PSHE

— Aristotle —

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE) enables our children to become healthy, independent and responsible members of a society. It is a discrete lesson which feeds into our wider ‘Personal Development’ offer. Our teaching is designed to tackle many of the moral, social and cultural issues that are a part of growing up. Children are given opportunities to learn about rights and responsibilities, learn about British Values and appreciate what it means to be a member of a diverse society.

PSHE and Personal Development is a vital part of children’s education and has a significant and valuable role in the taught curriculum at Pennoweth. Our curriculum, taken from Lifewise UK, develops children’s understanding and appreciation of the role they play within school and the wider community. Through effective teaching and considered sequences of lessons and experiences, children develop their understanding of how they can grow personally and socially.

At Pennoweth, PSHE Education is taught explicitly once a week, although there are many opportunities for children to develop their understanding of themselves, their lives and their world throughout our specially designed Personal Development curriculum and opportunities.

Our PSHE education curriculum works within the framework created by the guiding principles of our ‘Pennoweth DNA’.  We firmly believe that to be in the best place to progress, children need to feel safe, loved and able to take responsibility for their own learning. This underpins our everyday working practices, therefore making PSHE core to the culture and ethos of our school.   PSHE is delivered primarily through the Lifewise PSHE and Activity Scheme which is reviewed regularly to ensure that it follows the latest guidance.  To ensure that it meets the needs of our pupils, our PSHE education programme fully covers, but is not limited to, statutory requirements. As vocabulary is the key to unlocking communication, we work to ensure that children know the importance and power of their words through our weekly ‘Ready Reflection.’

PSHE is delivered across the school through weekly timetabled lessons as well as through integrated project work, discrete mini-projects, educational visits (including residential camps for Years 2-6), assemblies, visitor workshops and activities such as Circle Time and Forest School.  Each pupil is a member of a ‘Pennoweth Tribe’ and participates in a range of activities throughout the year, such as sports events and curriculum quizzes.  Pupils also participate in local, national and international community events such as Crofty MAT inter-school events, Murdoch Day Parade, St Piran’s Day Parade,  International Pasty Festival, National Road Safety Week, Remembrance Day, Children in Need and Sport Relief.

Within our Nursery, strong, warm and supportive relationships with adults underpin the PSED curriculum delivered. Adults enable children to create supportive relationships with each other, develop confidence in themselves and to understand their own emotions and feelings.

At Pennoweth, we understand how important it is to teach our children to lead healthy lives; the foundations for this begins in Nursery. Each week, children in Nursery take part in Healthy Movers, a programme run by Active Cornwall, which aims to develop children’s physical literacy, wellbeing and school readiness through a range of physical play and activities.

In Reception, children follow the Early Years PSED curriculum. The main focuses for this curriculum are: self regulation, managing self and building relationships. Self regulation focuses on controlling emotions and becoming more independent; managing self focuses on building confidence, resilience and how to manage their bodies properly; and building relationships focuses on sharing, making friends and creating positive relationships with others.

Our PSED curriculum is drip fed throughout the day using activities such as positive affirmations, going through the school menu choosing healthy options and reading books that relate to the PSED goals.

Children in EY have the opportunity to begin using our PSHE scheme, Lifewise, through their tailored EY curriculum, so that they become familiar with the lessons before moving to year 1.

Skills and knowledge are introduced, developed, revised and consolidated throughout KS1 and KS2 to meet the Government’s End of Primary Key Stage Goals. Assessment of previous knowledge and skills is undertaken prior to the introduction of each new unit.  Relevant year group expectations for the National Curriculum in Science are referenced, where appropriate.

In KS1, PSHE focuses on areas within the pupil’s own personal experience, for example, family life, sense of safety and immediate relationships such as friends and family.  In KS2, PSHE builds on KS1 learning, and further develops pupils’ knowledge and understanding of personal experiences, helping them to apply this learning to situations in every-day life, the wider world and their future health and well-being.

Below is a selection of the key vocabulary that pupils may be exposed to, learn and use during their PSHE topics.

Freddie (KS1)

‘I loved playing fun games whilst learning about things  like Fire Safety and Road Safety and signs. We talked about it at home and my mum taught me some more too!’

Have a look at the websites below to find out more about PSHE and activities to do at home.