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PSHE and RSE

 

Overview of the Subject:

Personal, Social, and Health Education (PSHE) is central to giving pupils the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to lead confident, healthy, independent lives and to become informed, active and responsible British citizens. PSHE enables students to understand and respect our common humanity, its diversity and its differences, so that they can go on to form the effective, fulfilling relationships that are an essential part of life and learning. Safeguarding is a key element of PSHE as pupils learn about their own identity, risks, decision-making and how to keep themselves safe.

PSHE helps pupils to learn to recognise their own value, work well with others and become increasingly responsible for their own learning. They can reflect on their experiences and understand how they are developing personally and socially, tackling many of the spiritual, moral, social and cultural issues that are part of growing up (PSHE Matters 2018).

Our PSHE programme is a whole school approach and not restricted to the classroom. Pupils participate in a wide range of activities and experiences across and beyond the curriculum, contributing fully into the life of the school and community. We are aware that children learn a lot from the overall ethos of the school, from the attitudes of staff and from their relationships with all stakeholders in our school community.Image preview

At Spire Junior School we believe that effective Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) is essential for young people to make responsible and well-informed decisions about their lives. The RSE programme is integrated as part of the PSHE curriculum (see separate PSHE policy) and is delivered as such that it meets the National Healthy Schools Standard. This school policy is in line with current regulations from the Department of Education (DfE) on Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education (Feb 2019).

Relationships Education and Health Education are taught in this school as statutory subjects. Elements of sex education, though non-statutory are also part of an integrated PSHE programme of work. For the purposes of this policy, we will refer to Relationships Education and Sex Education as combined subjects, as any learning about the physical and sexual aspects of growing up is taught in the context of positive healthy relationships.

Relationships and Sex Education make a significant contribution to the school’s legal duties to

  • prepare pupils for the opportunities,  responsibilities and experiences of adult life , and
  • promote the spiritual, moral, social, cultural, mental, and physical development of pupils

 

Subject Information:

Intent:

The PSHE Programme of Study was produced in consultation with a wide variety of agencies and practitioners to meet the needs of today’s pupils and is regularly updated to meet these changing needs (PSHE association).

The PSHE planned programme of learning will enable children to:

· Know and understand what constitutes a healthy lifestyle

· Be aware of safety issues

· Understand what makes for good relationships with others

· Understand and manage their feelings;

· Encourage and support the development of social skills and social awareness;

· Have respect for others

· Be independent and responsible members of the school community

· Develop self-confidence and self-esteem

· Make informed choices regarding personal and social issues

· Develop good relationships with other members of the school and the wider community

· Develop rights, responsibilities and duties as individuals and as members of a community

· Understand how society works and the rights and responsibilities involved.

· Enable children to respect common humanity, diversity and differences

 

Through PSHE, we endeavour to foster the notions of responsibility and empowerment to promote a sense of achievement and to enhance self-confidence.

PSHE education is guided by the values of:

· Honesty;

· Kindness;

· Trust;

· Responsibility;

· Friendship;

· Self-control;

· Empathy;

· Respect;

· Tolerance

 

Implementation:

PSHE will be delivered by the class teacher with the support of the PSHE leader, as necessary. Visiting professionals may provide talks/workshops to pupils. PSHE is also introduced and explored within assemblies.

In addition to this, PSHE is delivered through a range of class and whole school activities. Pupils are given opportunities to join in and contribute to local and national initiatives e.g. anti-bullying day, hello yellow day for World Mental Health, Internet safety day, community projects and fund-raising activities. Pupils may take part in school assemblies, be elected to the School Council, become SMILERS, and are encouraged to express their opinions.

Pupils are offered a wide range of opportunities to enhance their learning and engage with the concepts and content of the subject through learning in other subjects and areas of the curriculum and out-of-school activities.

 

Impact:

At Spire Junior School, teachers integrate effective AFL in all areas of the curriculum. It is important for individual teachers to use their professional judgement in assessing pupils’ understanding and application of the PSHE units. The work the children do will serve as a record for classes working on each of the units. This is recorded in the whole class PSHE book. 

 The continuous assessment for learning made by the class teacher will inform subsequent curriculum planning. As per our marking and feedback policy, most feedback will be given verbally on the work, with written comments only being used if these are deemed to be the most effective way of giving feedback in that lesson.  

PSHE class books are monitored by the PSHE co-ordinator to ensure that units are being taught and that there is a wide range of learning opportunities.

What do PSHE and RSE lessons look like?

For each lesson, the objectives are taken from the half-term topics in the Derbyshire PSHE Matters framework. They are shared with the children so that they understand what they will be learning. The objectives are amended to suit the needs of the class, enabling teachers to use their discretion to deliver them effectively for their class needs.

Teachers consider the following when planning a lesson:

· Establishing any ground rules such as respecting others' ideas, listening to others, sharing views and questioning

· Objectives for the session

· Any individual needing individual targets

· Pre- and post-activities to establish understanding

· Setting different tasks - PHSE teaching strategies will incorporate varied activities such as circle time, group discussions, debate, role play, co-operative tasks, creative writing, artwork, mind-mapping, class and group discussions, questioning, and media such as videos or pictures

PSHE lessons are recorded in a class PSHE book. This book will evidence the learning intention for the lesson and photos / ideas / thoughts taken from the lesson.

Long-term subject overview:

The units have been separated into half term, so each half term has a specific focus. The framework can be adapted for mixed-age classes as the units repeat and extend knowledge in Upper Key Stage 2.

 

Term 1

Term 2

Term 3

Term 4

Term 5

Term 6

Year 1 of Y3/4

Being Healthy

Relationships

Exploring Emotions

Differences and Diversity

Being Responsible

Bullying Matters

Year 2 of Y3/4

Drug Education

Growing Up

Changes

Being Me

Money Matters

Being Safe

What else is happening in PSHE and RSE?

Children enjoy the varied activities used to teach the learning objectives, and love to have debates and meaningful conversations on areas which they have knowledge and experience in. for example, a Year 6 lesson looks at supporting children who may have different needs to the majority of others, and the accompanying video really engaged the children and challenged them to ‘think outside the box’ and put themselves in the child’s shoes.

PSHE and RSE at home:

PSHE essential information for parents and carers | Healthy Surrey this website contains other useful website links as well as useful information on PSHE and the wellbeing of your child.