Introduction

My name is Mrs Foulkes and I am the PSHE/RSE lead. The following information will give you an overview of PSHE/RSE at Lydiate Primary School.

Definitions

PSHE- Personal, social, health and economic education

RSE- Relationships and sex education

Relationships Education

The focus in primary school should be on teaching the fundamental building blocks and characteristics of positive relationships, with particular reference to friendships, family relationships, and relationships with other children and with adults. (DfE Guidance, p19)

Sex Education

All primary schools should have a sex education programme tailored to the age and the physical and emotional maturity of their pupils. (DfE Guidance, p23) [A sex education programme] should ensure that both boys and girls are prepared for the changes that adolescence brings and (drawing on knowledge of the human life cycle) set out in the national curriculum for science – how a baby is conceived and born. (DfE Guidance, p23)

The Lydiate PSHE-er

Our PSHE learning starts in EYFS and develops, right through to year 6, by carefully building on prior learning.

Children enjoy participating in the lessons and they are able to articulate and explain their learning. Here are just a few of their own words from our pupil voice surveys. They are a mix from EYFS, KS1 and KS2.

‘My lessons are showing me how to make good decisions when I am older too.’, ‘They let us know what is right/ what’s good and what isn’t’, ‘It helps us to make good decisions and have a good life with a decent job.’, ‘It shows us what we should and shouldn’t do in different life situations and what might happen in those situations.’, ‘It is OK to have different feelings and we talked about what we can do if we feel sad and lonely.’, ‘I now understand why there are age limits.’, ‘We learnt which adults we can go to for help.’, ‘It teaches us life lessons.’

Our Curriculum Drivers

Our curriculum is driven around the three principles which make up our school motto: Inspire, Achieve, Prepare for Life. We start every lesson by setting the learning intention, explaining clearly why we are learning a concept, and drawing specifically on previous learning to help us.

Inspiring Our Pupils – The Intent

Today’s children and young people are growing up in an increasingly complex world and living their lives seamlessly on and offline. This presents many positive and exciting opportunities, but also challenges and risks. This is why we place such value in our PSHE/ RSE curriculum. We are clear that parents and carers are the prime educators for children on many of these matters and our broad and balanced curriculum is designed to complement and reinforce this role by building on knowledge and skills whilst supporting the children’s spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development. It prepares all children at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life through developing resilience, independence and confidence. The broad and holistic experiences provided allow children to develop a curiosity about the world around them and ask questions to deepen their own learning. Children are inspired to learn through engaging, meaningful and creative experiences which embrace the cultural diversity of our society. In addition to core skills and essential knowledge, children will develop an awareness and understanding of other people; their own community; the wider world and of their place within it to ensure they have opportunity to develop empathy, resilience, independence and confidence to become educated members of society.

Ensuring Our Pupils Achieve – The Implementation

Personal, social and health (and economic) education, PSHE, aims to give children the knowledge, skills and understanding to lead confident, healthy and independent lives.

In an ideal world, children would arrive at school socially developed and ready to learn, but this is not always the case. As such, high quality, well-planned, PSHE education is essential for all students to reach their full potential. After much research, our school has chosen to use 1Decision from Headway as a foundation for our PSHE teaching. 1Decision is an interactive platform that provides student-focused safeguarding tools, embedded into an up to date, full PSHE and RSE programme for the primary sector. The 1Decision resources aim to help children develop the skills to manage different influences and pressures as part of their personal development, and have been created with leading PSHE consultants and schools. It is a concept to help children make safe and positive choices now and in the future. During their time at primary school, children will encounter many of life’s challenges for the first time. 1Decision aims to provide children with the knowledge and skills needed to lead happy, healthy, and successful lives.

In line with the current programme of study produced by the PSHE Association, 1Decision was one of the first primary platforms to receive the Quality Assured Kitemark and has been recognised as an invaluable tool for the classroom.

RSE is taught within the Personal, Health, Social, Economic (PHSE) education curriculum and tweaked to meet the needs of all children at Lydiate Primary School.

Biological aspects of RSE are taught within the science curriculum and during sex education lessons in Year 6, and other aspects are included in religious education (RE). We have developed the curriculum in consultation with parents, staff and children, taking into account the age, needs and feelings of pupils. Having considered various resources, Lydiate Primary School believes that the resources provided by 1Decision best reflect our school ethos and meet the needs of our children, context and wider school community. All objectives and lessons are planned around the DFE guidance and statutory requirements and have been checked and PSHE Association Quality Assured. Relationships education focuses on teaching the fundamental building blocks and characteristics of positive relationships including: Ø Families and people who care for me Ø Caring friendships Ø Respectful relationships Ø Online relationships Ø Being safe In terms of sex education in Year 6, this will focus on conception, where babies come from and the correct anatomical language for genetalia. Health education focuses on: Ø Mental well-being Ø Internet safety and harms Ø Physical health and fitness Ø Healthy eating Ø Drugs, alcohol and tobacco Ø Health and prevention Ø Basic first aid Ø Changing adolescent body

Preparing Our Pupils For Life – The Impact

Our PSHE lessons and resources are inclusive (and disadvantaged and SEND pupils are fully supported) and ensure that all pupils receive high quality teaching to develop the required knowledge and skills. through the 1decision programme.

It is built on discussion. The unique sliding doors approach to decision making supports in depth discussion of key life moments, ensuring children understand key concepts and are engaged in active discussion.

It builds on skills previously learnt. This sequencing and the unique videos mean that children commit key knowledge to long term memory.

Assessment is built in and gathered in a number of effective ways; student self-assessment journeys, baseline, formative, and summative assessments, discussion notes etc.

Impact:

1decision supports effective and engaging PSHE delivery which is proven to also improve pupil behaviour in school, at home, and within the community.

Lydiate Futures

PSHE and RSE are enhanced through other curriculum areas within our school, through our incredible Forest School sessions and by inviting visitors in to bring learning to life. The wealth of extra-curricular activities on offer also allow children to put their skills into practice; developing relationships, communication, team work, resilience, confidence…

Want To Know More?

Parents/carers who want to know more about the curriculum are welcome to make an appointment to come in and ask questions or discuss any aspects of the curriculum with Mrs Foulkes.

You can also look through the attached curriculum documents to see the development of what your child has already learnt, what they are learning now and what they will cover in the future.