Guidance

In Banchory Academy each young person has a PT Guidance based on their allocated House. Your guidance teacher is your Named Person and will play a core pastoral and administrative role, including:

• Personal Support: Helping students with mental health, emotional wellbeing, peer issues, and personal challenges.

• Curricular Choices: Assisting pupils with subject selections, option choices, and monitoring academic progress.

• Vocational Guidance: Guiding school leavers through career paths, college or university applications (via UCAS), and employment transitions.

Your guidance teacher will also track attainment, attendance and wellbeing, meet with pupils and parents as required, and talk to young people about keeping safe.

Personal Social and Health Education (PSHE)

Pupils from S1-S6 will have one period a week of core PSHE. Courses are designed to engage the pupils in a range of topics and issues relevant to their age and stage. A variety of teaching approaches will be used to impart information, encourage discussion and answer questions. Courses are responsive to issues and topics which are relevant so will adapt to suit the needs and interests of the class, as well as the climate within the school. We also have visiting speakers and presentations to include: Skills Development Scotland, Aberdeenshire Life Education, Alcoholics Anonymous

Courses will cover the following topics:

S1 – settling in, friendships and bullying, smoking and vaping, health triangle, relationships, sex, health and parenting (level 3)

S2 – alcohol, drugs, relationships, sex, health and parenting (level 3), My World Of Work and course choice

S3 – team building, self-esteem, self confidence, assertiveness, mental health, My World Of Work and course choice, relationships, sex, health and parenting (level 4)

S4 – Skills and qualities, change and loss, My World Of Work and course choice, CVs, study skills (senior phase)

S5 – gambling, study support, next steps planning, relationships, sex, health and parenting (senior phase)

S6 – UCAS/College/Next steps, relationships, sex, health and parenting, citizenship (senior phase)

RSHP materials for all year groups can be found here: https://rshp.scot/

More information on the role of The Named Person can be found here: Named person - Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) - gov.scot