Hexham First School
PSHE Curriculum Statement
At Hexham First School, personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education is an embedded part of our broad and balanced curriculum. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development is at the heart of our school ethos. British Values are promoted through the overarching aims and objectives of PSHE by supporting our children to become healthy and responsible members of society, as well as preparing them for life and work in modern Britain.
PSHE Statement of Intent
The intent of our PSHE curriculum is to deliver a curriculum which is accessible to all and that will maximise the outcomes for every child so that they know more, remember more and understand more. At Hexham First School, personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education enables our children to become healthy, independent and responsible members of a society. It aims to help them understand how they are developing personally and socially, and tackles many of the moral, social and cultural issues that are part of growing up. We provide our children with opportunities for them to learn about rights and responsibilities and appreciate what it means to be a member of a diverse society. Our children are encouraged to develop their sense of self-worth by playing a positive role in contributing to school life and the wider community. To build a PSHE curriculum which develops learning and results in the acquisition of knowledge and skills, which enables children to access the wider curriculum and to prepare them to be a global citizen now, and in their future roles within a global community.
The curriculum will demonstrate appropriate subject knowledge, skills and understanding to fulfil the duties of the Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education HE) whereby schools must provide a ‘balanced and broadly-based curriculum which promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils and prepares them for the opportunities and responsibilities and experiences for later life. PSHE Research PSHE Association evaluated research ‘A case for PSHE’ indicates that PSHE when taught well - helps keep children and young people safe, physically and emotionally healthy and prepared for life and work. PSHE Association evaluated research ‘PSHE, Academic Attainment and Employability’ indicates that growing evidence suggests that the skills and attributes acquired through PSHE education have a significant impact on pupils' academic achievement, employability and future life chances.
Implementation
• Clear and comprehensive scheme of work in line with the National Curriculum.
A spiral curriculum
Hexham First have an embedded Primary PSHE scheme of Work ‘Kapow'. Kapow Primary’s RSE and PSHE scheme of work has been designed as a spiral curriculum with the following key principles in mind:
✓ Cyclical: Pupils revisit the five key areas throughout KS1 and KS2.
✓ Increasing depth: Each time a key area is revisited, it is covered with greater depth and increasing maturity.
✓ Prior knowledge: Upon returning to each key area, prior knowledge is utilised so pupils can build on previous foundations, rather than starting again.
Our RSE & PSHE scheme of work is organised into units.
Within each most units, lessons should be taught in order as they build upon one another.
Across a single year group, units themselves do not need to be taught in the suggested order, apart from the Introductory lessons which are to be taught at the beginning of the year and the Transition lessons at the end of the year.
The flexibility in the order the units can be taught allows teachers to adapt the planning to suit their class and to cover particular units based on need at any moment in time.
Sex education is not compulsory in primary schools, beyond what is laid out in the National Curriculum for Science:
● Year 1: Identify, name, draw and label the basic parts of the human body and say which part of the body is associated with each sense.
● Year 2: Notice that animals, including humans, have offspring which grow into adults
The RSE statutory guidance states that:
Where a maintained primary school chooses to teach aspects of sex education (which go beyond the national curriculum for science), the school must set this out in their policy and all schools should consult with parents on what is to be covered. Primary schools that choose to teach sex education must allow parents a right to withdraw their children. Unlike sex education in RSE at secondary, in primary schools, head teachers must comply with a parent’s wish to withdraw their child from sex education beyond the national curriculum for science.
The following resources embed social and emotional aspects of learning within a whole school PSHE programme.
The scheme of work includes:
• Substance Misuse
• Tobacco
• Risk Taking /Safety
• Diversity
• Emotional Health
• Coping Strategies
• Healthy Eating
• Healthy relationships/bullying
• Puberty/Growing up
• Financial Education
• British Values
• Democracy
• Citizenship
• Physical Activity
• E-Safety
• Careers
The Scheme of work also includes opportunities to link British Values, SMSC and schools Key skills into the curriculum. Kapow uses open learning activities which suit the ethos of PSHE. All learning activities used in this scheme allow opportunities for discussion and debate. Open learning activities provide an opportunity for students for pupils to develop their skills, knowledge and attitude. Never underestimate the impact of children debating or discussing- even practising using language or talking about feelings can help them develop key skills for the future.
• Wider Curriculum All subjects make a link to PSHE, BV, SMSC and the language is used consistently by all staff.
• Displays across school PSHE, BV and SMSC displays throughout school reinforce the PSHE curriculum enabling children to make links.
• Assemblies Whole school, Key Stage and class assemblies always make a link to PSHE, British Values and SMSC.
Impact
• Children will demonstrate and apply the school Values: respect, kindness, uniqueness, confidence, resilience, ambition and being curious.
• Children will demonstrate a healthy outlook towards school – attendance will be in-line with national and behaviour will be good.
• Children will achieve age related expectations across the wider curriculum.
• Children will become healthy and responsible members of society
• Children will be on their journey preparing them for life and work in modern Britain.
At Hexham First School we deliver the PSHE curriculum by utilising first hand experience and sharing good practice. However, we are aware that the delivered curriculum must reflect the needs of our pupils. We expect teachers to use a PSHE programme to equip pupils with a sound understanding of risk and with the knowledge and skills necessary to make safe and informed decisions. We believe that the purpose of PSHE education is to build, where appropriate, on the statutory guidance outlined in the Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education. We believe that PSHE plays a vital part of primary education and as well as discrete focused lessons, it is also embedded throughout the curriculum. PSHE is integral to the development of children’s values in order for them to become a positive citizen in a forever changing community. PSHE is an important part of school assemblies were children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural curiosity is stimulated, challenged and nurtured.