Welcome to Life & Culture

The aim of the Life and Culture curriculum is to allow students to explore important themes in a safe environment where they develop the knowledge and skills to thrive as safe, healthy, responsible individuals in both the school and the outside community. These skills will aid students to manage their lives now and in the future.  

The Life and Culture curriculum covers: the statutory PSHE (personal, social, health and economic education) guidance which includes Relationship, Sex and Health Education; British Values Social; Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural (SMSC); and Religious Education. Topics are taught each term to cover and exceed these guidelines, ensuring each lesson’s content is relevant to age and current affairs.

The Life and Culture department is led by Miss Bruce, who teaches primarily Life Lessons with Miss Wells teaching most of the Culture lessons. They are also joined by other key teachers who teach Life and Culture lessons to specific year groups. The core curriculum is also supported by external visitors such as OM Health, a team of School Nurses who run tailored workshops to each year group of bespoke aspects of the Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) curriculum.

“I have learned you are never too small to make a difference” Greta Thunberg

In Year 7 students are timetabled one 50 minute lesson of Life and one 50 minute lesson of Culture each week. Within Life lessons, students learn about topics within: Health and Wellbeing, Living in the Wider World and Relationships. In Year 7, students will build on the foundational knowledge they have built at Primary school and start to; embed their understanding; deepen their knowledge; and apply this to age appropriate scenarios. Within Culture lessons, students answer “Big Questions” from one of the following themes: Philosophy, Theology or Human and Social Science. The focus of Culture lessons in Year 7 is to provide students with an opportunity to take ownership of their thinking and learning and to form their own opinions on a range of religions and view points.