Asquith Primary School- PSHE Overview

Growing to succeed - PSHE The Asquith Way

'Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.'

John Dewey, Education Reformer

'I like PSHE because it prepares you for adulthood and I can make informed choices.'

Asquith Pupil

At Asquith Primary School, we want children to develop the knowledge and skills they need to manage their lives, now and in the future. We believe that PSHE education helps pupils to manage many challenges and responsibilities they will face whilst growing up.  We aim to equip all our children with the knowledge and skills they need to lead healthy, independent lives and to become informed, active, and responsible members of society. 

At our school, children are encouraged to participate in a wide range of activities across and beyond the school curriculum, such as sports clubs, school council and fundraising activities. In doing so, they begin to understand their place in school and the wider community and recognise the impact of their actions on the world.

Our PSHE curriculum reflects our whole-school ethos of all children being happy, having a voice and being active citizens. Our curriculum is underpinned by 5 golden threads: High aspirations for all, Fostering resilience, Embedding key skills, Respecting diversity and Creating global citizens- with the intent that all our children have the opportunity to grow and succeed.

Intent

At Asquith, we are committed to the development of the children's social and emotional skills, health and well-being. Our vision is to enable pupils to become well-rounded individuals, who can make informed choices to enable themselves to be healthy, independent and responsible young people. We want them to be resilient, confident, assertive members of the community who can take risks but also know how to stay safe within different environments. We want all children to have a high self-esteem and understand how to develop safe and healthy relationships with others.

We aim for our children to :

• Realise their responsibilities, rights and duties as individuals and members of the community.
• Lead a healthy lifestyle: understanding the importance of a balanced diet, regular exercise, getting enough sleep and maintaining good hygiene.
• Understand that having a healthy mind is just as important as having a healthy body.
• Be respectful and tolerant of other people's opinions and differences. 
• Know what a healthy relationship looks like and effectively manage their relationships by resolving conflicts and understanding how to be a good friend.
• Know who they can turn to if they are feeling worried or need help.
• Develop aspirations through the study of people of significance from a diverse range of backgrounds and places in history, enabling children to explore geography within the environment, as well as developing an understanding of the ever-changing world we live in.
  

Implementation

Within our PSHE curriculum, we follow the 'OneDecision’ scheme across Reception, Key Stage 1 and 2. The learning objectives and outcomes in each of the lesson plans are clear and precise with many opportunities for pupils to develop their knowledge, understanding and skills.

As PSHE is at the heart of our school ethos, it is embedded throughout many areas of the curriculum.

The focus on ensuring that the children grow to succeed is implemented by:

• Enhancing the scheme through a whole range of other vital life skills including: circle times, promotion of a growth mindset, British values, online safety, fire safety, anti-bullying, road safety and cycling proficiency.
• Teaching pupils how to regulate their emotions using the ‘Zones of Regulation’ approach. Each class from Reception to Year 6 participates in a range of Zones of Regulations lessons. Altogether we believe this will provide our children with the skills and understanding that they need to manage risks, make informed decisions and negotiate life successfully.
• Involving the local community including: police liaison officers, fire service, local nurses and health providers as well as other agencies. They play an important part in informing pupils about health and safety issues. We also work closely with other specialists such as those in Social Care, Speech Therapy and Educational psychology.
• Providing sex education (relevant to children's age) that is taught as part of the children’s Relationships and Sex Education (RSE).  We believe we should answer children’s questions carefully, being aware of their conceptual development. Children’s questions are dealt with honestly and sensitively within the context of a safe school setting and loving and family relationships. We understand that some parents find the topic of RSE difficult and as such we work closely with parents who are worried, ensuring that they understand the content and coverage, before they consider removing their child from RSE lessons. Sex education is also covered as part of the science curriculum.
• Giving children the opportunity to research people who have had a significant impact on world-wide issues from a range of diverse backgrounds. Exploring both the positive and negative impacts of such events or movements.
• Pupils selecting a School Council who lead various projects throughout the year, linked to raising the profile of these aspects of learning.   These events support or promote British Values.

Impact

The impact and success of all elements will be highlighted through the behaviour and well-roundedness of individuals within different situations.

By the end of Key Stage Two, all children are fully immersed and understand the importance of PSHE and British Values and the effects it can have on life in and out of school. By teaching pupils to stay safe and healthy, and by building self-esteem, resilience and empathy, our PSHE curriculum enables staff to tackle barriers to learning and raise aspirations for our pupils.  Children develop their understanding that at school, and in the wider community, we take turns to speak, we use kind and positive words, we listen to each other in a supportive manner, we have the right to comment thoughtfully or to choose not to comment and we respect each other. In doing so, all children develop an understanding about relationships, including the values of positive interaction and the consequences of negative behaviour, such as bullying. As a result, our children leave school as well-rounded young people who are on the right track to become active and positive role models and citizens of the future.

Places to Visit

Eureka, National Children's Museum, Halifax https://www.eureka.org.uk/