PSHE

Intent

Our PSHE curriculum aims to give children the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that they need to effectively navigate the complexities of life in the 21st Century. The curriculum covers key areas which support children to make informed choices now and in the future around their health, safety, wellbeing, relationships, and financial matters, and guides them in becoming confident individuals and active members of society.

Quality PSHE and RSE teaching is an important element in helping schools to carry out their duty of care with regards to safeguarding. The DfE’s statutory ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education (Sep 2020)’ guidance states that ‘Governing bodies and proprietors should ensure that children are taught about safeguarding, including online safety. Schools should consider this as part of providing a broad and balanced curriculum’. In response to the child-on-child abuse updates to Section 5 of Keeping Children Safe in Education (DfE, 2022), our curriculum introduces and revisits ideas of personal boundaries, consent and communicating our boundaries with others. This prepares pupils for the challenges and responsibilities they will face in the future.

Implementation

Our PSHE curriculum follows the Kapow programme of study which covers the Relationships and Health Education statutory guidance (as set out by the Department for Education), including the non-statutory sex education. The scheme covers wider PSHE learning, in line with the requirement of the National curriculum (2014) that schools ‘should make provision for personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE).’ Children’s learning through this scheme would significantly contribute to their personal development as set out in the Ofsted Inspection Framework and promotes the four fundamental British values which reflect life in modern Britain: democracy; rule of law; respect and tolerance and individual liberty. Where lessons go beyond these requirements, they refer to the PSHE Association Programme of Study which is recommended by the DfE.

The Kapow Primary scheme is a whole school approach that consists of five areas of learning across Key stages 1 and 2: Families and Relationships, Health and Wellbeing, Safety and the Changing Body, Citizenship and Economic Wellbeing. Lessons are progressive and areas are revisited to allow children to build on prior learning. Sex education has been included in line with the DfE recommendations and is covered in Year 6.

A range of teaching and learning activities are used and are based on good practice in teaching RSE/PSHE education to ensure that all children can access learning and make progress. All lessons include ideas for differentiation to stretch the most able learners and give additional support to those who need it. Many lessons, stories, scenarios, and video clips provide the opportunity for children to engage in real life and current topics in a safe and structured way. Role-play activities are also included to help children play out scenarios that they may find themselves in.

There are meaningful opportunities for cross-curricular learning, in particular with Computing for online safety and Science for growing, nutrition, teeth, diet and lifestyle. The scheme provides consistent messages throughout the age ranges including how and where to access help.

Impact

The impact of our curriculum is monitored through:

• Informal observations of pupils in lessons

• Pupil voice - questionnaires and pupil book reviews

• Engagement in enrichment activities

• Subject leader monitoring - lesson visits, work scrutiny, action plan and assessments.

• Governor reports