PHSE

“No one is born a good citizen or a good democrat or a good leader: its takes time and education.”  Kofi Annan

Purpose:

At Etruscan Primary School we put PSHE at the core of our curriculum, underpinning our school ‘REACH’ values of Respect, Enjoyment, Achievement, Collaborate and Honesty. PSHE enables our children to grow into healthy, confident, independent and responsible adults. Our children are shown how to treat others with love, kindness and respect, to keep themselves safe, what makes a good relationships and to approach difficult decisions with courage and in informed ways. This then means they can play a positive and successful role within our society, both as children now, and as adults in the future.

Children learn how they are developing personally and socially, and are given opportunities to explore important moral, social and cultural issues. We enable our children to learn about rights and responsibilities, and provide them with a strong understanding of the diverse world around them.

We support our children to play a positive role in society, enabling them to contribute to both the school and the wider community, actively seeking ways they can make a positive difference. We aim to develop a strong sense of self-worth and resilience in our children, preparing them for the challenges of becoming global citizens in an ever-changing world.

Rationale

In the EYFS, Personal, Social and Emotional Development involves helping children to develop a positive sense of themselves, and others; to form positive relationships and develop respect for others; to develop social skills and learn how to manage their feelings; to understand appropriate behaviour in groups; and to have confidence in their own abilities. 

At Etruscan there are many opportunities within everyday situations in Nursery and Reception that enable children’s PSHE development. These include the children building friendships, sharing experiences, playing games/turn-taking and taking part in regular circle time activities to develop their social skills and listen to others.

The PSHE curriculum in Years 1 to 6 is progressive and follows the PSHE Association curriculum. Lessons take place weekly and are based around the six main themes of rights and responsibilities, money, health, feelings and friendship, safety and risk and identity. The curriculum prepares the children for continuing their learning in Year 7.

Characteristics of a good citizen

• Shows empathy and compassion for the needs and rights of others
• Is honest and fair
• Displays self-discipline in setting and meeting goals
• Makes good judgments
• Has self-respect and shows respect to others
• Shows courage in standing up for their beliefs
• Has a strong sense of responsibility
• Knows what is right and wrong
• Is resilient
• Knows how to keep themselves safe and healthy
• Shows concern for others and for their community
• Follows rules
• Looks after the environment
• Understands the changes that happen as we grow up
• Values diversity
• Stands up to bullying behaviour
• Knows how to earn and look after money

Applying PSHE within other subjects:

In English, our writing allows us to explore texts from different perspectives. We often write diary entries as a particular character and use hot-seating to question the characters within the texts. These activities help to consolidate our PSHE learning by allowing us to focus on the feelings of the characters and empathise with them. We also consider relationships between characters. This supports the development of our understanding of relationships with our peers, families and the people that we meet.

In maths, we develop the children’s understanding of economic wellbeing, where children learn about number, money and budgeting. Children are often posed with real life challenges to support their understanding relating to the wider world, for example, how much they have spend on a toy, going out on an outing or saving for a favourite objects. Children work together to solve problems and develop their ability to work in teams using equipment and sharing resources to reach end goals.

Many of the units within the PSHE syllabus have strong links to our learning in Science. Children learn about their personal hygiene (including oral care), the spread of germs and diseases and ways to prevent these – particularly important during the past few years!

A significant element of PSHE is children being aware of similarities and differences between themselves and others and showing respect to all people. RE teaching enables children to learn about and experience elements of world religions, tradition and culture. They consider their own personal beliefs and values and are supported to question any stereotypical or fixed ideas they may have which enables them to become respectful, polite and tolerant members of society.

A significant element of PSHE is children being aware of how to look after their bodies and understanding how their bodies are affected by different activities. Through Physical Education lessons, children are not only taught the physical aspect of how to compete in team games, for example, but also begin to consider how their bodies respond to exercise. Children begin to be aware of how their body works whilst exercising, understanding the effects that physical activity has on their body and how these can benefit them, both physically and mentally. Links to physical and mental health are also discussed to support children’s understanding through PE and awareness of mental health understanding in school.

Throughout History and Geography teaching, children explore a range of different eras and localities and through these units children are shown how life was or could be. Children are encouraged to think about how they would feel in a range of different time periods, contexts and areas and they draw comparisons to their own lives and views. Lots of discussion through History and Geography lessons, sharing opinions and taking into consideration other people’s views contributes to the values of PSHE teaching.

Online safety, e-safety and bullying are all important areas of the PSHE, in addition to the computing curriculum. During e-safety week, anti-bullying week and computing lessons, specific teaching enables children to learn how to stay safe online, consider how they feel when online and helps them to understand how they and others can be influenced, raising their awareness of positive and negative relationships, how to stay safe and who to speak to if they are concerned.

Fundamental life skills are often taught in art and design technology, in addition to the appreciation of others’ artwork and different skill bases. Through the design process and reflection, children are able to share their ideas and opinions, work together and learn from each other in mutually respectful ways.

Inclusion 

Teachers set high expectations for every pupil. They plan challenging work to enable all pupils to make good progress regardless of their academic ability or background. We expect all children to make good progress albeit from different starting points. Our curriculum prepares all children for the next stage of their education.