MAB’S CROSS PRIMARY SCHOOL

PSHE & C CURRICULUM

INTENT

At Mab’s Cross Primary School, we believe that PSHE & C is a prerequisite to educational attainment.  It permeates all aspects of life and is central to the school’s philosophy, ethos, aims and values. Here at Mab’s Cross we aim to ‘Bring out the best in everyone.’

Our PSHE & C curriculum places a focus upon the characteristics of respectful relationships, good physical health, mental wellbeing, personal safety and economic wellbeing. It provides children with the confidence, knowledge and skills that will enable them to make informed decisions whilst building their self-efficacy. It helps them to develop resilience, to know how and when to ask for help, and where to access support.

In our early years, we recognise that personal, social and emotional development (PSED) is crucial for children to lead healthy and happy lives, and is fundamental to their cognitive development. Caring and supportive relationships with our staff encourage children to learn how to understand their own feelings and those of others.

Our long-term plan provides a broad and balanced curriculum that ensures cross-curricular links, whilst providing the children with the opportunity to develop their knowledge of our curriculum drivers. We offer local, heritage and cultural experiences that encourage children to develop an understanding of their social environment, whilst embracing the difference and diversity evident within our wider community. Within our sessions, children are encouraged to make connections with their previous learning and reflect on their learning experiences, knowledge and understanding. We want our children to have high aspirations and to realise that anything is possible with hard work and persistence.

A spiral curriculum is utilised to ensure that the fundamental building blocks are taught so that the children have the prior knowledge they will require to make sense of their learning. Key concepts are revised and extended throughout the progressive syllabus, with the children being asked to reflect on the central concepts and consider how they connect with one another.

Emphasis is placed upon developing our children’s cultural capital through a wide range of experiences, such as visits from the police and fire officers, a road safety walk, a visit to Chester Zoo, collecting items for the local foodbank and raising money for local, national and global charities.

Many of our PSHE sessions are practical and creative in nature and encourage children to develop their understanding of the values of respect, responsibility, perseverance, liberty, democracy, equality and aspiration. The curriculum also aims to raise self-esteem, develop team work and debating skills whilst promoting character traits such as honesty, empathy and resilience. We want our children to know and understand how they learn, so they are introduced to a wide range of learning strategies including techniques to aid the retention of information, metacognition activities and growth mindset.

IMPLEMENTATION

At Mab’s Cross we base our teaching and learning on our bespoke PSHE & C curriculum which has been written in response to our pupils' needs, as well as local and national data. It addresses the statutory curriculum but enhances it further to ensure that our children have the knowledge, understanding and confidence they require to stay safe and make informed choices in order to become active, healthy and happy citizens.

In the EYFS, Personal, Social and Emotional Development is one of the prime areas and teaching the skills to support children in this area underpins everything that we do. Planned activities and self-initiated play opportunities offer the children a range of experiences to help them to develop the skills to play co-operatively, listen carefully and show sensitivity to the needs and feelings of others. Adults are role models for children, and we intervene and model discussion and turn-taking for those children who are still developing the skills. Our PSED is enhanced by our PSHE & C programme of study, which nurtures the self-esteem and emotional development of all our children. Circle time for children provides opportunities to talk about how they and others show their feelings and the choices that they can make regarding their behaviour. Teachers provide explicit and implicit learning opportunities and experiences which reflect pupils’ increasing independence and support the children’s understanding of the consequences of their actions.

Teachers have a good knowledge of the themes within our PSHE & C curriculum, with teachers attending training on mental wellbeing, bereavement, financial capability and diversity. In addition, teachers share expertise and good practice through their weekly planning meetings.

Our structured scheme of work is very detailed and clearly sets out expectations and curriculum coverage. This, alongside subscription to the PSHE Association and Young Citizens, provides support and resources for teachers to ensure that all children are sufficiently challenged with their learning.  Our programme of study is based around three themes – Relationship Education, Physical Health and Mental Wellbeing, and Living in the Wider World.

Our PSHE sessions are accessible to everyone, with the children in the class all undertaking the same unit.  Through the implementation of Rosenshine's Principles, we remove any barriers to learning and maximise the outcomes for every child through scaffolding, cognitive support, carefully planned questions, modelled activities, sequenced lessons and by introducing key vocabulary prior to the lesson for children with SEND. Some children may receive personalised plans to ensure that their learning is appropriate and matches their needs.

