Global and Personal Studies (GPS)
What is the intent of our GPS Curriculum?
Through the study of Global and Personal Studies, we aim to help our students guide their way through academy life and beyond, to give them an understanding of our society, their role within it and in a global context. Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks said that ‘Society is a home we build together’. We endeavour to support our students with the foundations and the skills to build a brighter future. We aim to equip our students with the knowledge, understanding, skills and confidence to deal with the challenges and many pressures of today’s society.
GPS is at the heart of the Academy and the IB Learner Profile. We challenge our students on diversity and acceptance through the promotion of British Values. GPS is a combination of Relationship and Sex Education (RSE), Personal Social Health and Economic PSHE) and Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) curriculum. It is an academic subject that encourages critical thinking, teamwork, communication and resilience.
Our core themes are families, respectful relationships, online and the media, being safe, intimate and sexual relationships including sexual health.
Co-curricular and Enrichment opportunities
- Participation in SKA community project
- Mock Trial (Year’s 8 and 9)
Years 7, 8 & 9
Our Key Stage 3 students begin in Year 7 with looking at SKA as their community to give them a feeling of belonging, then looking at Online Safety and we actively encourage positive psychical and mental well-being. We continue to challenge them through discussing democracy, the political world, civil rights movements and social issues such as human trafficking, racism, transphobia and homophobia. We tackle the difficulties that our young people face today and raise them in a safe and open environment.
Years 10
In Key Stage 4, our Year 10 students continue to develop their critical thinking skills through the topics of Crime, exploring why and who commits crime, the consequences and the impact on society. We are expanding their moral and ethical understanding through psychological experiments carried out by psychologists such as Zimbardo.
Learning valuable skills needed for being able to manage their finances, gain an understanding of mortgages and credit cards.
GPS Curriculum Overview
Parental right to request their child be excused from sex education
As outlined within the Statutory Guidance, parents/carers have the right to request their child be withdrawn from all or part of sex education lessons that are delivered as part of RSHE. More information on the lessons which are included within our definition of Sex Education as well as information on how you can request for your child to be withdrawn can be found on our RSHE page here.
For more information on how we define the various aspects of Relationships, Sex and Health Education please see our RSHE policy which is available here.
The lessons which, in light of our definitions (see our RSHE policy for more details) are considered by the Academy to be ‘sex education’ are as follows:
In Year 7 the following lessons are included within our definition. These are all covered in Term 6 of Year 7:
- Puberty and Body Changes
- Period products and Sexual Advice
In Year 9 the following lessons are included within our definition. These are covered across Terms 4-6 of Year 9:
- Contraception
- STIs
- Sexual Identity
- Self-Examination
- Human Sexual Response and Masturbation
In Year 10 the following lessons are included within our definition. These are covered in Terms 6 of Year 10:
- Pornography
