Weekly update on Personal and Social Education lessons

It’s time to start our weekly updates on Personal and Social Education (PSE) lessons again! PSE lessons are part of the Secondary school curriculum and are explained in the next section. Our PSE lessons start during Quarter 2 each year and we will include updates each week about what is coming up for each grade level.  If a grade level is not mentioned in the post, then that means that grade level has no upcoming PSE lessons. You can find the quarterly schedule of your child’s PSE lessons in the PSE Handbook here.  For the weeks of October 28 and November 4, the following PSE learning is planned:

• Grade 9 - Advisory with the Counselor - Abusive Relationships​

Our Personal and Social Education (PSE) curriculum is taught in Advisory lessons and sometimes during classroom learning.  For example, lessons on family and relationships might happen during a Language and Literature discussion. Lessons that relate directly to biology would be taught in that class.  Our weekly updates include hyperlinked learning materials when possible.​​ 

Parents can reinforce learning at home by sharing what they know about these subjects and their family’s, culture’s, and religion’s perspective on these aspects of Personal and Social Education. If you would like your child to opt out of any of these lessons, just send an e-mail to your child’s Advisor and make sure your child knows.  If you have any questions about any of the PSE lessons, please feel free to contact your child’s Advisor.

---

The background of the PSE program:
As an IB school, Personal and Social Education (PSE) is integral to the development of students’ well-being. Personal and Social Education “is concerned with the individual’s well-being through the promotion and development of concepts, knowledge, attitudes, and skills that contribute to this well-being. Well-being is intrinsically linked to all aspects of a student’s experience at school and beyond. It encompasses physical, emotional, cognitive, spiritual and social health and development, and contributes to an understanding of self, to developing and maintaining relationships with others, and to participate in an active, healthy lifestyle,” according to the IB (p. 1).​

Our Personal and Social Education curriculum integrates the IB’s beliefs about PSE together with the Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education 3rd Edition from the Sexuality-Information and Education Council of the United States in order to provide a well-balanced program for our students. Our written curriculum is outlined according to grade levels. Key concepts and standards for the PSE program are integrated through Advisory and subject level classes depending on the existing course content.

The PSE program was launched during the 2018-2019 school year because of feedback from parents and teachers. You can find the Personal and Social Health Handbook here.