Life Skills

Life Skills:  Being My Best Self

Life Skills is the Personal, Social,Health and Economic education of children. It became statutory in September 2020 and we have created a bespoke curriculum to reflect our children, igniting in them a desire to be active global citizens and to be their best selves. Life Skills is included in every aspect of life at Monkhouse - in lessons, assemblies and through groups such as Pupil Leaders, Eco Warriors, Young Sports Leaders and Opal Leaders.

The Life Skills curriculum has been broken down into 6 categories:

• Families, friendships and relationships 
• Understanding their place in the world
• Values
• Safety
• Physical well-being
• Mental well-being 

Each year group has set, specific objectives that are relevant to the children within that age range. This allows children to consistently develop their understanding about each of these six areas as they progress through school. Through these strands, we have a broad, balanced and inclusive curriculum, which can link to other areas of the curriculum when relevant. 

What it looks like in our school

At Monkhouse, we recognise the importance of Life Skills for our children to develop into future citizens who have a passion for creating a positive impact in the world around them. This subject can be taught alone for specific areas but Life Skills is often incorporated into our projects. Life Skills is ingrained into our real world projects where we consider different aspects of the curriculum and how these apply in real world contexts. For example, our projects about the industrial revolution and coal mining in the North East focus on communities and the impact on health. Our eco projects incorporate elements of caring for each other and the planet. 

Lessons engage and challenge the children to understand an alternative point of view or lifestyle different to their own. All children are encouraged to contribute in some way and develop their own skills. It can be taught through role play, discussions observations, thus encouraging children to recognise their own views and respect those of others. 

Every week, each class has a collective worship session. These sessions allow children to reflect and share their thoughts and opinions about different aspects of friendship, family, health, safety and the world around them.

We aim to prepare our children to become confident global citizens who can see the importance their impact and others  has on the local and  wider community.

Useful Links

Family Support

At Monkhouse family involvement in a child's education is crucial for their success, and having parents come in to support their child's learning can greatly enhance the educational experience. Having open lines of communication between teachers and parents encourages parents to reach out with any questions or concerns they may have about their child's education. At Monkhouse we offer workshops for parents to learn about the teaching methods and curriculum used in the school. These workshops can provide insights into how children are taught and give parents the tools to support their child's learning at home.

Aspirations and extra 

Through the teaching of Life Skills we emphasise the importance of the whole child and their unique potential and development to become part of the global community and see other people’s and their impact on a personal and wider level. We have links to many outside agencies  ( such as Show Racism the Red Card, RNLI and HMD ) to broaden understanding of the wider community.