“Personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education is an important and necessary part of all pupils’ education….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 (RSE) and the importance of physical activity and diet for a healthy lifestyle.”
DfE, Sept 2021
PSHE and RSE CURRICULUM STATEMENT
At Alfriston Primary School, we teach Personal, Social, Health & Economic Education as a whole-school approach to underpin children’s development as people and because we believe that this also supports their learning capacity. We believe that good quality PSHE education prepares children for opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life, whilst also supporting the well-being of the children throughout their school career.
Our PSHE curriculum will also equip children with an age appropriate understanding of RSE (Relationships and Sex education), stretching from EYFS to Year 6. We believe that Relationships Education at Alfriston should teach the fundamental building blocks and characteristics of positive relationships, with particular reference to friendships, family relationships, and relationships with other peers and adults.
OUR CURRICULUM INTENT FOR PSHE
Our intent for the PSHE curriculum are based on the following four principles:
KEY PRINCIPLE 1: The children are given space and time to explore their learning. This includes lots of discussion during lessons. Children are also given their own journals (a class journal is used in Reception and for the first four terms of Year 1) to support their reflections.
KEY PRINCIPLE 2: Children will be given the knowledge and skills to stay safe and make well-informed decisions to support healthy relationships.
KEY PRINCIPLE 3: Children develop the ability to articulate themselves precisely and confidently. Discussion and debate is at the heart of learning and children develop a wide vocabulary to express their emotions.
KEY PRINCIPLE 4: The programme is live every day and builds into the school’s culture.
HOW WE WILL WILL IMPLEMENT THESE INTENTIONS
By using the ‘Let’s Talk’ programme.
What Is Let’s Talk?
Let’s Talk is a personal development programme that gives children life skills that prepare them for the modern world. It provides the capacity to consider the impact of choices and helps them grow as a person.
‘Let’s Talk’ is a curriculum designed and written for our school with our children in mind. Every term a strand of the curriculum is taught across the school with age appropriate progression designed to ensure pupils know more and remember more.
The units of work of our PSHE curriculum are:
- Building resilience
- Mental Wellbeing
- Respectful Relationships
- Health education
- Caring Friendships
- Living in the Wider World
A behaviour curriculum
The greatest challenge of any behaviour curriculum is getting the children to apply their learning. We can teach the content but unless the knowledge is revisited the learning will not stick. There are many ways to foster the application of these skills: displays in classrooms, using visuals, previous lesson recaps, whole-school assemblies and referencing the concepts in coaching conversations.
The importance of emotional literacy
One of the key ideas behind ‘Let’s Talk’ is to give children the platform to express themselves. From the summer terms of Year 1, pupils begin to learn how to journal, supporting their independence and ability to reflect and self-regulate. This is an integral aspect of the curriculum and ensures that pupils are making progress that impacts on them as individuals.
The lessons encourage lots of opportunities to share ideas and the journals help develop children’s ability to reflect on their lives in a creative manner. The building of emotional literacy became a priority and the ‘Being Human’ Dictionary, which can be found at the back of the children’s journal includes over eighty emotions or life experiences, ranging from curious to freudenfreude. Each lesson includes a ‘Being Human’ word, which the children define, explore and apply.
To complement the strides made on emotional literacy we also give children the chance to develop their oracy. This includes providing either a misconception or talking point and allowing children to discuss it using the scaffolding of sentence stems. Calm and respectful disagreement within lessons is brilliant for children - they engage, they encourage participation, but they also provide different viewpoints and perspectives, which is vital in the building of tolerance and empathy.
Careers
Children learn about a range of different careers throughout their time at school and collect their observations in their career’s passports. The curriculum covers 66 careers from ten different sectors. For example, children learn about what it takes to be a successful advertising director so that the world starts talking about their product. As an MP, children will feel the pressure of making a speech in the rowdy atmosphere of the House of Commons. The lawyer lesson turns the class into a trial with lawyers (defending and prosecuting), a jury, witnesses and a judge.
Relationship and Sex Education (RSE)
Our bodies are amazing things. The lessons in our RSE curriculum shine a spotlight on how a child’s body changes as they go through primary school. They learn about puberty, physical contact and also how to keep themselves safe.
Relationship and Sex Education is always presented in the context of family life, of loving relationships and respect for one another. Children are able to ask questions which teachers answer in a manner appropriate to the age and maturity of the children. In Key Stage 2, smaller groups of boys and girls are given the opportunity to work separately and ask questions, which they may feel uncomfortable to ask in the presence of the whole class.
Parents are given the opportunity to view the teaching resources prior to the lessons and to meet with the class teacher, if required.
