By Miss Cagnino, Head of PSHCEE

Last term we had a fantastic talk by Alison Havey from the Rap Project. She explored how social media and pornography are influencing attitudes, expectations, body image, why ‘enthusiastic consent’ is the new phrase, and how to manage stress and anxiety during exam season and beyond.

Inevitably, many students will want to let off steam, and subsequently some will engage in risky behaviour. Her presentation included questions asked most frequently by sixth form students and Alison’s suggested responses. She also had pragmatic safety advice for the wide range of social experiences our students will have as they develop into confident young adults. She has also shared an excellent resource for parents here.

Our Year 11s were lucky enough to hear her talk about the importance of personal safety at festivals and the impact of drugs and alcohol on their decision making. Socialising and interacting with their peers is such an important element of growing up and so giving our students the tools to recognise risk while enjoying all that life has to offer is so important!

Coming up this term on the evening of Monday 10th June, Libby Flenley will be delivering an online talk on the topic of Online Safety. Alongside some quite hard-hitting facts, she will also be sharing some tools to help combat the very real dangers of what students are exposed to online.

Libby is the founder of the Sex, Lies & Love Project which empowers children and young people through creative and engaging workshops and RSE lessons, equipping children with the knowledge and confidence to lead safer and healthier lives. The project explores modern day influences impacting children and young people today, providing the tools to identify criminal and sexual exploitation, unhealthy relationships, violence, and abuse. We are also looking forward to welcoming her into school to deliver workshops with our Year 9 students next academic year.

Please book your ticket for Libby Flenley’s talk via Parent Pay.