PHSCE
Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education at The Crescent Primary School
The information on this page, and in the links below, aims to give an overview of how we, along with each school in The Pioneer Academy, organises and delivers its curricula to meet both statutory and non-statutory requirements (as outlined by 2020 Relationships Education and Health Education, as well as the 2010 Equality Act).
What is PSHE?
Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (sometimes also referred to as PSHCE with citizenship added) is a planned programme of learning which helps children and young people acquire the knowledge and skills they need to manage their lives, thriving as individuals, family members and members of society.
The Importance of PSHE Education
During key stages 1 and 2, PSHE education offers both explicit and implicit learning opportunities and experiences which reflect pupils’ increasing independence and physical and social awareness, as they move through the primary phase. It builds on the skills that pupils started to acquire during the Early Years Foundation stage (EYFS) to develop effective relationships, assume greater personal responsibility and manage personal safety, including online.
PSHE education helps pupils to manage the physical and emotional changes at puberty, introduces them to a wider world and enables them to make an active contribution to their communities.
What is Relationships and Health Education (RHE)?
From September 2020, all primary schools will be required to deliver, statutorily, ‘relationships education’.
The government have also committed to statutory ‘health education’, meaning the majority of personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education will be compulsory from 2020.
Every school within TPA delivers a number of additional, voluntary programmes, all of which help to ensure the delivery of a robust PSHE curriculum (including the latest statutory requirements).
The infographic below shows in blue, what each TPA school engages with in order to fulfil its statutory and non-statutory requirements in relation to both PSHE and the latest RHE.
How we teach
Due to the complex and sensitive nature of some of the mandatory areas within relationships education, health education, and the Equality Act, how we teach children is important.
An exploratory approach is typically adopted when considering more complex topics with children, for example ‘What makes a family?’, in which children are encouraged to ask questions to challenge, and be challenged over their pre-existing ideas, assumptions and possible misconceptions. We use a combination of class debates and circle time to explore these.
Philosophical questions are open to examination, further questioning and enquiry. They are contestable, central and common – that is, there is more than one valid point of view, the question is important in the lives of the children, and it is a shared issue or concern. Children might come up with philosophical questions such as:
- What makes you you?
- Do we have to respect everyone?
- Can good people do bad things?
- Do we all have the same rights?
Aims
At The Crescent Primary School our Personal Social Health and Economic (PSHE) curriculum aims to:
- Promote the spiritual, moral, mental and physical development of pupils
- Prepare pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.
We have planned a PSHE curriculum that is relevant to our children and their current needs while preparing them for their future. It aims to be broadly based and balanced, developed to promote the well-being of all our pupils.
Our PSHE curriculum is not planned in isolation. It makes real and relevant links to many other subjects and policies such as safeguarding, equal opportunities and behaviour.
We aim to provide learning opportunities that respect and take into account prior learning and personal experiences. We expect children to develop essential skills. Of particular significance are:
- Intra personal skills (required for self-management)
- Interpersonal skills (required for positive relationships)
- Enquiry skills
All pupils will be provided with:
- Accurate and relevant knowledge
- Opportunities to reflect and make that knowledge relevant and personal to their understanding
- Opportunities to explore, clarify and, when necessary, challenge their own and others’ values, attitudes, beliefs, rights and responsibilities
- The skills and strategies they need in order to live healthy, safe, fulfilling, responsible and balanced lives, now and in the future.
The Curriculum
There are 3 core themes to the curriculum, which are developed in a ‘spiral programme’ ensuring that learning is revisited, reinforced and extended in age and developmentally appropriate contexts.
They build on Foundation Stage learning and there is a broad overlap and flexibility between them.
The themes are:
- Health and Wellbeing
- Relationships
- Living in the wider world
These themes are developed in different ways. They may be delivered through/within:
- Whole school and phase assemblies
- Whole school events/initiatives
- Class topics and themes
- Class induction at the beginning of a school year
- As discrete planned units within the curriculum
- As part of an on-going PSHE curriculum within year groups
- In response to issues and matters arising within the class, community or wider world.
Health and Wellbeing
Pupils will be taught:
- What is meant by a healthy lifestyle
- How to maintain physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing
- How to manage risks to physical and emotional health and wellbeing
- Ways of keeping physically and emotionally safe
- About managing change, such as puberty, transition and loss
- How to make informed choices about health and wellbeing and to recognise sources of help with this
- How to respond in an emergency
- To identify different influences on health and wellbeing
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