As of September 2020, all schools are required to teach PSHE.  This includes Relationships Education at key stages 1 and 2, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) at key stages 3 and 4, and Health Education in both primary and secondary phases. 

The latest PSHE statutory curriculum has been mapped and adapted appropriately where statutory content may not be accessible for pupils with SEND.  This framework goes above and beyond statutory guidance to include aspects of PSHE relating to careers education, economic well-being, personal safety and preparing for adulthood.  These subjects are key to preparing our pupils to be as independent as possible, giving them a life-long learning, an awareness and a skill set to help them in the wider world.  

PSHE at Priory Woods School

Intent

At Priory Woods School our intent is to build a PSHE curriculum which develops learning, and results in the acquisition of knowledge, vocabulary and skills, enabling children to access the wider curriculum, work collaboratively with others and make a positive contribution to the life of the school. Our curriculum, where appropriate, will prepare children to be a global citizen in a diverse society and prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences for later life. We are aware that the delivered curriculum must reflect the needs of our pupils. Teaching and learning in the classroom should show progression across all Key Stages within the PSHE core themes: selfawareness, self-care, support and safety, managing feelings, changing and growing, healthy lifestyles and the world we live in. Each milestone builds on knowledge and skills taught in the previous to allow children to acquire further knowledge, know more and remember more. We expect teachers to use a PSHE programme to equip pupils with a developmentally appropriate, sound understanding of risk, with the knowledge and skills necessary to make safe and informed decisions and to recognise the importance of their own mental health and well-being. Our PSHE curriculum incorporates a developmentally appropriate understanding of RSE, as set out in the statutory guidance, enabling all children to be safe and to understand and develop healthy relationships both now and in their future lives.

Implementation

We strive to provide our children with learning opportunities across and beyond the curriculum, in specific lessons, circle time, school projects and other activities that enrich pupils’ experiences. There are always occasions where teachers may feel it necessary to teach PSHE as a result of an issue arisen in their own class. PSHE is an important part of school assemblies were children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural curiosity is stimulated, challenged and nurtured. Two units, bullying and keeping safe online, will be repeated every year in line with national anti-bullying week and safer internet week. The students following our engage pathway curriculum access our PSHE curriculum at a level that is suitable for them. These students will access all of the PSHE curriculum areas in a creative way that is tailored to meet the academic ability of each class. PSHE underpins a lot of the learning that happens with an engage classroom. Students who are following an explore curriculum pathway access their PSHE curriculum through discrete lessons and through their daily experiences. PSHE lessons in our explore curriculum will cover all six key areas of the PSHE curriculum and will be taught in a variety of styles that are tailored carefully for the students in each of these classes. In addition to the curriculum content, PSHE runs through many aspects of the student’s learning each day. PSHE is a core area of learning for our students and young people following a challenge curriculum. Students following the challenge curriculum have access to a timetabled, discrete PSHE lesson which will cover the six key areas of the PSHE curriculum and include RSE and careers education.

Impact

By teaching pupils to stay safe and healthy, and by building self-esteem, resilience and empathy, an effective PSHE programme can tackle barriers to learning, raise aspirations, and improve the life chances of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged pupils. The skills and attributes developed through PSHE education are also shown to increase academic attainment and attendance rates, particularly among pupils eligible for free school meals, as well as improve employability and boost social mobility. By the time they leave our school, personal, social and health education (PSHE) enables our learners, where possible, to become healthy, independent and responsible members of a society. It helps them understand how they are developing personally and socially, and tackles many of the moral, social and cultural issues that are part of growing up. Our challenge curriculum allows pupils to learn about rights and responsibilities and appreciate what it means to be a member of a diverse society. 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.

PSHE and RSE at Priory Woods School

 

Please see the PSHE audits for more information on how we deliver PSHE and RSE for the three curriculum pathways from EYFS through to Post 16.

 

External Support 

To provide a broad and rich PSHE and RSE offering Priory Woods School use supporting programmes from external experts. These include programmes from the NSPCC and ARCH-ED Prevention Programme for Education.        

 https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/services/speak-out-stay-safe

Speak out Stay safe is a safeguarding programme for children aged 5- to 11-years-old. It is available to all primary schools in the UK and Channel Islands.

 

https://archteesside.org/

ARCH Teesside is a specialist sexual violence service offering free and confidential support, help and advocacy to people in the Teesside area who have experienced rape and sexual abuse, at any point in their lives.

Whether you have reported to the police or not our team can provide support and help guide you through your choices.

https://www.brook.org.uk/

Your free & confidential sexual health & wellbeing experts