Intent:
At Ashton St. Peter’s, PSHE is at the core of what we do and enables our children to become independent, confident, healthy and responsible members of society, as well as developing the “whole child” intellectually, morally, socially and spiritually. Through our whole-school approach to PSHE, it is our belief that excellence in these areas will lead to excellence across the curriculum and beyond in later life. Our PSHE curriculum equips children with relevant and meaningful content, which is supported through a strong emphasis on emotional literacy, building resilience and nurturing mental and physical health. With an ever changing society, we are able to provide our children with a strong understanding of the diverse world around them and support them in playing a positive role in contributing to the school and the wider community. Weaving through the heart of our PSHE teaching, is a commitment to enhancing and promoting our core Christian Values. Our aim is for all children to have a ready willingness and ability to try new things, push themselves and persevere. To have a good understanding of how to stay safe, healthy and develop good relationships; to have an appreciation of what it means to be a positive member of a diverse, multicultural society; and to have a strong self-awareness, interlinked with compassion of others.
Implementation:
According to the National Curriculum, every school needs to have a broad and balanced curriculum that: promotes the spiritual, moral, social, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school; prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life; promotes British values. From September 2020, primary schools in England were also required to teach Relationships and Health Education as compulsory subjects and the Department for Education strongly recommends this should also include age-appropriate Sex Education. Schools also have statutory responsibilities to safeguard their pupils (Keeping Children Safe in Education, DfE, 2019) and to uphold the Equality Act.
The following topics are covered in each year group:
New Beginnings – covers a wide range of topics, including a sense of belonging, welcoming others and being part of a community, recognising their contributions to shape a welcoming, safe and fair learning community for all.
Getting On and Falling Out – focuses on developing children’s knowledge, understanding and skills in three key social and emotional aspects of learning: empathy, managing feelings and social skills. Children are taught to develop their cooperation skills and value diversity.
Say No to Bullying – focuses on bullying, teaching children: what is it, how it feels, why people bully, how we can prevent and respond to it and how children can use their social, emotional and behavioural skills to tackle this crucial problem.
Going for Goals – focuses on motivation and self-awareness. It provides an important opportunity for all children’s abilities, qualities and strengths to be valued. Children are provided with regular opportunities to reflect on themselves as individuals, particularly their strengths as learners and how they learn most effectively.
Good to be Me – focuses on feelings in the context of the child as an individual, developing self-awareness and helping each child to recognise the worth of themselves as an individual.
Relationships – continues with a focus on feelings but in the context of important relationships in the children’s lives, including family and friends. This topic focuses on three key aspects: self-awareness, managing feelings and empathy.
Changes – focuses on the issue of change and aims to equip children with an understanding of different types of change, positive and negative, and common human responses to it. This topic seeks to develop the children’s ability to understand and manage the feelings associated with change through three key aspects of learning: motivation, social skills and managing feelings.
The curriculum is enhanced through many opportunities beyond the school day, such as school trips, cycling proficiency, Road safety day, Science week and Anti-Bullying week.
Impact:
Children enjoy PSHE lessons as they are given many opportunities to talk and discuss any questions they may have. Links are made through the wider curriculum. They have a sound understanding of all aspects of Science and PSHE by the time they leave school and are ready for the next stage in learning.