Curriculum PHSE/RSE

Our PSHE scheme of work aims to equip children with essential skills for life; it intends to develop the whole child through carefully planned and resourced lessons that develop the knowledge, skills and attributes children need to protect and enhance their wellbeing. Through these lessons, children will learn how to stay safe and healthy, build and maintain successful relationships and become active citizens, responsibly participating in society around them. Successful PSHE curriculum coverage is a vital tool in preparing children for life in society now and in the future. Lessons taught have their foundations in seeing each and everybody’s value in society, from appreciation of others in units such as Diverse Britain, to promoting strong and positive views of self in Think Positive and Be Yourself. The lessons we teach aim to cover a wide range of the social and emotional aspects of learning, enabling children to develop their identity and self-esteem as active, confident members of their 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. Our lessons and resources are fully in line with the Learning Outcomes and Core Themes provided by the PSHE Association Programme of Study which is widely used by schools in England and is recommended and referred to by the DfE in all key documentation relating to PSHE provision in schools. This scheme of work covers all of the required objectives and follows the three core areas of Health and Wellbeing, Relationships and Living in the Wider World. The scheme of work fulfils the requirements of 2020 Statutory Relationships and Health Education, setting these learning intentions in the context of a broad and balanced PSHE curriculum.

Our PSHE curriculum has been developed around the PSHE association framework which has three core themes: relationships; health and well-being; and living in the wider world. Using this framework, we have developed a clear, comprehensive and personalised scheme of work based on the national curriculum, contextual information and including all of the statutory content for Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSE). We have written this curriculum to ensure that the units of work carefully build on previously taught knowledge and skills, enabling pupils to ‘know more and remember more’. We have planned our curriculum content to ensure it represents and promotes diversity and inclusion through the literature, resources and subject content taught. Writing our own curriculum has enabled us to address contextual safeguarding issues and embed school values. The PSHE curriculum is enhanced by daily collective worship which is based around the school values. We also have planned safeguarding assemblies which support pupils in the retrieval of key PSHE themes such as trusted adults and healthy relationships. St James has a strong and established Enquiry approach to the curriculum and PSHE sits within this curriculum. The St James curriculum enables pupils to make important links in their learning such as links with stereotypes in history, learning about Fairtrade in geography and healthy eating in design and technology.

In KS1 and KS2 PSHE is taught weekly and, where appropriate, evidence is recorded in PSHE books.

Within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Personal, Social and Emotional development (PSED) lays the foundation for the EYFS curriculum. Pupils learn through the prime areas of self-regulation, managing self and building relationships. These skills are taught through a combination of focus teaching and opportunities to learn through play as well as all the important interactions with peers and adults and the important routines of the day and the independent skills that are learnt through these. Visits and visitors complement our Enquiry approach and PSHE curriculum and give pupils access to outside experience and expertise. Other school responsibilities and activities, such as school council, prefects and head pupils, support the development of pupils’ personal skills.

At St James, we provide the children 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. They will apply their understanding of society to their everyday interactions, from the classroom to the wider community of which they are a part. Our PSHE supports the active development of a school culture that prioritises physical and mental health and wellbeing, providing children with skills to evaluate and understand their own wellbeing needs, practise 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 also helps disadvantaged and vulnerable children achieve to a greater extent by raising aspirations and empowering them with skills to overcome barriers they face. The work that the children complete in PSHE can be used as a whole-school approach to positively impact wellbeing, safeguarding and SMSC outcomes. This can ensure that all children are able to develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to succeed at school and in the wider world.

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