Intent
Personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) promotes children's personal, social and economic development, as well as their health and wellbeing. PSHE plays a significant role in the development of the whole child and helps to prepare children for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life.
PSHE supports children to develop a better understanding of themselves and their emotions, as well as the emotions and perspectives of others, and cultivates the skills needed to build and maintain healthy relationships with peers. PSHE also plays a significant part in providing a balanced and broadly-based curriculum in relation to children’s personal development, behaviour, welfare and safeguarding.
Our PSHE programme strives to promote our school’s core values of Forgiveness, Compassion, Respect, Responsibility, Creativity, Courage and Perseverance, which stem from our school vision: Love One Another, Know Ourselves, Believe and Grow. School learning behaviours are linked to the values and vision, which are taught, modelled and encouraged in and through PSHE lessons (these are co-operation, curiosity, resilience, risk-taking, resourcefulness, evaluation and reflection).
Pupils will learn to:
- Understand what constitutes a healthy lifestyle.
- Understand how to stay safe and behave appropriately online.
- Understand the dangers they may face, both in and around school and beyond, and be provided with the means to keep themselves safe.
- Understand the law and consequences of risky behaviours.
- Develop responsibility and independence within school, which they will take forward into society and their working lives.
- Become more aware of their own and other people’s feelings.
- Develop social skills, such as how to share, take turns, play, help others, resolve simple arguments and identify bullying.
- Develop skills and attributes such as resilience, self-esteem, risk-management, team-working and critical thinking.
- Develop healthy and positive relationships with peers and adults.
- Respect other people, in particular, learning to respect the different cultural/ethnic/religious/gendered viewpoints of others in our school community, in the UK and the wider world, becoming globally aware.
- Understand what constitutes ‘socially acceptable’ behaviour at school and in society.
- Be a constructive member of the school and wider community.
- Take some responsibility for and look after the environment, their own health and money.
- Make positive, informed choices as they make their way through life.
- Understand that they have a right to speak up about issues or events, and to respect others’ right to do the same.
- Link concepts explored in PSHE – such as celebrating difference, respect and democracy – with British Values.
Implementation
Planning for PSHE mainly comes from a Primary Scheme of Work called SCARF - Safety, Caring, Achievement, Resilience, Friendship (Coram Life Education). Developed by teachers and centred on a values-based and ‘Growth Mindset’ approach, SCARF's lesson plans and resources help to promote positive behaviour, mental health, wellbeing, resilience and achievement. Part of our PSHE programme at Tutshill School includes an annual visit to the ‘Life-Ed Inflatable’ from Coram Life Education for each class to focus on key themes and concepts in PSHE.
SCARF lesson plans are organised around the PSHE Association's Programmes of Study Learning Opportunities, which includes three core themes of: Health and Wellbeing; Relationships; Living in the Wider World. These themes have been broken down into six main areas, which are revisited every year to allow progression in skills and coverage in each key area.
At Tutshill School, we have ordered the termly units as follows to best fit our curriculum:
- Me and My Relationships
- Growing and Changing
- Keeping Myself Safe
- Valuing Difference
- Being my Best
- Rights and Responsibilities
For the Growing and Changing Unit, teachers follow the planning for Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) provided by Gloucestershire Healthy Living and Learning, which works well for Gloucestershire Schools.
Lessons are taught in a range of formats, such as circle time, outdoor learning, discrete lessons in the classroom or as part of a cross curricular or pastoral approach. Particular links are made with Computing, Science and PE, but PSHE cross curricular links are also made in many other subjects. Lessons can also be planned based around the needs of particular individuals or cohorts, as well as the results of the school’s Pupil Wellbeing Survey where applicable.
PSHE lessons often follow the ABCDE model, in line with other curriculum subjects at Tutshill C of E Primary School. This means that, in lessons, children are supported to ‘Activate’ their prior learning, ‘Build’ on what they know, receive ‘Coaching’ to help them improve, ‘Do’ something to ‘Demonstrate’ their learning and ‘Evaluate’ their learning. Through PSHE lessons, teachers also encourage children to become more aware of their thought processes and to reflect on the way they think and learn (meta-cognition).
PSHE is embedded into daily school life, through our vision, values and learning behaviours, as well as through the use of ‘tricks’ from Trick Box, which help pupils manage their emotions and actions with increasing awareness and independence. There is an annual programme of PSHE events to support our PSHE curriculum, including Anti-Bullying Week, World Mental Health Day and Sun Awareness Week.
Impact
Learning in PSHE is recorded in a variety of ways, including in pupil books, teacher notes and on SeeSaw on the iPads.
Children are encouraged to self-assess in PSHE and teachers make use of formative assessment through focused questioning and observation of pupils. Summative assessment takes place every half term, and is in line with the school’s approach to foundation subject assessment.
The subject leader for PSHE conducts pupil voice surveys to gain children’s views on PSHE – their learning and enjoyment of the subject as well as their ideas for improving PSHE lessons. Teachers reflect regularly on their teaching of PSHE and the impact on the children through things such as: the vocabulary children use; their involvement in clubs and extra-curricular activities; the way they interact with each other; the way the children talk and behave around the school.
Displays showing our school values and learning behaviours are evident around school, as well as Trick Box displays.
Feedback from parents, visitors to school and secondary schools reflects the impact of our PSHE curriculum and teaching on our pupils with regards to their positive attitudes, behaviour and involvement.