“Wellness is the compete integration of body, mind, and spirit – the realisation that everything we do, think, feel, and believe has an effect on our state of well-being.”
– Greg Anderson
Resilience, Aspiration and Success are York High School’s values – we feel they are paramount to a student’s current and future success. To enable students to delve deeper into the meaning of these values, along with their associated characteristics, we have two dedicated hours per fortnight to the RAS curriculum.
As part of the RAS programme, students cover: RSE (Relationships and Sex Education), PSHE, Citizenship and Careers education, along with core RS for Key Stage Four students. All statutory components of these topics are incorporated into the curriculum in an interleaved and integrated manner, to enable students to draw connections between these topics.
RAS is the predominant driver of our SMSC delivery, with substantiated links made in other subjects across the school. Students reflect on their own beliefs and those of others, develop an awareness of other cultures (both across the world and within their communities) and demonstrate enquiring minds. A sustained link to the SMSC criteria is made in every lesson, driven through our Resilience, Aspiration and Success traits and characteristics.
Click here to see a copy of the 2023-24 RAS Curriculum.
The programme of study includes three core themes which are interleaved and connected across the three year programme: Keeping Safe, Citizenship and Careers. The Keeping Safe strand incorporates both RSE and PSHE education. This content is covered in an age-appropriate manner which seeks to enable students to make connections between their learning, which can then be applied to the broader York High School curriculum. By connecting the disparate elements of their education, students are able to draw meaning from one context and apply it to another
The nature of the lessons enables students to actively develop their communication skills through structured debates, as well as systematic opportunities to develop viewpoints. Students recognise the importance of utilising evidence to substantiate judgements, and are encouraged to adjust their viewpoint when conflicting evidence emerges.
Intrinsic to students’ study are the values of Resilience, Aspiration and Success. By taking opportunities to identify and assess the role of these values in both case studies and students’ own development, our learners are empowered with improved self-reflection and awareness of the broader significance of these traits.
Key Skills
Oracy is a fundamental feature of our RAS curriculum, at both Key Stages Three and Four, as well as the substantiation of viewpoints. Students work together to unlock answers to some of the complex problems in society, and develop their confidence in their abilities whilst doing so. Each of the Resilience, Aspiration and Success traits below are developed across our curriculum.
Students also develop an awareness of the key rights and responsibilities a good citizen of the United Kingdom (and the world) has and know how to stand up for the rights of others.
Key Stage 4 Overview
Our Key Stage 4 RAS programme directly builds upon the learning developed within Key Stage Three, taking the concepts previously studied and building students’ understanding through increased nuance. Students learn about the value of Keeping Safe (both RSE and PSHE education), as well as the role of the citizen to the success of the United Kingdom in Citizenship education. The Careers provision is designed to support students in selecting their next steps, building from the Key Stage Three awareness of broader opportunities.
Key Stage Four RAS also incorporates Core RS, for which we have a statutory duty to deliver regardless of GCSE option choices. The Core RS seeks not to replicate Key Stage Three RS but instead to build upon students’ learning of other religions by considering thematic and relevant issues to the modern world. Students this year are considering the role of religion within the Northern Ireland Troubles, as well as the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.
Key Stage Four RAS seeks to empower our students to confidently make choices for their own future, both in personal and professional capacities. Through the continued vehicle of our Resilience, Aspiration and Success values, students will be introduced to some of the complexities of life in Modern Britain and will be equipped to hold sustained conversations on these.
Students receive two hours of curriculum time per fortnight dedicated to RAS. Students receive personalised feedback once per half term on their learning in RAS, which often include assessing their learning in previous units. Homework is set once per half term.
If a parent or guardian wishes to withdraw their child from the sex part of Relationships and Sex Education, please contact s.hardy@yorkhigh.elt.org.uk. Up until three terms before a child turns 16, a student can opt back into sex education lessons against their parents’ wishes.
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Year 10
Year 11