Our PSHE Curriculum
Through our PSHE curriculum, we will support and encourage children to become healthy, successful adults who will make a meaningful contribution to society. They will develop the skills to persevere and work towards long term rewards. Pupils will develop humility, kindness, integrity, trustworthiness and a sense of justice. They will develop their skills and attributes such as resilience, respect for themselves and others, their self-worth, honesty and courage. We aim to lay the foundations so that children have the skills, values and the knowledge to be able to manage their emotions, be healthy, have good relationships and deal with any obstacles that they may encounter. High quality PSHE teaching can help learning and attainment across the curriculum, therefore PSHE will underpin every aspect of learning and day-to-day life inside and outside of school.
Intent
Intent
Young Citizens and PiXL are PSHE schemes of work which aims to equip children with essential skills for life. The lessons develop the knowledge, skills and attributes children need to protect and enhance their wellbeing. Children will learn how to stay safe, be healthy, understand their maturing bodies and minds, build and maintain successful relationships and to become active citizens.
The lessons include:
- Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) learning including the teaching of fundamental British values
- Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education (PSHCE) including Relationships Education.
- Values and Character Education.
Young Citizens cover a wide range of the social and emotional aspects of learning and will enable children to develop their identity and self-esteem as active, confident members of our community. The themes and topics support social, moral, spiritual and cultural development and provide children with protective teaching on essential safeguarding issues, developing their knowledge of when and how they can ask for help. Young Citizens scheme of work has many discrete lessons which can be adapted to the needs of the children, if and when, a situation arises that needs to be addressed. PIXL provides a progressive scheme from Year 3 to Year 6 to develop healthy minds and bodies.
The resources are fully in line with the learning outcomes and core themes provided by the PSHE Association Programme of Study. To cover the required objectives and the three core areas of Health and Wellbeing, Relationships and Living in the Wider World, Young Citizens is used alongside the PiXL resources. Using both these schemes of work fulfils the requirements of 2020 statutory Relationships and Health Education. Health and relationship education have a positive impact on children’s mental and physical health as well as their wellbeing and attainment. As a school we will endeavor to develop the children’s capacity to deal with a fast-changing world. In order for them to achieve this they will need to be resilient, kind and compassionate and will need to develop a strong moral compass.
Our teaching is adapted to the local needs of our children and their opinions, needs and questions inform how and what we teach. By the end of Year 6, we will have laid the foundations on which secondary schools can build to keep children safe in all aspects of life including online, as they become more independent from the adults who care for them.
Our school promotes inclusion and diversity where all children are celebrated and valued. Lessons are taught in a safe and appropriate learning environment where all children are encouraged to participate and to respect each other.
Implementation
Young Citizens and PiXL units are designed to be delivered in a creative, cross-curricular manner using many approaches such as interpreting data, surveys, role play, story writing, painting, designing, conducting experiments, researching online, performing, games, group work and discussions. These activities enable children to build confidence and resilience. Children with SEN are supported where appropriate by the class teacher and teaching assistant. Lessons are adapted to the needs of the children in a year group. Prior learning is often referred to e.g. reminding children of coping strategies when they are feeling anxious.
Health and Relationships Education
These lessons are delivered in a structured and progressive sequence using the PiXL scheme of work. They have been created in an age-appropriate manner and are divided into three sections; My Health, My Life and My Mind. Year 3 and 4’s lessons are the ‘contenders’ and Year 5 and 6 ‘s lessons are the ‘challengers’. The scheme also provides self-assessment tools based on the framework. My Health covers how to eat healthily, have an active lifestyle, how to rest and how this has a positive impact on wellbeing. My Life develops skills such as making choices, confidence, facing challenges, having good habits and forging good relationships. Resilience, determination, feelings, self-control and aspirations are developed through My Mind .
RSE
Relationships and Sex education is taught using lessons and plans from Twinkl. As this is non-statutory, parents and carers have the right to withdraw their children, but we strongly encourage all parents and carers to discuss this with their child’s teacher and a member of SLT before doing so. Changes to the adolescent body (Puberty) is taught from Year 4 and this is statutory for all children. Scientific terminology such as penis and vulva will be taught. In these lessons the boys and girls are separated and taught by male and female teachers respectively. Subsequently, when they return to the classroom, the children are encouraged to share what they have learned with the other children and ask/ answer any questions.
