Ski Trip 2023

Artesina Ski Resort, Italy 

7 fortunate pupils jetted off last half term to the Ski Resort of Artesina in the Italian Alpes. They spent a week in the mountains taking on a range of slopes as they learnt how to ski. All pupils were magnificent throughout the trip and very supportive of each other. 

At the airport pupils created a chain in order to make sure that everyone stuck together and did not get lost. Pupils were also super sensible as we checked in and went through security. We had a lovely flight over with beautiful views of the Alpes from the plane. 

After getting their skis fitted, staff and pupils took to the nursery slopes. This was quite a steep nursey slope but none of the pupils showed any fear as they learnt how to snow plough. By the afternoon pupils were already going up the carpet and starting to learn how to turn. 

By the afternoon of day two, pupils has mastered turning and stopping and were able to follow each other down the slope in a controlled line. Fabio our ski instructor decided we were ready, and led us to our first chair lift. 

All the pupils headed up the mountain. They started on blue runs but quickly moved on to reds, and by the end of the week some pupils were skiing black runs! Pupils progressed quickly over the week and some were even mastering their parallel turns. All pupils showed fantastic resilience and skied for 5 days. We were lucky enough to have some beautiful sunny days which gave us stunning views from the top of the mountains.  

Not only did we have a fantastic ski instructor who was incredibly kind and patient we also had lovely hotel staff who went over and above when it came to cooking for everyone. We were treated to a number of traditional Italian dishes which included a range of different pasta dishes and pizza. As a group we sat down three times a day together for breakfast, lunch and dinner so we had plenty of energy for skiing.    

Although skiing was our main activity whist in Italy. In the afternoon and evenings pupils enjoyed a range of activities from watching a movie, building snowman and forts, having snow ball fights, star gazing, football, bum boarding and visiting the local shop so everyone could take home a souvenir if they wished. We were so lucky to have our hotel right on the slopes as there was always plenty of snow around to play in.  

At the end of the week Fabio handed out skiing passes and medals to each pupil, this told them what level they had been skiing at and showed the progress they had made. All pupils were so thankful to Fabio and had enjoyed having him as our instructor.    

What a brilliant week full of fun, resilience and progress.     

Lets talk about Sex and Relationships!

Under the Children and Social Work Act 2017 the government committed to making Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) statutory in all secondary schools, including local authority maintained schools, academies, free schools and independent schools.

Teaching about relationships and sex is nothing new for schools – RSE is covered through PSHE education, an established curriculum subject taught in the vast majority of schools. The Polygon has more time dedicated to the teaching of PSHE and SRE than any other school in Southampton so this is nothing new to us here but the new requirements are fantastic news for all young people across the country as now ALL young people will have equal access to quality PSHE and SRE lessons.

Educational settings play an important role in creating social norms for young people which is why it is so important that children and young people are educated about issues relating to relationships and sex education as part of a spiral curriculum, building on ideas as they grow and develop from primary school upwards. 

At The Polygon our work within SRE provides the pupils with knowledge about the nature of sexuality and the processes of human reproduction. It also aims to address the issues surrounding access to media which isn't age appropriate and increased sexualisation of young people. We want to provide our pupils with the skills to make informed choices in regards to sex and relationships, and to enable our students to understand what a healthy and positive relationship is like while promoting meaningful, loving and healthy relationships.

At The Polygon we have established our bespoke curriculum and have had many consultations with parents.  We believe our relationships and work with parents is key so please don’t ever be concerned if you receive a call from Mrs Foster for a PSHE chat and likewise if you have any concerns or queries please call Mr Penfold and we will be happy to listen.

 As a school community, we are committed to working in partnership with parents; past parental feedback has indicated that the overwhelming majority of parents continue to be highly supportive of the relationships and sex education programme. Engaging with parents about the content of our PSHE programme including RSE is an important part of providing a high quality programme. In past Target Review day’s parents and pupils have shared their views through diamond 9 activities and conversations on topics which they feel should have priority. Parenting skills, healthy relationships, the law and online safety have always been important to our school community and we have offered additional courses and learning to respond to this.

 If you are new to the school or would like more information the link below is a guide for parents from the government on ‘Understanding Relationships, Sex and Health Education at your child’s secondary school’. Our school SRE policy is also on our website along with curriculum for each year group. 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/907640/RSE_secondary_schools_guide_for_parents.pdf

At The Polygon we are very proud of our PSHE programme of study. PSHE is the curriculum subject that gives young people the knowledge, understanding, attitudes and practical skills to live safe, healthy, productive lives and meet their full potential so we will continue to develop and work to provide the best outcomes for all of our pupils in this subject. Any questions regarding PSHE, SRE, how to support your child at home, signposting of local resources or just a chat about a PSHE topic please contact Mrs Foster.