Overview
The course contains 4 different units all designed to teach S1 about their own Health and Wellbeing:
- Health Unit
- Project Africa
- Sport And Culture (further information here)
- Home Economics (further information here)
Time
The course takes place for 3 hours on a Friday morning. Each unit lasts approximately 8 weeks. This allows staff the flexibility to programme tasks that take longer than an hour.
Health Unit
This unit incorporates the following topics:
- Code breaking activity looking at the different aspects that make up good health
- Practical Activities designed to measure our physical health e.g. blood pressure, balance lung capacity etc.
- Outside speakers talking about drugs alcohol and smoking
- 2 weeks of Sex and Relationships education mainly looking at puberty, using the 4 boys and 4 girls booklets, sessions in single sex groups
- A practical sandwich making activity looking at healthy eating. Use of the Yoobot website
- A fruit tasting week designed to encourage pupils to eat more fruit and snack more healthily. Often combined with a science experiment looking at the salt and fat content of foods
- A Mental Health week looking at relaxation, anti- bullying and using outside speakers from the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service
- To finish off, a kite making activity designed to encourage pupils to take part in practical and fun activities away from the TV in their spare time!
Assessment
Assessment is carried out in the form of a pupil booklet which the pupils complete each week. The outcomes and experiences form the Health and wellbeing section of Curriculum for Excellence are used in this process
The Olympic Games (Sport and Culture)
The programme of work is designed to be a cultural exploration of some of the competing nations in the Olympics. During the Unit pupils will be required to:
- Conduct research into the sporting history of a nation and its affiliation with the Olympics
- Research the culture of an adopted Olympic nation
- Learn from others about different nations cultures through; participation in Sport/Dance or creating traditional pieces of art.
- Learn about Olympic Values such as Respect, Excellence and Friendship
- Participate in various Olympic sports/activities
Assessment
Pupils will be asked to:
- Share learning intentions and success criteria
- Discuss/share information on a nation’s history and culture
- Research and complete a group project to document learning
- Take part in, and reflect on a variety of activities linked with physical activity and nutrition
- Show self-awareness as a learner, writing about achievements in learning
- Use ICT skills to document findings
Project Africa
Knox Academy is currently in a Global Schools Partnership with Ruhanga Secondary School in Rwanda, along with Kings Meadow Primary School and Ruhanga Primary School. The focus of the partnership is 'Sustainable Development', specifically looking at how environmental issues affect our local communities.
In Destination Africa this year, our S1 pupils have chosen to look at the theme of recycling. They have completed a research task where they found out about many of the recycling facilities available in Haddington. They then designed and made posters to promote recycling. These posters were all made out of old packaging which pupils brought in to school.
In the next part of the project, pupils will construct a survey on recycling. They will go out into the local community and ask shoppers about their recycling habits and the facilities that are available to them. This information can then be shared with our counterparts in Rwanda, as we find out about environmental issues in their community.
As part of Destination Africa, pupils also explore issues related to African culture and environment. Activities include drumming and singing workshops, an investigation into Fair Trade and discussion about wildlife conservation. The project covers ACfE outcomes in Expressive Arts, Social Subjects, Literacy and Numeracy as well as promoting Global Citizenship in the curriculum.
