Focus Weeks
Our PSHE (Personal, Social, Health, & Economic Education) curriculum programme is integrated into a Focus Week schedule which is an exciting and imaginative scheme designed to combine the teaching of important themes – across a wide range of spiritual, moral, social and cultural topics – alongside a sense of competition, engagement and fun.
Our PSHE lessons are integrated into our tutor time programme and comprise of a weekly 25minute lesson. In addition, Key Stage Three students engage in our Enrichment programme as part of their DT rotation of subjects to cover key PSHE topics.
Furthermore, our Focus Week programme sees a theme being addressed throughout the week via tutor times and assemblies which is then extended by specific events, celebrations and trips. There could be a tutor group competition with fantastic prizes or a student-led assembly presenting the topic, a trip to a related landmark or a special guest talking to students. These are mapped to include PSHE topics, as well as broader curriculum priorities including British Values, SMSC, Careers, Every Child Matters, etc.
Furthermore, specific Focus Weeks will have PHSE Drop Down Days for set Year groups so that age-appropriate PHSE is delivered at set points of the year; whether it be sex and relationships, drugs or online safety. All sessions are mapped against the PHSE Association’s Programme of Study (Key Stages 1-5).
There is a Focus Week for every week but this year’s half-termly highlights include:
1st Autumn Half-Term
| Welcome Back |
| The Year Ahead / Festival of Ganesh Charthurti (Hinduism) |
| Your House & My House |
| World Clean-Up Day |
| Second-Hand September |
| Mental Health Week |
| World Food Day |
| Black History Month |
2nd Autumn Half-Term
| Remembrance (Environmental Impact of War) |
| UK Parliament Week |
| Road Safety Week (Electric / Diesel / Petrol) |
| Alcohol Awareness Week |
| Recycling at Christmas Week |
| The Meaning of Christmas (Christianity) |
| House Celebration 1 |
1st Spring Half-Term
| World Religion Day |
| World Heroines – Greta Thunberg (Wider Env Heroes) |
| Blue Monday Y10 DEBATE |
| Holocaust Memorial Day |
| Safer Internet Day |
| Go Green Week |
2nd Spring Half-Term
| World Sleep Day |
| The Big Plastic Countdown |
| National Careers Week |
| World Water Day |
| House Celebration 2 |
1st Summer Half-Term
| Fashion Revolution Week |
| STD Awareness Week |
| Pet Week |
| British Hero – David Attenborough |
| Sun Awareness Week |
| Endangered Species Week |
2nd Summer Half-Term
| Clean Air Day |
| World Ocean Day |
| Refugee Week |
| Gay Pride |
| World Insect Day |
| Reviewing the Year of the Environment |
| House Celebration 3 |
Each of the Focus Weeks are celebrated on our website newsfeed and our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts – look out for details…
More widely, our 2025-2026 programme is leaning towards the following foci:
School Life / Routines Catch-Up
To ensure that – in response to the historic de-socialisation and lack of routines through COVID lockdowns – we continue to re-embed and build-on the school routines, expectations, standards and events so that normality arrives quickly and actually comes back better than before.
Environmental Awareness
To focus on a wide range of environmental issues which encourage students to reflect on their place in the world – and their role in protecting our world – and dovetailing with the Department for Education’s expectations that all schools would have a Climate Action Plan for September 2025 which then is applied to improve provision, learning and the environment.
If you require further information on our Focus Weeks then please contact Helen Barratt, Assistant Headteacher, via office@friaryschool.co.uk.
