Life Skills is an essential part of the curriculum for all students across all key stages. Life Skills helps students, in both academic and non-academic areas of school life, by providing them with learning opportunities that will allow students to reflect on current issues and debates, and form their own opinions. Life Skills aims to create well informed, active citizens who can play a positive role in society.

Why Study Life Skills

In life skills you will develop your knowledge and understanding in a range of key areas including health and wellbeing, relationships and living in the wider world, including careers education. 

Course Content

Our curriculum is built on three core themes; Relationships, Health & Wellbeing, and Living in the Wider World. Within each theme, students will develop the knowledge and understanding of key concepts to enable them to flourish in the real world. Students will be equipped with the language needed to question and debate in order to positively challenge inequality and present an informed viewpoint. Students will be guided to reflect on their position and status in society whilst appreciating others. Misconceptions and stigmas will be challenged through thoughtful discussion. Students will also increase their participation in bringing about positive change within the school and wider community.

Subject Units and Assessment Outline

Living in the Wider World: Students identify their own strengths, interests, skills, and qualities including their value to future employability and strategies to further develop them. Students will learn about different types of work, including post-16 and post-18 education options. Whilst working with the careers team, students will be given access to an online careers programme that will enable them to consider the choices that are available to them at each transition point.

Health and Wellbeing: Students learn how to manage transition and maintain physical, mental, and emotional health and wellbeing. Students will be able to make informed choices about health and wellbeing matters including drugs, alcohol, healthy lifestyle choices, as well as given information around mental and emotional health. Students will evaluate the effect that good and poor health have on the wider world, including our public services and society.

Relationships: Students are given the opportunities to learn about the qualities and behaviours associated with a wide range of relationships, including friendships and family relationships. It allows them to explore the range of positive qualities people bring to relationships and understand that these relationships can cause strong feeling and emotions (including sexual attraction). They will understand the signs of consent, whilst understanding the facts about contraception and the risks related to unprotected sex. Students will understand that there is a diversity in sexual attraction and that sexism, homophobia, and transphobia is unacceptable.

You can find more information about Life Skills at Wath Academy here