Learning for life

What students learn this year:

Year 11 is designed around the transition beyond GCSEs. The year opens with "KS5 and beyond": employability skills, post-16 choices, A Levels and BTECs, apprenticeships versus higher education and the labour market. Students then build lifelong wellbeing habits – managing stress, changing thinking habits, coping with change, loss and grief – and consider adult decisions such as tattoos, piercings and organ and blood donation. The spring term addresses drugs, alcohol, addiction and gangs, followed by safe relationships, sexual health, marriage and civil partnership, coming out, harassment and pregnancy choices. Form time in the summer term is given over to GCSE revision, with students on study leave for the final half term.

This year completes the statutory RSHE programme, covering marriage and civil partnership, sexual health, pregnancy and fertility, and recognising harassment and abuse. The post-16 unit meets the school's duties under the Baker Clause and Gatsby Benchmarks 1–8, ensuring every student receives impartial information about academic and technical routes. Wellbeing and stress-management lessons support the national focus on adolescent mental health during the examination year, while drugs and gangs work supports contextual safeguarding.

Termly overview