As a school we feel very strongly about teaching the children about consent from an early age. This is done by giving children age-appropriate choices in Y3, consolidate learning from KS1 about sharing and taking turns, to developing protocols around touching e.g. May I hold your hand, Miss? This will give the children an understanding that it might not be appropriate which helps builds their self-confidence, self-esteem and a sense of personal agency. This will help lay the groundwork as the children mature to other aspects of permission giving and resisting peer-pressure.
PSHE and English
PSHE is also developed through literacy through the reading aloud of books to the children, storyboards and mind-6152maps. Children’s speaking and listening skills are developed through presentations, questioning and group work. By establishing class rules, all children are encouraged to engage and participate and treated with respect. Our school library is full of multi-cultural and diverse books which deal with many issues that children face in today’s society.
First Aid
First Aid is taught in age-appropriate lessons resources from St. John’s Ambulance. As suggested by St John’s Ambulance, Year 3 learn how to call in an emergency and about how to treat bites and stings. Calling in an emergency is repeatedly covered in each year group. Year 4 learn how to treat a casualty who is having an asthma attack and Year 5 learn how to care for a casualty who is bleeding. Year 6 learn basic life support and choking. These lessons have been adapted to keep the children safe during the pandemic.
PSHE and Online Safety
Online safety is embedded in all apsects of the curriculum, in computing lessons, in school and outside of school. Young Citizens provide lessons on how to search the internet safely and about how to identify fake news. In Term 3 the whole school participates in Safer Internet Day – the theme changes each year.
Attitudes, Knowledge and Skills
Although there are planned lessons and schemes of work, PSHE pervades the whole curriculum and everyday life in school. Through our school’s values: Peace, Love, Friendship, Trust, Hope, and Forgiveness the children develop skills and attributes. By exploring these values in class and around the school, the children learn values such as integrity, courage, and humility. Through the relationships aspect of the PSHE curriculum children learn how to resolve conflict, how to talk to others and how to be kind, respectful children.
By developing a positive pro-social, pro-health ethos in our school, it will be beneficial to the pupils’ wellbeing and attainment. Happy, healthy children learn better. Young Citizens and PiXL schemes of work provide the school with an effective curriculum for wellbeing. Children are enabled to develop the vocabulary and confidence needed to clearly articulate their thoughts and feelings in a climate of openness, trust and respect, and know when and how they can seek the support of others. This is done by setting ground rules collaboratively with the children prior to the lesson. They will apply their understanding of society to their everyday interactions, from the classroom to the wider community. Both schemes support the active development of the school culture and prioritises physical and mental health. They provide children with skills to evaluate and understand their own wellbeing, needs, practice self-care and contribute positively to the wellbeing of those around them.
Successful PSHE education can have a positive impact on the whole child, including their academic development and progress by mitigating any social and emotional barriers to learning and building confidence and self-esteem. Evidence suggests that successful PSHE education helps disadvantaged and vulnerable children to achieve by raising aspirations and empowering them with skills to overcome barriers that they may face. It can ensure that all children are able to develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to succeed at school, in their community and the wider world.
Impact
Children starting in Year 3 will have a broad range of prior learning so our assessment for learning will start there. By finding a baseline through activities such as questioning, drawing and writing, pupil voice and anonymous surveys, we can inform our planning. Also, through contact with key workers in the community of Ramsgate, this will also help us to identify learning opportunities for the children. We encourage our pupils to be actively involved in formative assessment by setting targets, giving them time to reflect and by recognising progress in their work. They will have the opportunity for, self-assessment and peer assessment such as ‘three stars and a wish’.
Assessment for learning opportunities are built into each lesson and enhanced by direct observation, mind maps, oral questioning, self-assessment, pupil voice and written work. Teachers will assess by observing on the development and progress of a child from Year 3 to Year 6, by their changing attitudes, change in responses, explanations, motivation, self-esteem, assertiveness and confidence. This enables self-evaluation and reflective learning and allow teachers to evaluate and assess progress. Each lesson begins with a discussion of children’s existing knowledge and experience and the previous lesson, providing an opportunity for baseline assessment. Each lesson ends with an opportunity to consolidate and reflect upon learning and to discuss what they will be learning in the next session. Tools are provided for summative assessment, allowing progress to be recorded and tracked.
By the time the pupils leave our primary school, through the PSHE and RSE provision; it is our hope that they will be able to work collaboratively, be emotionally secure, have the ability to focus and concentrate well, be able to self-care, understand good nutrition and the importance of sleep, be self-reliant and know their self-worth.