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The Optimus blog

The blog that inspires leaders in the UK education sector

The Optimus blog

The blog that inspires leaders in the UK education sector

PSHE

Richard Palmer
5 July 2023

Transgender issues and what schools can do

Trans identity is highly contested and political. Richard Palmer will explore some of the complexities and competing agendas for schools. Currently, there is no definitive DfE guidance about supporting trans pupils in school, or how at all, trans identity should be included in the curriculum. Many...
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Rebecca Jennings
30 May 2023

Tailoring your RSHE curriculum

The DfE has announced a review of RSHE to be carried out by the end of this year. Rebecca Jennings discusses the concerns raised and how to enhance RSHE delivery. As an RSHE subject matter expert, my recent work with the DfE has been to support staff by creating staff training modules around the...
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Richard Palmer
8 November 2022

Assessing PSHE: problems and solutions

How can you show your PSHE curriculum meets the needs of pupils? Richard Palmer considers five challenges with the assessment of PSHE and how to overcome them. Go straight to What are the main challenges The way forward The power of the NWH approach What form of evidence do we need Schools must...
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Angela Milliken-Tull
19 October 2022

Seven ways to lead and develop a PSHE curriculum

How can you give PSHE and personal development a platform in your setting? Angela Milliken-Tull provides seven tips to develop your PSHE programme and overcome negative stereotypes. Look on any social media platform, and you will see countless apps and gurus extolling the benefits of a dazzling...
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Richard Palmer
28 September 2022

LGBTQ+ education: what’s too little and what’s too much?

‘Make PSHE education as inclusive and balanced as possible.’ In the second of two parts, Richard Palmer explains how to take a non-siloed approach to PSHE. We start part two of this blog on LGBTQ+ education by asking the question – too little or too much? As a child who was educated in the 1970s...
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Richard Palmer
21 September 2022

What LGBTQ+ education should we provide?

In the first of two parts, Richard Palmer explores what LGBTQ+ education looks like, what’s ‘age-appropriate’ and poses questions to help review your provision. In the world of PSHE, LGBTQ+ is one of the most controversial issues. Some teachers worry they aren’t doing enough; others are concerned...
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Dana Abdulkarim
17 August 2022

Ignore PSHE at your peril!

Knowing your pupils and localising PSHE for them is crucial in helping them flourish. Dana Abdulkarim explains why devoting time and resource to PSHE is worth it. As a pupil and even when I first qualified to teach, PSHE and all that comes within it were sleeping dinosaurs in most schools. A...
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Lucy Marcovitch
18 November 2021

Five ways to teach RSHE with confidence

Guest blogger Lucy Marcovitch, writer, educator and series editor Discovery Education’s Health and Relationships programme shares her top five strategies for building confidence in teaching relationships, sex and health education. No matter how good a school’s RSHE provision might be, there is...
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Luke Ramsden
8 June 2021

Navigating digital media: an essential part of the school curriculum?

Luke Ramsden makes the case for the explicit teaching of media and digital literacy to equip young people for a world of limitless information. If you look at the front page and mission statement of any school around the country you are likely to see that they boast that they are teaching for a ‘...
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Charlie Roden
2 April 2020

Wellbeing podcast: body image and eating disorders

In the fourth episode of the Optimus wellbeing podcast, Charlie Roden looks at the factors contributing to negative body image, how this can affect mental health and what can be done to support children and young people. Body image is how we think and feel about our appearance, and how we think...
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