At Birley Primary Academy, we have constructed a PSHE curriculum that is both thought-provoking and inclusive, meaning every child is able to access the work to provide them with skills to help them further enhance their personal development but also provide them with essential skills for their future. To achieve this, we provide a PSHE curriculum which embodies collaboration and discussion, enabling the children to be immersed in many different cultures and influences from around the world. Through our PSHE and RSHE curriculum, children learn about relationships, diversity, respect, healthy lifestyles, safety, the body and how it changes, reproduction and birth in a sensitive and age-appropriate way. This is aimed at building the foundation of skills and knowledge that will be developed further at a secondary level. Our key aim in providing PSHE and RSHE is to safeguard our pupils as well as providing them with key knowledge and skills to help keep them safe and prepare them for adult life.
Personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education is an important and necessary part of all pupils’ education. All schools should teach PSHE, drawing on good practice, and this expectation is outlined in the introduction to the proposed new national curriculum.
PSHE is a non-statutory subject. To allow teachers the flexibility to deliver high-quality PSHE we consider it unnecessary to provide new standardised frameworks or programmes of study. PSHE can encompass many areas of study. Teachers are best placed to understand the needs of their pupils and do not need additional central prescription.
However, while we believe that it is for schools to tailor their local PSHE programme to reflect the needs of their pupils, we expect schools to use their PSHE education programme to equip pupils with a sound understanding of risk and with the knowledge and skills necessary to make safe and informed decisions.
Schools should seek to use PSHE education to build, where appropriate, on the statutory content already outlined in the national curriculum, the basic school curriculum and in statutory guidance on: drug education, financial education, sex and relationship education (SRE) and the importance of physical activity and diet for a healthy lifestyle.
Relationships and sex education (RSHE) is an important part of PSHE education. Relationships education is compulsory for all primary school pupils, and relationships and sex education (RSHE) is compulsory for all secondary school pupils.
Details about how Birley Primary Academy deliver our PSHE Curriculum can be found in the information below:
Our PSHE Jigsaw lessons also include mindfulness allowing children to advance their emotional awareness, concentration and focus. This encourages building resilience and nurturing mental and physical health. We believe that PSHE education plays a vital part in primary education so, as well as discrete lessons, it is also embedded throughout the curriculum. British Values and Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural concepts are explored across our broad and balanced curriculum. PSHE is an important part of school assemblies where children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural curiosity is stimulated, challenged and nurtured. In addition to this, special events, key campaigns and themed days or weeks provide opportunities for children to explore topical issues.
At Birley Primary Academy, we are committed to creating a positive, safe and nurturing environment, where all members of the school and wider community will be respected and valued. By the end of Y6, pupils will have developed the vocabulary and confidence needed to clearly articulate their thoughts and feelings openly and know when and how they can seek the support of others whom they trust and respect. They will be able to apply their understanding of society to their everyday interactions, from the classroom to the wider community. Pupils will be prepared for the future and know how to stay safe and respect the world around them. By the time children leave us, we strive to ensure that children will also be able to:
The impact of our PSHE curriculum can be measured and monitored in a variety of different ways including; learning walks, PSHE Journals, data analysis and tracking and pupil interviews. Assessment is both formative and summative. Teachers carry out summative assessments at the end of each unit and provide a ‘best fit’ approach as to whether children have achieved the ‘expected’ standard. Throughout all PSHE lessons teachers assess formatively through observations, discussions and questions, this supports them with the planning and pitching of subsequent lessons. It is the responsibility of the subject leader to monitor the quality of teaching and learning of PSHE across the whole school, and to triangulate this evidence to ensure consistency. The subject leader also provides regular staff updates and support to staff in order to guide their planning and teaching of PSHE.
As they head towards secondary education, it is our aim that children leave Birley Primary Academy with a confident image of themselves as valued people who are better equipped to manage situations that arise in their lives both socially and personally. Through our PSHE lessons and safe environment created within the academy, children are able to move forward both into the next stage of their education and into the world as happy, confident young people who know how best to manage situations, or who to turn to in order to seek help.
Through our rich and varied PSHE curriculum, we ensure that our children are well-equipped for life in modern Britain. Through purposeful subject linkage, our pupils develop an excellent understanding of PSHE as well as democracy, the rule of law, responsibility and liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs. Further to this, our PSHE curriculum is driven by SMSC development and as a result of this, pupils thrive – enjoying their lives, learning and wanting to make a difference for others.
