KS3 PSHE

Year 8 PSHE - Digital Literacy

The internet is an incredible tool for learning, creating, and staying connected. However, just like navigating a busy city, exploring the digital world requires specific skills to stay safe and sharp. This term, we are focusing heavily on digital literacy, equiping our students with the tools they need to be smart, skeptical, and safe online citizens.

1. Spotting the Fake: Online Manipulation

Not everything on your screen is reality. From highly edited social media photos to AI-generated "deepfake" videos and completely fabricated news stories, fake content is everywhere. Often, this content is designed specifically to manipulate how we think, feel, or spend money. Influencers and algorithms work together to create an idealised version of reality, which can easily warp our perspectives.

2. The Power of Critical Thinking

How do we fight back against online manipulation? The answer is critical thinking. We are encouraging students to pause before they click, like, or share, and ask themselves a few key questions:

• Who created this? Is it a reliable source, or just someone looking for clicks?
• What is the goal? Are they trying to inform me, scare me, or sell me something?
• Is there proof? Can I find this same information on other trusted websites?

By learning to question what they see, students protect themselves from being misled.

3. Staying Safe: Understanding Online Grooming

Digital literacy isn't just about spotting fake news; it is also about recognising real danger. One of the most critical safety topics we address is online grooming. Grooming happens when someone builds an online relationship with a young person to gain their trust and eventually exploit or harm them. These individuals often pretend to be peers, offer compliments, send gifts in online games, or ask for secrets. A Golden Rule for Students: If an online "friend" ever asks you to keep a secret, send a photo, or move your conversation to a private app, tell a trusted adult immediately.

Partners in Safety

We encourage parents to keep the conversation going at home. Ask your children about the apps they use, discuss how easy it is to fake things online, and remind them that your door is always open if something online makes them feel uncomfortable.

Let's work together to keep our community safe, smart, and digitally literate!

Below is a summary of what students have learnt this term.

“We learned how to understand how you can be manipulated without even knowing. We learned how to be safe and know what internet information is false like deep fakes.” Titus

“What I learned is that you shouldn't talk to someone online that you don't know, don't meet up with them and tell a trusted adult like your teachers or your parents/gardians.” Nathaniel

“What I learnt from my PSHE lessons: never believe things online too easily. Info you see online may be fake/misinformation. Don't trust strangers you find online so easily. Never meet up with someone you found online without an adult or in a place without people.” Alice

“In our PSHE lessons, I learned to be more careful about checking whether things are real or photoshopped, and to be careful not to really take to heart advice you get from people online.” Benedine

Year 9 - Employability Skills

The Year 9 students recently began a new PSHE unit focused on ‘Employability skills’, the transferable strengths needed to secure a job, succeed in the workplace, navigate daily life, and do well in school. The unit focused on two primary areas:

1. Introduction to Employability

The Core Concepts explored included key workplace attributes, specifically focusing on communication and teamwork, problem-solving, and time management/reliability.

They completed an interactive matching challenge linking various professions (such as teachers, doctors, footballers, and shop assistants) to their essential skills and finally they identified and recorded three employability skills they already possess.

1. Mastering Communication Skills

• Core Concepts: Lessons highlighted the importance of both verbal (spoken words) and non-verbal (body language) communication, alongside the pitfalls of poor communication (like interrupting or losing focus).
• Active Listening: Students learned techniques to improve engagement, such as maintaining eye contact, nodding, and not interrupting.

The highlight of the unit was when the classroom turned into a workshop where students role-played real-world scenarios, including asking for help and leading group discussions.

The session ended with students writing down three personal goals to improve their own communication habits moving forward.

We look forward to seeing our Year 9s continue to demonstrate and expand these invaluable traits both inside and outside the classroom!

By : L.Mkok