Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

Intent

Our children are growing up in an increasingly complex world and living their lives seamlessly on and offline. This presents many positive and exciting opportunities, but also challenges and risks. In this environment, children in our school need to know how to be safe and healthy, and how to manage their academic, personal and social lives in a positive way. At Higham, our vision for PSHE is to enable all pupils to flourish in the world around them. We endeavour to ensure that all pupils have a range of social and interpersonal skills that will help them to succeed in life as well as being positive citizens. We will also equip them with the necessary knowledge to support and enhance a healthy lifestyle and mind-set. We believe that a broad and balanced PSHE education is the entitlement of all pupils, regardless of ethnic origin, gender, class, aptitude or disability. It is our vision that all pupils will display our key values throughout their time at the school. These values are: respect, teamwork, perseverance, responsibility, kindness and creativity. The values will form the focus of assemblies and awards each term. The teaching of PSHE and the Higham School Values are further underpinned by our 3 school rules ‘Ready, Respectful and Safe’ These three rules develop a culture of mutual respect, a positive attitude and an awareness of their safety and the safety of others in all areas of life.

Implementation

PSHE will be covered through weekly lessons discretely taught throughout the school, from FS to Yr. 6, to give depth and breadth to the curriculum. We use the Twinkl Life PSHE scheme of work, and includes the statutory requirements for Relationships, Sex and Health Education (2026). It is a spiral, progressive and fully planned scheme of work. This comprehensive programme gives children relevant learning experiences to help them navigate their world, to develop positive relationships with others and have an awareness of their own strengths and skills.

There are three core themes which are further split into twelve different units. The children experience each of the twelve units every two years. (Key Stage One, Lower Key Stage two and Upper Key Stage Two) In Foundation Stage there are nine units that have been carefully structured to support the nine Early Learning Goals for PSED. The plan for when each unit is taught to each year group has been coordinated to best-fit with the other learning that is taking place for each year group, therefore enabling some cross-curricular links to be developed. The three core themes and units are as follows

EYFS				Key Stages One and Two
Early Learning Goal				Health and Wellbeing	Living in the Wider World	Relationships
Self Regulation	Managing Self		Building Relationships	Safety First Its My Body Think Positive Growing Up	Aiming High One World Diverse Britain Money Matters	TEAM VIP’s Be Yourself Digital Wellbeing
Being Safe Look What I Can Do My Body Reach For the Stars		How I feel Me and My World Positive Relationships Super Me
Working Together

This comprehensive programme ensures that all pupils are challenged to fulfil their potential. PSHE lessons are rich in resources, vocabulary, questioning and content. They encourage all children to be resilient and to understand how to keep themselves safe and happy in their world leading to a successful future.

Lessons have a strong emphasis on emotional literacy, nurturing the children’s mental and physical health. Mindfulness aspects encourage the children to advance their emotional awareness, concentration and focus. The resources provided as part of the scheme allow teachers at Higham Primary School to deliver engaging and relevant PSHE within a whole-school approach.

In addition to these lessons, circle time is used as required, to address specific issues and concerns which may occur either in the classroom or on the playground, as well as allowing pupils the opportunity to discuss current affairs. At Higham, we have an active school council with representatives from each of the Key Stage 2 classes. The council meets regularly throughout the year to discuss school issues, forthcoming events, fundraising activities and are sometimes involved in the appointment of some new staff. The school council allows all pupils to have a voice and to be heard. Children gain an understanding of the democratic process, and can see the positive impact the council has on school life.

Impact

The impact of the PSHE curriculum can be evidenced in various ways. Such as social skills, personal skills, respect towards others and themselves, as well as their ability to live in the ever changing world around them. It will be monitored twice per year and assessed at the end of each unit and all children will be encouraged to:

have an ability to try new things

push themselves and persevere

understand how to stay safe and healthy

develop good relationships

have an appreciation of what it means to be a positive member of a diverse, multicultural society

have a strong self-awareness, interlinked with compassion of others.

The school leadership team, subject leaders and governors relentlessly drive the PSHE curriculum forward and monitor it vigorously.

Relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education - Gov.uk

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

Higham Primary Progression of Knowledge and Skills