PSHE

Personal, Social and Health education (PSHE) and Relationship and Sex education (RSE) are a crucial part of the modern curriculum; helping prepare our students to become responsible and informed young adults who will thrive and be able to face the challenges and opportunities of modern. We are proud to be leading the way, adopting the advice and guidance from the government regarding PSHE and also the new statutory introduction of RSE. 

The Head of the PSHE department is Dr Amanda Gemmill, not only one of our biology teachers, but a practising medical doctor. She has spent the last thirteen years practising medicine, working at a large London teaching hospital, locally at the Royal Berkshire Hospital and more recently in General Practice. She has been involved in teaching undergraduates and postgraduates throughout her medical career and it was her enthusiasm for this that prompted a move into teaching at The Oratory. Her depth of subject knowledge and its applications enable her to not only teach the core curriculum, but to bring her specialist skills and experience, inspiring the students to think beyond the classroom.

So far in PSHE this year, in our weekly protected sessions we have covered core themes including: Health and Well being, Relationships, and Living in the wider world.

We are lucky to have a huge breadth of in house knowledge as many of our staff have specialist interests. In house expert talks have been given on the topics of Consent, study skills, adventure and travel planning. 

Dr Amanda Gemmill - Head of PSHE

A wide range of outside specialist speakers have been invited to share their knowledge and experiences, including Vicky Gosling OBE, CEO of the Invictus Games, Captain Dave Henson MBE, Invictus Team Captain and Paralympian as part of Disability Awareness week. They gave a captivating talk together explaining the concept behind the Invictus Games, their personal stories, and how Invictus embodies the fighting spirit and tenacity of injured service men and women. We have also had interesting, informative talks and interactive sessions from the Teenage Cancer Trust, Elevate Study Skills and Bob Tait, ex Naval Drugs Officer talking about the dugs and alcohol. We also arranged for a separate parents session on this important issue.

Next term we have a huge variety of talks to look forward to: Staying safe online and cyberbullying, eating disorder awareness, the importance of communication skills for life - we have a Formula 1 Race engineer coming to speak to the boys about the importance of communication and teamwork under pressure.