probably took more of a verbal battering than any other team in the room, and the three delegates stood up for their government’s position vigorously. Meanwhile the Venezuelans were happy to report that their country has the most charismatic President in the world so no wonder people wanted to go there!

It was a really exciting and enjoyable day (“MUNGA – it was GREAT!!!” said one of the delegates) and the students were really well prepared with knowledge of their country and of relevant global issues.

Junior 8 Global Citizenship competition

Four teams of Y10 students from Oxford High School took part in this year's J8 global citizenship programme. The programme mirrors the topics discussed by the G8 leaders at their annual summit. Working with students from Magdalen College School, all four teams put together communiques to enter into the J8 competition.  We are very pleased that two of those teams (Campaign for Change, and Fabulinus) were shortlisted (click http://www.j8summit.com/uk/pages/4/359  for a full list of shortlisted entrants and to look at the J8 website). All the students worked really hard, in their own time, to master really challenging topics, ranging from Intellectual Property Rights to Economic Development in Africa. Although it wasn’t our team that finally went forward to the J8 summit in Germany, taking part was really worthwhile and great fun too!  We are also thrilled that Campaign For Change have been highly commended in the British Computer Society (Oxfordshire) Schools Web Competition for their powerpoint based entry which they converted to a website – click here to see their ideas.

On 26th February Year 7 enjoyed Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?, a hard-hitting, fast-moving and very funny play provided by Oxfordshire County Council’s road safety education programme, with a follow-up workshop.

On the same day, Year 9 was gripped by their drugs education talk from Evolutions. It had a terrific impact – we hope the message sticks.

European Youth Parliament

On 1st February 2007 our team of eight Year 12 students headed for St Hugh’s College in some trepidation to debate issues such as Air Travel, Energy Security and Human Rights with other keen minds from schools from as far away as Gloucestershire. Would we have prepared enough? How eloquent would the other teams be? Would we dare to open our mouths? We need not have worried – we got thrown in at the deep end as our motion was moved to the beginning, so the worst was got over with quickly. It was a really interesting day, and we even enjoyed the French debate at the end.

What is PSHCE?

PSHCE is not just a set of initials – although as the latest government initiative hits the postboxes it may sometimes feel like that! Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education is about preparing pupils for life and enabling them to develop into well-informed, healthy adults and useful members of their community. A tall order! But we hope that with the support of their homes, our pupils are already at least half way to making informed independent decisions about the issues affecting them at school and in society.

From Year 7 to Year 13 they are given guidance and provided with resources in six main areas:

• Values
• Health (including drugs, sex and relationships education)
• Study Skills
• Careers
• Citizenship
• Charity

Who teaches Citizenship and PSHE?

First and foremost, of course, parents! Every child comes to us from a family and each of our students’ individual background and needs is very much in our minds when we devise the PSHCE courses.

At school, PSHCE is inevitably closely linked with the Pastoral programme, and nearly every member of staff is responsible for some part of PSHCE.

• Form tutors take most PSHCE sessions with their forms
• The Head of Citizenship & PSHE, Ms Mari Girling, coordinates the programme across the senior department and liaises with the Junior School
• The Head of Sixth Form, Miss Rachael Pallas-Brown advises on and monitors the PSHCE programme in the sixth form
• Dr Sarah Squire, Head of Upper School, Miss Julie Bramall, Head of Years Eight and Nine, and Miss Sue Berry, Head of Year Seven, all participate actively in the running and content of PSHCE sessions in their sections
• The Head of Student Health, Mrs Denise Flannery, is an invaluable part of the team. She takes lessons throughout the school on physical health and wellbeing
• The School Doctor, Dr Godlee, is always available for advice and comes into school for specific sessions
• The Head of Careers, Mrs Angela Finch, liaises closely with the PSHCE programme in providing Careers Education throughout the Senior Department
• Mrs Jane Berry coordinates charity work throughout the school
• The school caterers, Avenance, are an invaluable element of the nutrition element of PSHCE
• Invited speakers deliver specialist sessions, for example DRED UK lead Year 9 and Year 10 sessions on harmful substances, and the Driving Standards Association talk to Year 12 about road safety
• Outside groups provide stimulating and exciting enrichment sessions; for example, we are included in Oxfordshire County Council’s theatre in education programme. Year 7 are able to enjoy “Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?” at the same time getting the message about individual responsibility

What resources are there?

There is a well-stocked section of the main library. The School Nurse and the Head of PSHCE both have a library of resources for staff to consult and where appropriate for girls to use. Outside agencies provide up to date literature. Newspapers, magazines, television and radio are constant sources of fresh information. There is a good selection of suitable videos. We avoid worksheets, instead focusing on information, discussion, drama and project work.

What timetable allocation is there?

There is one dedicated 35 minute session per week. There are occasional off-timetable activities for different year groups, such as J8 in Year 10 and MUNGA in the Sixth Form. Citizenship in particular is addressed in assemblies, in the course of subject teaching and in the general life of the school: school council, form assistants, Amnesty club, People and Planet – the list could be very long indeed. Year 12 has European Day and Citizenship Day after Mocks in the summer. Every form adopts a Charity and we create a Giving Week display in the Summer.