PSHE & RSE Curriculum
Subject Lead: Miss Kelly
Personal, social, economic and health education is an important part of all pupils’ education. All schools should teach PSHE, drawing on good practice, and this expectation is outlined in the National Curriculum. DFE gov.uk
PSHE education gives pupils the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to keep themselves healthy and safe and to prepare them for life and work in modern Britain. PSHE Association
At St. Joseph’s, we are committed to ensuring the curriculum is purposeful, progressive and empowering for every child. We value all of our children and celebrate diversity of experience, need, interest, and achievement. Our curriculum provokes curiosity and excitement for all children at St. Joseph’s. We recognise that we are building the foundations for life-long learning with Christ at the centre. A shared love of literature throughout school and our faith life and Gospel values, Trust Character Virtues and British Values, sits alongside our curriculum drivers. Our curriculum drivers are what makes our curriculum unique to us here at St. Joseph’s. They are woven through all that we do and underpin our shared belief that our role is to support and help our children to understand their place within their local town, their country and in their world as a global citizen; to have experiences that become part of their life story; and aspire to achieve their very best, having been shown that there is a world of possibility awaiting them, outside of the school gates.
Our PSHE and RSE curriculum is designed to reflect the needs of our children and builds on the statutory content outlined in the National Curriculum. We hope to give the children the knowledge and understanding they need make informed choices and to be a positive influence in the communities that they belong to.
Intent
At St Joseph’s we intend for children to:
- Recognise and value that every individual is special and unique in the image and likeness of God.
- Have the knowledge they need to make informed choices and therefore make positive contributions to the wider community.
- Understand positive, emotional and mental wellbeing, and to understand how friendships can support our mental wellbeing.
- Be prepared positively for life in modern Britain by teaching and reinforcing British Values and our Bishop Hogarth Catholic Academy Trust Virtues.
Implementation
We have designed our PSHE/RSE curriculum to provide opportunities for our children so they are able to grow into independent and respectful members of society, by addressing the topics most relevant to our pupils. See St Joseph's PSHE/RSE Long-term Plan, PSHE/RSE Progression of Skills Document and our RSE Policy. Weekly lessons are delivered in all classes, which follow the Ten:Ten RSE programme. This has been supplemented with additional resources to provide our children with a spiral, coherent RSE and PSHE curriculum that includes topics such as safeguarding; sexual harassment; child on child abuse; protected characteristics; and online safety. The sequence of lessons ensures that these themes are taught intentionally as opposed to incidentally. Teachers use cross-curricular links to plan and deliver lessons, which teach children the steps they can take to protect and support their own and others’ health, safety, and happiness. Learning is reflected through the active role our children play in our community, and books show independent work, group work, evidence of role play or group activities.
We aim to ensure that all children have the opportunity to express themselves, talk about relevant matters, and learn without judgement. We ensure that our children have a voice during learning walks, and at regular meetings for each pupil’s voice group: School Council, Stewards of Creation, Mini Vinnies, Chaplaincy, Well-being group. When delivering SRE, our priority is ensuring that all parents understand and can support their children at home, in the hope of extending and building on the learning children do at school. Parents are consulted on and have a voice in how and what their children learn.
Impact
Our children will be able to effectively manage their relationships and be able to make informed lifestyle choices. They will be able to apply their learning to real life situations and make positive contributions to the wider community in Norton and beyond. We are proud of the PSHE / RSE work that we deliver at St. Joseph’s, the evidence being seen through the well-rounded, confident, tolerant and independent children that leave us at the end of year 6.
Children’s attitude, behaviour and demeanour around school, within lessons, at playtimes and out in the community, demonstrates the respect, tolerance and high aspirations that our children have of themselves and each other. They leave us ready for their next step into Secondary school and are armed with skills, knowledge and understanding that they can take forward into adulthood. Our children leave us prepared for life in an ever-changing modern Britain. They have the tools they need to succeed, keep themselves safe and thrive.
We measure impact by the triangulation of lesson observations, work scrutiny and pupil voice, as well as this we carry our yearly subject leader/ teaching staff discussions – where areas for development are discussed, and for which targets for the year are collaboratively developed.