What is PSHEE?
PSHEE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education) is a planned programme of learning, through which children and young people acquire the knowledge, understanding and skills they need to successfully manage their lives now and in the future. As part of a whole-school approach, our PSHEE Education develops the qualities and attributes pupils need to thrive as individuals, family members and members of society.
What do schools have to teach in their PSHEE?
According to the National Curriculum, every school needs to have a broad and balanced curriculum that:
- promotes the spiritual, moral, social, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school
- prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life
- promotes British values
From September 2020, primary schools in England also need to teach Relationships and Health Education as compulsory subjects and the Department for Education strongly recommends this should also include age-appropriate Sex Education.
Schools also have statutory responsibilities to safeguard their pupils (Keeping Children Safe in Education, DfE, 2019) and to uphold the Equality Act (2010).
Our holistic PSHEE curriculum supports all of these requirements.
At Wrockwardine Wood CE Junior school, we teach PSHEE once a week for an hour through a holistic approach, with a progressive, spiral curriculum that addresses our pupil and school community’s real needs, in a rapidly changing world . We believe that this will equip our children with the essential skills and knowledge they need to become well rounded British citizens, who demonstrate the key skills of resilience and tolerance. Please click on the link below to read an overview of the substantive and disciplinary knowledge that underpins our PSHEE offer.
Our PSHEE curriculum is planned using a wide range of age-related and appropriate resources and is underpinned by our core Christian and British values. Our holistic PSHEE curriculum is modified to match the needs of our community and local context.
Our whole-school approach to PSHEE embodies a positive philosophy and creative teaching and learning activities to nurture our children’s development as compassionate and well-rounded human beings, as well as building their capacity to learn.
Our PSHEE curriculum includes all the statutory requirements for Relationships and Health Education. Human Reproduction is also included in our unit, ‘Changing Me’.
Our PSHEE curriculum is personalised to the needs of our children, using a wide range of resources. Throughout the year, each year group will focus on the following units:
-Being Me in My World
-Dreams and Goals
We also hold half-termly ‘Awareness Days’ to supplement our PSHEE curriculum. Across the year, each year group has an opportunity to explore themes such as Black History Month, Internet Safety Day and Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week. These additional learning opportunities allow our children to gain a deeper understanding of the world in which they live, whilst also developing their compassion and empathy in order to develop into respectful, tolerant individuals, who can make a positive contribution to society.
The aims of our PSHEE learning journey at Wrockwardine Wood CE Junior School are to provide our pupils with:
- accurate and relevant knowledge
- opportunities to create personal understanding
- opportunities to explore and challenge a range of values, attitudes, beliefs, rights and responsibilities
- a range of skills and strategies to live a physically and mentally healthy, safe, fulfilling, responsible and balanced life
Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development
At Wrockwardine Wood CE Junior School, we encourage all children to develop their Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) awareness through each curriculum area. SMSC is deeply embedded throughout the whole of the PSHEE curriculum and the themes that are taught throughout the year. Every lesson from lower Key Stage 2 to year 6 offers opportunities for children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development, and this is clearly mapped and balanced across each year group.
The knowledge, skills and understanding gained our PSHEE lessons is is also woven into our strong, caring relationships and nurturing learning environment, where everyone is supportive and encouraging and where our pupils have the confidence to apply the skills that they are developing and make links to other areas of learning.
To further enrich our learning and understanding of PSHEE, we have made explicit links to social and cultural themes of awareness and our core Christian values. We hold a half termly awareness day to enable the children to make links with the teachings of PSHEE and the wider world. Please click on the link below to view the overview matrix.
For More information about how we will teach relationships and health education please read these documents: