Intent

At St Benedict’s, Personal, Social, Health Education (PSHE) is at the heart of our school values (trust, forgiveness, community, peace, hope and compassion) and ethos and runs throughout all that we do. Our intention is that, when children leave St Benedict’s, they do so with life-long skills that enable them to face challenges, new experiences and unfamiliar situations with confidence. We aim to deliver a curriculum which is accessible to all, and that will maximise the outcomes for every child, so that they know more, remember more and understand more. We want our pupils to have self-belief, high aspirations and the drive to achieve any goal or dream that they have. Our PSHE curriculum aims to enable our children to become healthy, safe, independent, responsible members of society who demonstrate respect and tolerance and who are prepared to face and manage the challenges and opportunities of an ever-changing modern Britain (appreciating ‘Life in all its Fullness’ John 10:10).

Implementation

Our PSHE curriculum is based on guidance from the PSHE Association and has been amended to meet the specific needs of our children. It encourages pupils to become confident individuals who can make informed decisions about their health, environmental and social issues. Our curriculum focuses upon three core strands:

• relationships
• living in the wider world
• health and well-being.

These three core strands are re-visited each year throughout the curriculum. They cover several topics including Identity, Relationships, Healthy and Balanced Lifestyles, Safety and Risk, Diversity and Equality, Rights and Responsibilities, Resilience, Power and Careers. Our PSHE lessons capture the requirements of the Department for Education for all schools ‘to promote the fundamental British Values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.’

Each year, we aim to build upon current skills, ensuring it is age appropriate and relevant to the needs of our children. We allocate 1 lesson to PSHE each week which is taught by the class teacher. These explicit lessons are reinforced and enhanced in many ways:  

Assemblies and collective worship, praise and reward system, school council, nurture groups, peer mentoring, cross curricular teaching (e.g RE, Geography, Forest School), joint activities between year groups or with the Infant school (such as ‘Reading Buddies’), regular performances for parents; through relationships child to child, adult to child and adult to adult across the school. We aim to ‘live’ what is learnt and apply it to everyday situations in the school community.

As a school we actively seek opportunities to enrich our curriculum with real -life experiences and scenarios. Within each year group, we aim to invite in a range of guest speakers, such as local police, councillors, care workers, nurses and other important members of our community who help to bring our learning to life. Class assemblies and circle time are used to discuss arising issues within the wider world, important news events and real-life concepts allowing children to debate, question and discuss. We are always actively looking for new and inspiring experiences which can enhance our PSHE provision.

We believe that focusing on developing Elli Learning behaviours in our children will help them to build resilience, independence and confidence; embrace challenge; foster a love of learning; and increase their level of happiness. We do this through the language we use in class, praising children for their efforts, and using language to encourage children to change their way of thinking. Displays of the Elli animals and learning traits reinforce the concept of a Growth Mindset. This supports both our school and PSHE aims and values.

Impact

We can see the impact of the programme through the behaviours and attitudes of the pupils within school and their relationships with each other:

• Through implementing the PHSE curriculum all our children are given life skills and knowledge to succeed in life.

• They are able to appreciate different cultural influences and have a respect for their own and others’ cultures

• Children leave the school with the confidence and ability to make their own decisions and reach their potential
• Children are actively encouraged to take part in fundraising events, as we believe that donating to charities shows them, that from a young age, they can make positive changes in the world.

These are just a few of the charities that we have supported in recent years:

• Down Syndrome Support Group (Odd Socks’ Day)
• British Heart Foundation
• Children in Need
• Comic Relief
• Macmillan

Through ‘pupil voice’ children will be able to talk about the skills and knowledge they have acquired throughout their time at St Benedict’s.