Personal, Social Health and Economic education at Cowling Primary School

Subject Curriculum Leader: Mrs Kate Dawson

Intent: At Cowling Community Primary School we deliver a PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic) curriculum which is accessible to all and will enable them to become healthy, independent and responsible members of a society who understand how they are developing personally and socially.  Our aim is to provide pupils with a knowledge of their world, locally, nationally and globally and give them confidence to tackle many of the moral, social and cultural issues that are part of growing up within this. Due to the catchment area of our school community, it is vital that we provide understanding of the diversity in our country as a whole in terms of race, religion and relationships.  The intent is to develop tolerant, respectful young people, prepared for their future lives.  Our children are encouraged to develop their sense of self-worth by playing a positive role in contributing to school life and the wider community.  Through our PSHE education, we believe we can enhance children’s education and help them to become caring, respectful and confident individuals.

As a school, we believe that children are all individuals and therefore, we aim to encourage mutual respect, responsibility and ensure children are supportive of one another’s well-being. Our PSHE programme will develop the qualities and attributes (resilience, confidence and independence) children need to thrive as individuals, family members and members of society and the global community. They will develop emotional intelligence and the ability to articulate their feelings in order to maintain good mental health as well as understanding the importance of their physical health and being healthy.

Implementation: The content of our PSHE curriculum is detailed below in our long-term plan. Our curriculum ensures a progression of knowledge, skills and understanding across the new PSHE areas -health and wellbeing, relationships and living in the wider world.  Within our PSHE curriculum, you will find a clear and comprehensive RSE scheme of work in line with the new recommendations of teaching RSE in National Curriculum (Sept 2020). The teaching and learning of RSE is planned explicitly within each class group so that children know more, remember more and understand more.  Some of the aspects of PSHE, RSE for example, will be delivered to single year groups due to the nature of the content.  Parents are informed of the content of the RSE programme of work and further support / clarification will be given if required.

Well planned PSHE lessons are timetabled weekly and delivered to our mixed-age classes.  Knowledge organisers for each unit show the key knowledge children will learn and the lines of enquiry they will follow.  Whole school assemblies always make a link to PSHE, British Values and SMSC.

PSHE in EYFS: At Cowling CP School, children in EYFS develop skills that form a crucial foundation for later teaching of PSHE/RSE at KS1 and KS2. In EYFS, PSHE is taught through the prime Area of Learning and Development ‘Personal, Social and Emotional Development’, which is broken up into: making relationships; self-confidence and self-awareness and managing behaviours and feelings.

Supporting children with SEND in PSHE: PSHE plays a vital role for learners with SEND — rehearsing and embedding the practical skills and understanding they need to lead independent and fulfilling lives and enjoy safe and healthy relationships.  Learning is regularly re-visited and consolidated.they have the opportunity to explore, recognise and understand the subject content. Children gain key communication skills, vocabulary, strategies and the confidence to help manage issues when they encounter them.  Like all children and young people, pupils with SEND live in an increasingly ‘connected’ world. They are not always able to recognise or separate the ‘offline world’ from the ‘online world’; therefore, all topics should be explored within the context of both.

Learning outcomes are broken down into smaller steps.  Content is revisited through cross-curricular learning and/or through other activities in school. Learning builds upon pupils’ starting points. We provide opportunities both in and out of school to promote physical, social and emotional understanding at times of transition.