PSHE
Our PSHE coordinator is Mrs M. Fogarty
PSHE AT ST. MARY’S
Why do we teach what we teach? (Our intent)
At St. Mary’s, we want to ensure children feel safe in a caring and inclusive community; where everyone is equal and everyone matters. Our aim is to promote personal, social, spiritual and health education, as well as emotional development and well-being for all pupils. Building on statutory content in the national curriculum, we aim to provide consistency by following the ‘Jigsaw’ scheme of work. We aim to provide pupils with the knowledge, understanding, attitudes, values and skills they need in order to reach their potential as an individual and within the wider community. This will enable them to learn life skills to assist their personal, spiritual and physical growth. We want our children to explore the changes within today’s society, so they can build their understanding of the rights and responsibilities that are part of being an outstanding citizen, thus meeting our school’s core values and ethos.
How do we teach it? (Our implementation)
Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE) is an important part of children’s learning. Weekly PSHE lessons focus on key objectives - to build their understanding and teach them lifelong skills needed to lead confident and healthy lives.
The sequenced curriculum helps children to build on the skills and knowledge they’ve learnt in previous years. Parallel teaching of PSHE progresses across key stages within the six half-term ‘Jigsaw’ themes:
- Being Me in My World
- Celebrating Differences
- Dreams and Goals
- Healthy Me
- Relationships
- Changing Me (including RSHE)
Each unit consists of six lessons: beginning with ‘connect me’ which sets the atmosphere and ending with time for the children to reflect on their learning. Each lesson has two objectives: one based on their understanding and one for social, emotional aspects of the learning (personal reflection).
Teaching of the curriculum incorporates an age/mentally appropriate understanding of RHE (as set to statutory guidance), enabling all children to be safe and to understand and develop healthy relationships both now and in their future lives.
PSHE is integrated within other subjects. It also plays an important part in our school assemblies (reflecting our core values) and in serving our local community and beyond, where spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) curiosity is stimulated, challenged and nurtured. Age appropriate global current affairs are shared that equip children for life and help develop empathy for others beyond their own communities. Links to the school core values, fundamental British Values, SMSC, UNCRC (children's rights) and key skills are promoted throughout their time at St. Mary’s. Teachers may feel it necessary to teach PSHE as a result of an issue arisen and are encouraged to do so.
What is the difference that this makes? (Our impact)
At St. Mary’s, children embrace our school ethos - to Learn, Grow, Achieve and Flourish – and are able to implement their personal, social, health and emotional learning in everyday situations. They demonstrate compassion, acceptance and understanding for all and can talk confidently about their learning; understanding the important contribution PSHE has on their personal development and meeting their own needs. Pupils take part in a range of activities and experiences, which contribute to their school life and into the wider community. In doing so they learn to build self-esteem, work well with others, become responsible for their own learning and behaviours and make decisions which dictate the path their lives take. They reflect on these learning experiences and understand how they are developing personally and socially, tackling many of the spiritual, moral, social and cultural issues (SMSC) that are part of today’s society. They understand, respect and celebrate diversity, so that they can go on to form positive relationships that are an essential part of life.
Pupil Voice for PSHE
As part of pupil voice for PSHE, our children regularly share their thoughts with maturity and confidence. It’s wonderful to see them learning, growing, achieving and flourishing!
Their feedback demonstrates:
- recognition for their own worth and that of others to build positive relationships
- confidence expressing their own views and build on others'
- in-depth understanding within each part of the acronym P.S.H.E
- clearly articulate how UNCRC articles, British Values and SMSC link to PSHE intent
- opportunities to discuss and debate topical issues
- able to share various aspects of their PSHE lessons with clarity
- how activities/scenarios support learning intentions
- well-thought suggestions (EBI)
Year 1 child: "PSHE isn't just in lessons at school, it’s anytime....it can even be at bedtime when I talk about my feelings."
Year 4 child: "Recently at home, when I told my parents about what I learnt in PSHE, we sat and talked about it some more." (lesson from the 'Healthy Me' puzzle)
Year 6 child: "PSHE lessons really help us to build awareness of what can happen inside and outside school; it clearly explains ways to counter them."
Mental Health & Wellbeing
'Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realise their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community.' (World Health Organisation)
At St. Mary's, we understand the importance of supporting with the emotional needs of our pupils.
ONLINE SAFETY
Our PSHE programme of study raises awareness to a variety of issues online and supports our children in safely navigating the digital world, while also balancing the positive aspects of the internet, in an age-appropriate way.