Assessment for learning is utilised to inform our planning. This may be undertaken through observations, discussions with the children, pupil reflection, analysis of work, questioning or specific assessment activities. Teachers identify areas for further development at the end of a unit, with future plans being amended accordingly. Individual children who are identified as requiring additional support, particularly with regard to their emotional wellbeing, may work with our pastoral support officer. In the EYFS, we continually assess children’s understanding through observations and interactions to ensure that focused tasks and activities are provided within the areas of provision.

Carefully planned cycles of monitoring are utilised to ensure high quality teaching and learning is being implemented within all classes in school. Monitoring is undertaken through scrutinising books, drop-in sessions and discussions with teachers, pupils and parents. It is undertaken by the RE and PSHE Team and supported by members of the SLT. Individual feedback is provided, with good practice identified alongside any areas for improvement. Appropriate support, such as team planning, is then put in place if required.

IMPACT

At Mab’s Cross Primary School, our spiral PSHE curriculum and wider provision ensures that children will be equipped to make informed decisions in regard to their mental wellbeing, personal safety, health, economic wellbeing and respectful relationships. Our overarching aims and objectives are to support our children in becoming healthy and responsible members of society, enabling pupils to move onto the next stage of their education with self-confidence and a high sense of self-worth.

By the time our children reach the end of KSl they will:

• Describe ways to keep healthy, including the importance of sleep, regular exercise, personal hygiene, healthy eating and balancing time on and offline
• Be able to recognise and name different feelings and know how to manage feelings of anger
• Know how and where to ask for support, including the identification of trusted adults, and how to seek help in emergency situations
• Develop respect for themselves and others and identify the things they are good at and why they are special and unique
• Identify and understand the importance of rules in keeping people safe, including at home, online, when travelling, around strangers and in the sun
• Know a range of strategies to improve listening, memory and concentration skills and begin to develop a growth mindset
• Understand what it means to be part of a family and know that not all families are the same
• Be able to identify what makes a good friend and suggest ways to resolve disagreements and recognise bullying
• Develop a knowledge of how to keep their body safe, including being able to identify private body parts, understanding the importance of giving and receiving permission and identifying the difference between acceptable and unacceptable touch, good and bad secrets, being able to identify similarities and differences between people in school and the local community.
• Suggest ways to protect the local environment, including the animals that live within it
• State how to stay safe online and identify the importance of keeping personal information private
• Develop an awareness of money, its origins and how it can be earned, saved or spent and identify the difference between needs and wants

By the time our children reach the end of KS2, they will:

• Explain ways to keep healthy, including the importance of regular exercise, sleep routines, a balanced diet (including knowledge and understanding of the five main food groups), appropriate screen time, dental and personal hygiene
• Have a wide vocabulary to describe different emotions and be able to explain a range of strategies to manage different feelings, including those related to change and loss.
• Explain when, where and how to ask for support in a variety of different contexts and suggest ways to manage when finding something difficult, including getting help in emergency situations and knowing when to apply basic first-aid skills
• Identify their own strengths, skills and achievements and know how these might help job selection and use these to set goals
• Recognise the link between physical and mental health and describe strategies that promote mental wellbeing
• Explain the purpose of laws, rules and restrictions to keep people safe and know how to use risk assessments to make safe choices
• Identify a range of different rules, laws and human rights, explaining why they are important whilst identifying possible consequences of not following rules
• Suggest ways of reducing and managing risks at home, online, near water, on the road, on a railway track and elsewhere, including how different substances, including legal and illegal drugs, can affect health positively and negatively
• Demonstrate the personal traits of perseverance, resilience, self-motivation, independence and the importance of a growth mindset
• Be able to identify a range of external body parts and internal reproductive organs and describe how and why bodies change over time, including during puberty, and suggest strategies to manage these changes.
• Describe different types of relationships and understand the role of a family, including the identification of the features of a positive family life, and be able to explain how families are different.
• Explain the features of a healthy, positive friendship and know ways to avoid and resolve arguments and other friendship issues, including being able to name different types of bullying, the effects of bullying and how to respond if it is experienced or witnessed
• Recognise peer influence or pressure in a range of situations and suggest strategies to manage and respond appropriately
• Explain the meaning and importance of consent and privacy in a variety of situations and know the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touch, how to respect personal boundaries and recognise when it is right to break confidence or share a secret
• Explain the terms discrimination, stereotypes and prejudice and know the role of the Equality Act in protecting people against harassment
• Explain shared responsibilities and how care can be shown for others and the environment, and how everyday choices impact upon the world
• Explain how to be safe online, how data is gathered and used, describe the benefits and challenges of using the internet safely and understand that information online is not always true and explain how to report harmful content
• Explain the role of money, including cashless payments, knowing how to make financial decisions, including budgeting and managing risks, whilst recognising how spending choices can impact on mental wellbeing