At Southmead Primary school we see Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) and Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education, as important parts of our curriculum. Our intent is to help our pupils understand and form positive, collaborative and safe relationships based on respect for themselves and for others, at home, at school, and in the community and wider world.

We expect our pupils to develop a resilient mindset, so that they know how to manage their academic, personal and social lives in a positive way; we want our pupils to develop knowledge that will enable them to make informed decisions about their well-being and know where to access support when they need it. All children are provided with opportunities to reflect on their experiences as they confront the many spiritual, moral, social and cultural issues that are a fundamental part of growing up.

Through PSHE our pupils develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to keep themselves healthy and safe and manage their lives, both now, and in the future.

At Southmead, we deliver the PSHE curriculum by utilising first-hand experience and sharing good practice. We expect all our staff members to be good role models for our children and have high expectations of them throughout.

The scheme of work reflects the needs of our pupils and is tailored to meet specific needs. Our teachers deliver lessons that equip pupils with a sound understanding of assessing risk as well as developing the knowledge and skills necessary to make safe and informed decisions as they progress through their educational career and into the wider world of work.

The curriculum is split into three core themes; Health and Wellbeing, Relationships and Living in the Wider World. The children study each of these throughout the course of each year and each area is progressively built upon as the children move through the year groups.

We use a question based model approach. Our aim is to ensure that children’s understanding develops through the questioning of ‘What’ and ‘Who’ to ‘Why’ and ‘How’.

As children move up the school, they develop a deeper understanding of Relationships and Sex education (RSE) and Health Education. The delivered curriculum supports our pupils to develop a resistant mind-set and to manage their academic, personal and social lives in a positive way.
Each year we also take part in fundraising activities to support chosen charities in order to promote understanding of issues in the wider world. These charities include ‘Save the Children’ and ‘Children in Need.’

The impact of our curriculum can be seen in the body of skills and knowledge that our pupils accumulate over time. Children are assessed through formative assessment, pupil voice, book scrutiny, lesson observations and learning walks to identify individual needs and to inform future planning.

Our PHSE curriculum helps our children to develop resilience and to be reflective about a wide variety of issues, including keeping themselves safe and appropriate behaviour towards others. They recognise and apply the British values, are able to understand the impact of their emotions and how these can have an impact on developing positive, healthy relationships, both now and in the future.

Our children understand and work hard to form positive, collaborative and safe relationships based on respect for themselves and for others, at home, in the community and in the wider world. They have an appreciation of what it means to be a positive and contributing member of a diverse, multicultural society, determined to play their part in it.

1. Review – the School Leadership Team and the PSHE Subject Lead, utilising national guidance, developed a draft policy.

2. Staff and parents consultation – staff and parents were given the opportunity to look at the policy and make recommendations.

3. Ratification – the policy was shared with and reviewed by governors from the Full Governing Body.