Curriculum Intent
Life Skills at Southend High School for Girls aims to develop students with the knowledge, skills, and attributes that they 
need to keep themselves healthy and safe and prepare for life, further study and work in modern Britain. Southend High School for Girls aims to provide a coherent programme of personal, health, social, citizenship and careers education, including post 16, post 18 and beyond. Students will be encouraged to maximise their personal development in order to progress and enable them the ability to enjoy success both in and out of academics. The Life Skills curriculum at Southend High School for Girls reflects the PSHE Association syllabus which equips students to live healthy, safe, productive, capable, and responsibly balanced lives through the three core themes of ‘Health and Wellbeing, Relationships, and Living in the Wider World’. Through these core themes and a spiral curriculum, students are invited to reflect on and clarify their own values and attitudes whilst exploring the views of others even if they conflict their own. A main aim of Life Skills at Southend High School for Girls is to value, appreciate and consider what it means to be a member of a diverse community.
What does it feel like to be a student in a Life Skills lesson?
As a student of Life Skills, you are open to listening, debating, learning and celebrating the similarities and differences of those around us, especially within the Southend High School for Girls community. You will learn about the Equality Act, Protected Characteristics and British Values. You are encouraged to ask questions and expand your knowledge of the world around you so that you have everything you need to enter the world with confidence. You will have open conversations that focus on topics that are prevalent in the modern day; sexting, sexual harassment and consent, online safety, and risk taking to name a few. You will learn about how to reach out for support from the Safeguarding team in school and from External Agencies.
In Life Skills you will discuss the pressures of life; considering how to remain healthy both mentally and physically. You will be provided with a variety of coping mechanisms for example ‘how to think about nothing’ and writing journals. Such lessons are particularly scheduled around the stressful points of school life such as PUPS and PPES.
Your Life Skills experience is also supplemented by a variety of external speakers that are specialists in topics such as Driving Safety, Drugs Education, consent, first Aid and different family types. You experience these both in small classes as timetabled and as whole year groups off timetable. Further to this, your personal development is also built into the registration programme where you engage in programmes such as Picture News, Oxplore and Journey of Life.