PSHE

“Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no-one alive that is you-er than you.”
— Dr Seuss

Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 1 John 4:16.

PSHE subject lead: Mrs. L. Longden

Intent

At Saint Augustine Webster CVA, we recognise that children grow up in a complex and ever-changing world and are exposed to an increasing range of influences. As a school we aim to build on and complement the learning that has already started at home to provide the knowledge, understanding and skills that children need to lead healthy, fulfilling and meaningful lives. Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE) is central to our school’s Catholic ethos and values, supporting children in their development, and underpinning learning in the classroom, school, and in the wider community.

The intent of our PSHE curriculum is to deliver a curriculum which is accessible to all and ensures that each of our pupils will know more, remember more and understand more about how to play a positive and successful role within our society, both as a child and as an adult within the future. Our aim is to provide pupils with a knowledge of their world, locally, nationally and globally and give them confidence to tackle many of the moral, social and cultural issues that are part of growing up within this. We aim to provide our children with opportunities for them to learn about rights and responsibilities and appreciate what it means to be a member of a diverse society, which is especially important for our large number of EAL pupils, for whom it is imperative that they feel an integral part of a British society.

Implementation

At Saint Augustine Webster CVA, we use SCARF, a comprehensive scheme of work for PSHE and Wellbeing education. This covers all of the DfE’s new statutory requirements for Relationships Education and Health Education, and the PSHE Association’s Programme of Study’s recommended learning opportunities, as well as contributing to different subject areas in the National Curriculum.

We follow five of the six suggested half termly units and adapt the scheme of work where necessary to meet the local circumstances of our school, for example, we may use our local environment as the starting point for aspects of our work. Lessons are weekly standalone PSHE lessons which enable the teacher to fully embed the core aspects of the PSHE curriculum and the skills needed to thrive in our ever-changing world. The lesson plans list the specific learning objectives for each lesson and provide support for how to teach the lessons; class teachers and our PSHE lead often discuss this on an informal basis.

We have chosen SCARF as our PSHE resource because the lessons build upon children’s prior learning; we have assessed the content and feel that it is relevant and sensitive to the needs of the children. There is planned progression across the SCARF scheme of work, so that children are increasingly and appropriately challenged as they move up through the school.

Impact

Our school values and inclusion of safeguarding within our curriculum is vital as first and foremost, we want our children to be safe and happy so that they can excel in all aspects of school life. Our PSHE curriculum provides them with a chance to reflect and learn about these crucial elements.

Our children and staff value well-being, mental health and good citizenship. Through our curriculum, we believe that we prepare children for the next stage in their education as well as preparing them, during this vital stage of their life, for the adult world. We want them to be independent individuals, well equipped to make a valuable contribution to Britain in the 21st century. Our children will leave our school with the necessary skills to succeed and live a happy and healthy life. They will have self-confidence, and will have grown in their own self esteem and self-knowledge. Our children will have a secure knowledge of right from wrong, and be able to relate this back to the British value ‘Rule of law’. They will understand how to contribute to a global environment, as well as locally.

If you were to walk into PSHE lessons at Saint Augustine Webster’s, you would see:

  • Children who are engaged and excited about their learning, and actively participating.
  • Resilient children, who are self-aware and can self-regulate.
  • Teachers who have a secure subject knowledge, knowing how to equip children to live happy and healthy lives.
  • A well sequenced lesson with opportunities for active learning, as well as recorded learning.
  • Children who have opportunities to work independently as well as part of a group.

PSHE Medium Term Plan

PSHE Subject Story