PHSE

(Personal, Health, Social, Emotional)

 

Intent

At Swallownest Primary School, we believe children’s Personal, Social and Health Education is vitally important, therefore we aim to teach our pupils to become healthy, independent and responsible members of our diverse society. Our intent is to deliver a broad PSHE curriculum which is accessible to all and that will maximise outcomes for every child. 

Implementation:

Our PSHE curriculum focuses on three core themes which children are taught through each term. The three main themes are: ‘Relationships’, ‘Living in the Wider World’ and ‘Health and Wellbeing’. Teachers use planning from these three core themes and their objectives.

As a school, we have chosen to use Twinkl Life’s PSHE and Citizenship Scheme of Work is designed to be taught in thematic units consisting of six lessons, with supporting materials including a planning overview, clear learning journey and relevant materials. These units are taught in a spiral curriculum that revisits each theme every two years. This enables children to recall and build upon previous learning, exploring the underlying principles of PSHE education regularly at a depth that is appropriate for the age and stage of the child. Lessons signpost key words, building a rich vocabulary to develop understanding. At Swallownest, we choose to introduce puberty in Year 4 and sex education in Year 5. This has been thoughtfully planned this way to benefit the children and their needs.

Our environment allows for many opportunities for children to work together, communicate and strengthen friendships. Through skilful facilitation in lessons, adults encourage and support children to express their thoughts, co-operate and discuss conflicts that may arise. Throughout the year, picture books and texts are used as a stimulus for discussions and English tasks; these allow for the exploration of themes such as independence, confidence, friendships and families. Texts are also used as part of story time to allow children the opportunity to further explore these themes.

EYFS:

 In EYFS, our children experience a range of opportunities to support their personal, social and emotional development (PSED). Children are supported to manage their feelings and emotions, develop a positive sense of self, have confidence in their own abilities and develop their independence. Children learn about healthy eating, managing their personal needs and explore how to look after their bodies. Through circle time, discussions and books children learn about friendships, how to cooperate, families and the wider world. Our aim is that children leave reception with a range of experiences that can be built upon in KS1.

All 7 areas of learning in EYFS are important and interconnected, therefore experiences will occur across many different opportunities offered through our curriculum. Direct adult-teaching is offered as part of our curriculum alongside an enabling environment that provides a wide range of learning experiences. Links to the RSHE curriculum are made through the area of learning: PSED.

In EYFS, adult directed discussions are planned for where children are supported to ‘check in’ on their mental well-being and delve deeper into a specific theme; children are encouraged to share their own opinions, agree and disagree with their peers alongside learning how to do so respectfully.

For our youngest children, opportunities to develop their independence are embedded within daily routines and practices. This includes daily tasks such as self-registration, changing for P.E, following snack and lunchtime routines and selecting resources within the provision. Children also engage in the whole school health week where more focussed work around being healthy and oral health are offered.

Impact:

We assess children’s learning in PSHE through informal discussions, weekly retrieval practise and low stake quizzes. Because of this, children frequently have the opportunity to enter their current understanding of their learning. We use this as basis for assessing the progress of the child at the end of the year.