PSHE at Colden

Intent: what are we trying to achieve with our curriculum?

A good quality Personal, Social, Health Education (PSHE) education enables pupils to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to manage their lives, now and in the future.  These skills and attitudes help pupils to stay healthy, safe and prepare them for life and work in modern, diverse Britain; to lead confident, healthy, independent lives, and become informed and active citizens. Our PSHE curriculum supports the delivery of our Vision statements as set out in our Vision brochure.

Our curriculum is based on the PSHE Association Programme of Study, which is widely used by schools in England and has been recommended by the DfE. It covers all the required objectives and follows the three core areas of Health and Wellbeing, Relationships and Living in the Wider World*. It also fulfils the requirements of 2020 Statutory Relationships and Health Education, embedding these learning intentions in the context of a broad and balanced PSHE curriculum. The themes and topics also support the children’s Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural (SMSC) development and provides them with protective teaching on essential safeguarding issues, developing the knowledge of when and how children can ask for help.

In teaching relationships within PSHE, children will learn to recognize healthy, respectful relationships, focusing on family and friendships, including online relationships. Reflecting our school community and in support of the Equality Act (2010), diversity in families and relationships will be presented in an inclusive way. This will sit alongside the essential understanding of how to be healthy – including an awareness and understanding of how to maintain good mental health. The new subject content will give them the knowledge and capability to take care of themselves and receive support if problems arise. 

Although sexual reproduction will be taught in the context of healthy relationships, it should be noted that lessons will have the clear message that a healthy, respectful relationship is not necessarily one which engages in sexual reproduction. As Sex Education is not statutory, in keeping with the legislation, parents will have the right to withdraw their child from these lessons. Parents will be informed via topic letters of the planned content and consent will be sought. (Relationships Education is statutory from September 2020, so parents will not have the right to withdraw their child from these lessons.)

Inclusion

Colden is an inclusive school. For those children with SEND and/or deemed ‘vulnerable’, adjustments are made based upon individual needs. These may be to the curriculum itself or to access arrangements. At the same time, the importance of fostering independence and developing the confidence and ability to meet appropriate challenges is understood and promoted.

Implementation: how do we deliver our curriculum?

Our PSHE curriculum is taught through thematic topics over a two-year cycle. In order to give children the opportunity to recap, revisit and build on their prior learning, these topics are repeated every two years – a ‘spiral curriculum’.

The school’s long-term plans set out the objectives; the knowledge and skills that pupils will gain by the end of the topic.  It will sequence the learning and will set out key vocabulary that pupils will learn.  This process ensures that the curriculum matches the intent.

As the majority of learning will be through speaking and listening, children’s learning will be captured via a whole class learning journal, which can be used as a reference to support retrieval of previous learning as well as reflecting the progress made.

As with all areas of the curriculum Colden recognises that in order to ensure lessons are inclusive, teachers will need to differentiate according to children’s needs. Where children are excelling, they will need to be challenged with more demanding questions and/or tasks. Meanwhile children who are struggling to access the learning may require a greater level of scaffolding and/or support or resources may need adapting. Teachers will use their professional judgement to differentiate so that all children can access the learning appropriately.

PSHE lessons sometimes deal with potentially sensitive issues. When planning, our staff will be mindful of their children’s backgrounds and ensure that where appropriate, parents are informed of future coverage. Teachers will help the children to understand the importance of creating a safe space in the classroom by setting ground rules for behaviour, so that children feel able to engage in discussions and ask questions appropriately.

Impact: what difference is our curriculum making to children?

The impact of a successful, ambitious, broad and balanced PSHE curriculum should be evident across the whole school – through children’s attitudes to themselves, to others, their learning and their environment – both local and global. This is monitored constantly, with staff briefings and meetings always reflecting on how well we are meeting our Vision and if there is anything more we can do to further support our progress.

In terms of during PSHE lessons, there will be opportunities to assess throughout, via questioning and observations. Teacher assessments on children’s progress will then inform subsequent lessons in the learning sequence and where necessary, adaptations will be made.

School leaders will monitor teachers’ assessments again through pupil interviews and lesson visits. These will be shared and discussions held to check lessons are matching the curriculum intent and that children are making good progress. If not, possible solutions will be discussed.

Equal Opportunities

Colden School is committed to providing equal opportunities for all, regardless of race, faith, gender or capability in all aspects of school. This ethos is reflected in our PSHE curriculum and in everything we do so that we promote self and mutual respect and a caring and non-judgmental attitude throughout the school.

*The Letters and numbers by the statements refer to the PSHE Association system of organizing the learning into the three core themes Health and Wellbeing (H), Relationships (R) and Living in the Wider World (L). Each statement is numbered.