PSHE
Intent
Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education is a subject through which pupils develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to manage their lives, now and in the future. It helps children and young people to stay healthy and safe, while preparing them to make the most of life and work. Good PSHE education also helps pupils to achieve their academic potential. Before they leave Bede Primary Community School, we want pupils to be ready to face their worlds with a strong sense of self, respect for others, a sound understanding of risk and the ability to keep themselves and others safe by making good, informed decisions. We want our children’s current life experiences and future lives to be bright and positive so we lay foundations, through our PHSE work, that will help children to see and be excited by the opportunities open to them, to widen their cultural capital and to set them upon paths leading to future careers, activities and positions where they will be involved in things that they enjoy, are good at and benefit themselves and those around them.
Implementation
PSHE is taught in many different ways and will not always be a ‘typical’ class lesson as it weaves through our whole school ethos and life, making a significant contribution to children ‘s spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development and their understanding of Fundamental British Values and our school values. Every day, as adults, we model many aspects of PHSE in how we behave towards all children and other adults, how we manage challenges and how we support and work with one another. Our super learning powers provide us with a spine to link positive behaviours, which will help us to become better and happier individuals, school members, community partners, positive members of our country and engaged global citizens. We make every effort to keep our PHSE current and relevant to our community and both national and international events. We aspire to inspire our pupils, making PHSE interesting, engaging and motivating so that it sets positive mindsets and embeds the idea in the children that they are now, and can be in the future, active and important parts of our society who can effect change for the better and influence the landscape (physical, emotional and environmental) in which we all live. Much of this is also done through visits, visitors, theme days and events. We feel it is important that our children meet as many adults who can inspire from a variety of backgrounds and with a variety of experiences; we encourage them every day, using our special learning powers to be confident, resilient, reflective, kind, generous and ambitious; across all curriculum areas and all of school life we ask them to consider their actions, become more independent of thought, to be considerate of others and to develop good, healthy relationships. However, each class will cover at least one PSHE aspect a week in their class based upon the themes set out within our spiral curriculum under the headings Relationships, Health and Well- Being, and Living in the Wider World. Opportunities are presented for pupils (where appropriate/possible) to:
- Experience taking and sharing responsibility.
- Feel positive about themselves and others.
- Reflect on their perceptions and experiences.
- Develop the understanding, language, communication skills and strategies required to exercise personal autonomy wherever possible.
- Carry out or take part in daily personal living routines.
- Make real decisions (with support where necessary so that they can act upon them).
- Interact with people from other settings, walks of life, and with different experiences.
- Engage in activities linked to the real world in meaningful ways wherever possible.
- Take part in group activities and make contributions.
- Develop and maintain positive relationships and interactions with others.
- Recognise and celebrate their achievements and successes.
This work will be displayed in whole class display / floor books not in individual books for children.
Impact
We could say that we have the end of primary school expectations as our guideline for impact, but our primary impact, we feel, is often not measurable; it lies within the happiness of the children in school; their feeling of safety, of acceptance and of being understood and valued; it lies within the classroom environments, the behaviour and attitudes throughout school; the way new students and adults are made to feel welcomed; the place of Bede at the heart of the community; our interaction with other services to ensure our community is better served; the children’s excitement at being involved in projects and their taking part with greater levels of confidence and ambition. We live our PSHE day in and day out and believe that our children will:
- develop their self-knowledge, self-esteem and self-confidence;
- have ambition and confidently take their next steps towards future possibilities with positivity;
- understand how to stay healthy mentally and physically;
- be able to distinguish right from wrong and to respect the civil and criminal law of England;
- accept responsibility for their behaviour, show initiative, and to understand how they can contribute positively to the lives of those living and working in the locality of the school and to society more widely;
- acquire a broad general knowledge of and respect for public institutions and services in England;
- show tolerance of and harmony between different cultural traditions while acquiring an appreciation of and respect for their own and other cultures;
- respect other people and find solutions to challenges of minimal risk;
- respect democracy and participate in the democratic processes;
- and show respect for the basis on which the law is made and applied in school, our communities and in England.