PSHE and RSE
Intent
Personal, social and health education (PSHE) at St Anne’s Fulshaw will provide children with the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to lead confident, healthy independent lives and to become informed, active and responsible citizens. While pupils will bring different experiences and levels of knowledge and understanding to issues explored through PSHE education, it is vital that they make connections between their prior learning and their present and future real life experiences in order to develop and grow.
We believe the high quality PSHE curriculum at our school enables children to
- become healthier, more independent and more responsible members of society
- be able to play positive role in contributing to the life of the school and of the wider community
- develop their own sense of self-worth
- learn about both their rights and their responsibilities and about what it means to be a member of a diverse multicultural society
- understand how to maintain good physical and mental health
- develop the skills to recognise and maintain positive and nurturing relationships
- develop an informed and positive attitude to physical and emotional changes brought about by puberty and growing up
Implementation
We teach elements of PSHE in the EYFS as an integral part of topic work, linking experiences to the appropriate areas of learning and ELGs. Links are especially strong within PSED and Understanding the World, and securing good understanding within these areas of learning provides solid foundations for the Key Stage One and Two units that follow.
From Year 1 to Year 6, through relationships education, pupils learn about the characteristics of positive relationships including:
- families and close positive relationships
- friendships
- managing hurtful behaviour and bullying
- safe relationships
- respecting themselves and others
From Year 1 to Year 6, through health and wellbeing education, pupils learn about:
- choosing healthy lifestyles (physical wellbeing)
- what it means to have good mental health
- their bodies – growing and changing
- keeping safe
- drugs, alcohol and tobacco
In Year 6, through relationships and sex education, pupils learn about:
- themselves as individuals and how they are growing and changing
- physical and emotional changes that happen as puberty is approaching
- the process of reproduction and birth as part of the human life cycle (including that there are ways to prevent a baby being made)
- where to get more help and advice about growing, changing and puberty
- new opportunities and responsibilities that increasing independence may bring
- the promotion of personal safety and wellbeing
- predicting, assessing and managing risk
- peer pressure and consent
In line with the PSHE Association’s detailed programme of study, we have also included another unit, taught across Key Stage One and Two, called Living in the Wider World. From Year 1 to Year 6, in this strand, children will learn:
- about shared responsibilities
- what a community is and what it means to be part of one
- what constitutes media literacy and digital resilience
- about economic wellbeing (money)
- the importance of economic wellbeing – aspirations, work and careers
Our PSHE curriculum is also very closely supported by the myHappymind programme, which we deliver across the school, and which promotes a culture of positive mental and emotional health and wellbeing.
The PSHE curriculum is delivered throughout the school in a variety of ways including group work, collaborative learning, circle time, debate, discussion, role play and the use of outside agencies. Specific issues and challenging questions may be dealt with honestly and in age-appropriate ways as they occur. These may include bereavement, divorce, friendship issues and world affairs. Our personal knowledge of the children and their families allows us to recognise and deal with issues and challenges sensitively, as they arise.
All staff members are responsible for promoting the school’s positive ethos and modelling desirable behaviours which support PSHE and related discussion where necessary. Learning through PSHE is further explored through assemblies, extra-curricular activities, the use of visitors, theme days, P4C and circle time, which all support the planned curriculum.
Impact
Ongoing assessment of pupils’ knowledge and understanding takes place through discussion, observation, questioning, written and drawn evidence, role play and art work. Assessment is participatory, addressing progress in pupils’ skills and actions as well as knowledge and understanding. Many of these skills may be assessed in context with other subjects.
Regular tracking of pupils’ achievement against the PSHE end of key stage expectations will ensure that staff have a clear and up to date view of their achievement and any areas which may need further attention. We have the same high expectations of the quality of work in PSHE as we do in all other curriculum areas and achievement will be reported on in the same way.
By the time they leave the school, children will have learnt to recognise their own worth, work well with others, and become increasingly responsible for their own learning. They will understand and respect our common humanity, diversity and differences. They can find out about political and social institutions which affect their lives, as well as their rights and duties as individuals and members of society.
