PSHE
Intent
Our Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) is interwoven through all areas of our curriculum and equips children to live healthy, safe, productive and balanced lives. Our delivery of PSHE education helps children and young people to achieve their potential by supporting their wellbeing and tackling issues that can affect their ability to learn, such as anxiety and unhealthy relationships.
At Ravensworth Terrace, we strive to prepare our pupils for the challenges they face emotionally, socially and physically in their everyday lives and in the future. We aim to provide structured opportunities throughout their school journey for our pupils to develop a good understanding of the world around them and to learn how to cooperate well with and respect others. We value the diverse society in which we live and promote an appreciation and understanding of this in our pupils. Our curriculum fosters independence of thought and respect for the views of others, which may be different to their own.
Personal, social, health and economic education is at the heart of our school ethos and practice. British Values are promoted through the overarching aims and objectives of PSHE by supporting our children to become healthy and responsible members of society, as well as preparing them for life and work in modern Britain.
PSHE lessons will prepare children for being good citizens. 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. Using a growth mindset strategy, the children will become resilient, flexible learners, knowledgeable for the future.
At Ravensworth Terrace, the children will be given the vocabulary to be able to articulate their feelings. The intention is to promote mental wellbeing and empathy across the school and into the community. The intent is to develop tolerant, respectful young people, prepared for their future lives. We are a Rights Respecting school and we currently hold a Silver Award. We explicitly embed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in our policy, practice and culture. We promote knowledge and understanding of the Convention throughout our school and community. As a school we can see the positive impact of our actions on young children, young people, staff, the school’s ethos and environment. Children and young people see themselves as rights respecting global citizens and advocates for fairness and children’s rights, both locally and globally. PSHE also develops the understanding of health and fitness. In our school, we will give children the knowledge to be able to make informed choices with regards to diet and exercise. In our increasingly technological world, the children in Ravensworth Terrace use online resources frequently both in and outside of school. Our intent is to ensure all children are able to stay safe, making the correct choices about their use of technology.
We believe PSHE education contributes to personal development by helping children to build their confidence, resilience and self-esteem, and to identify and manage risk, make informed choices and understand what influences their decisions. It enables them to recognise, accept and shape their identities, to understand and accommodate difference and change, to manage emotions and to communicate constructively in a variety of settings. Children leave Ravensworth Terrace Primary School well prepared for the next stage of their education, with the skills they need to operate as responsible, caring citizens who value the world they live in.
Implementation
During key stages 1 and 2, PSHE education offers both explicit and implicit learning opportunities and experiences which reflect pupils’ increasing independence and physical and social awareness, as they move through the primary phase. It builds on the skills that pupils started to acquire during the Early Years Foundation stage (EYFS) to develop effective relationships, assume greater personal responsibility and manage personal safety, including online. PSHE education helps pupils to manage the physical and emotional changes at puberty, introduces them to a wider world and enables them to make an active contribution to their communities
PSHE education addresses both pupils’ current experiences and preparation for their future. Our programme of study therefore provides a spiral curriculum to develop knowledge, skills and attributes, where prior learning is revisited, reinforced and extended year on year. This is grounded in the established evidence base for effective practice in PSHE education.
Our curriculum is designed to be delivered in a creative manner, using many approaches such as role play, discussion and games with groups of various sizes. These activities enable children to build confidence and resilience. We also provided communication with parents and carers about how and why each theme is covered and suggestions for extending the learning at home.
The children from Year 1 to 6 are arranged into mixed age “Leaders Across the School” groups with the intent to give the children a voice and a chance to apply their decisions. The groups are as follows:
Eco-Warriors
Digital Leaders
RE Ambassadors
Rights Respecting Steering Group
OPaL
Sports Leaders
School Council
Impact
The aim of all of this is to have a positive impact on our pupils. Our school prepares young people for life at all stages of their education. We look into their next steps, whether that’s moving up to secondary school, or into further education, employment or training. PSHE education not only contributes to these areas but is also linked to improve academic performance, particularly for the most disadvantaged.
The impact of our PSHE/RSE curriculum can be measured by the behaviour, interactions and discussions of our children. Through our scheme of work, Ravensworth Terrace pupils are given exciting opportunities to learn more about their world and to develop the skills and behaviours that they will need to lead happy and successful lives in an ever-changing world. Pupils show empathy and understanding towards each other and a strong sense of justice and fairness. They understand and can articulate how to stay safe in both the physical world and online. Our children look out for each other and we are extremely proud of the young people that progress from our school at the end of Year 6.