PSHE and RHSE

Intent

At Park Mead Primary School, we believe that Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) is a curriculum for life vital in empowering our children with the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to successfully navigate the ever-changing world around them. We recognise the importance of PSHE in helping our children to become well-balanced members of society, capable of making positive and valuable contributions to the communities they live in and preparing them for life and work in modern Britain. Our PSHE curriculum prepares them for the challenges of adult life, equipping them to make informed life choices that will enable them to stay safe, to keep physically and mentally healthy and form happy, healthy relationships.  We deliver a curriculum that is accessible to all, and that will maximise the outcome for every child, empowering them with a voice and the confidence and skills to stay safe. It teaches them to manage risks, to know how and when to ask for help, and to know where to access support.

The PSHE curriculum at Park Mead underpins our commitment to the safeguarding of all pupils. We aim to teach our children to use online resources safely and know how to get help when they feel unsafe as they grow in an ever-increasing technological world.

Implementation

Teachers are supported in the planning and delivering of lessons by the Coram Life Education SCARF scheme. The SCARF scheme covers both the DfE statutory requirements and the PSHE Association’s advisory content for both relationships’ education and health education, which together ensure a comprehensive, age-appropriate, spiral curriculum for PSHE education. The lessons build upon children’s prior learning and are relevant and sensitive to the needs of our children. Through the scheme, children are increasingly and appropriately challenged as they move up through the school. Assessment is completed by the class teacher using the SCARF pre- and post- unit assessments. 

Class teachers follow the suggested six half termly units provided by SCARF for each year and adapt the scheme of work where necessary to meet the needs of the children in their class. Children are taught once a week in their timetabled PSHE lesson, throughout the whole year in their usual classes, in mixed sex groupings, using a range of interactive teaching methods, e.g. activity sheets, films, songs, online games, and drama techniques. To ensure that children feel comfortable to learn about a range of topics, we create a safe learning environment using a group agreement at the beginning of lessons or topics. Teachers will answer children’s questions factually and honestly in an age appropriate way and respond to any disclosures following the schools safeguarding procedures and child protection policy.  We aim to deliver lessons that provide context for children to embed new knowledge and skills so that these can be used confidently in real life situations. As part of our wider curriculum our lessons encourage children to have high aspirations, a belief in themselves and their abilities and realise that anything is possible if they are resilient and work hard.

British values are taught through our PSHE curriculum and features across other subject areas when appropriate. Our PSHE curriculum covers many of the moral, social and cultural issues that are part of growing up. We provide our pupils with opportunities to learn about rights and responsibilities and appreciate what it means to be a member of a diverse society.

EYFS

Children in EYFS develop knowledge, skills and attributes that form a crucial foundation for later teaching of PSHE. Both curriculums complement each other, providing progression throughout the school. The PSHE curriculum in EYFS is largely covered in the ‘Birth to 5 Matters’ prime area of Personal, Social and Emotional Development covering key concepts and skills around – making relationships, developing a sense of self and understanding emotions. 

KS1 and KS2 

The SCARF programme divides the year into 6 themed units:

• Me and My Relationships: includes content on feelings, emotions, conflict resolution and friendships;
• Valuing Difference: a focus on respectful relationships and British values;
• Keeping Myself Safe: looking at keeping ourselves healthy and safe
• Rights and Responsibilities: learning about money, living in the wider world and the environment;
• Being My Best: developing skills in keeping healthy, developing a growth mindset (resilience), goal-setting and achievement
• Growing and Changing: finding out about the human body, the changes that take place from birth to old age and being safe. 

We also make connections with wider aspects of school life e.g., School Values; School Council; Eco-Warriors; Young Carers; Celebration Assemblies and themed assemblies and activities such as Anti-bullying; Black History and World Book Day.

Impact

Our spiral PSHE curriculum and wider provision will ensure that children leave our school with key skills and knowledge to make positive decisions regarding their relationships, health, wellbeing and safety, with high self confidence and self-esteem, moving onto the next stage of education suitably equipped.

Children will be able to:

• view themselves positively and be aware of their skills, attributes and achievements.
• have respect for themselves and others.
• develop successful relationships with their peers both now and in the future, including on-line relationships.
• understand how to keep healthy both physically and mentally.
• know how to keep themselves safe physically, mentally and technologically.
• confidently discuss problems and know how to get help to solve them.
• manage risk in their relationships, play, work and on-line.
• demonstrate knowledge and understanding of diversity and equality.
• understand their responsibilities as well as their rights.
• respond positively to change and show resilience when feeling challenged.
• understand the physical and emotional aspects involved in RSE at an age-appropriate level.
• identify different types of bullying and work proactively to deal with these issues.
• demonstrate and apply the British Values of Democracy; Tolerance; Mutual Respect; Rule of Law and Liberty.