PSHE and Citizenship

Through our Mission statement we emphasise our Christian concern to treat each child as an individual, helping them to achieve their maximum potential, enabling them to make a full contribution to society and grow towards responsible adulthood. At Holy Cross Catholic Primary School, we recognise our responsibility to provide a broad and balanced curriculum, which will promote the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of the children in our care. The PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic) Education  we provide is closely linked with the RE Archdiocesan Programme, Come and See. 

What is PSHE?

PSHE Education encompasses all areas designed to promote children’s personal, social and health development.  It gives children the knowledge, skills and understanding that they need to stay healthy and safe, develop worthwhile relationships, respect differences, develop independence and responsibility, make the most of their own abilities and those of others.

The intent of PSHE at Holy Cross Catholic Primary School

Our school mission statement reflects what we intend to achieve in PSHE and Citizenship.  We want our children to develop self-awareness, positive self-esteem and confidence.

There are three core themes which we include in implementing our programme of study-

CORE THEME 1: HEALTH AND WELLBEING

 This core theme focuses on: 

1. what is meant by a healthy lifestyle
2. how to maintain physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing
3. how to manage risks to physical and emotional health and wellbeing
4. ways of keeping physically and emotionally safe 
5. about managing change, including puberty, transition and loss
6. how to make informed choices about health and wellbeing and to recognise sources of help with this
7. how to respond in an emergency 
8. to identify different influences on health and wellbeing

CORE THEME 2: RELATIONSHIPS

This core theme focuses on: 

1. how to develop and maintain a variety of healthy relationships, within a range of social/cultural contexts 
2. how to recognise and manage emotions within a range of relationships
3. how to recognise risky or negative relationships including all forms of bullying and abuse
4. how to respond to risky or negative relationships and ask for help
5. how to respect equality and diversity in relationships

CORE THEME 3: LIVING IN THE WIDER WORLD 

This core theme focuses on: 

1. about respect for self and others and the importance of responsible behaviours and actions
2. about rights and responsibilities as members of families, other groups and ultimately as citizens
3. about different groups and communities
4. to respect diversity and equality and how to be a productive member of a diverse community
5. about the importance of respecting and protecting the environment
6. about where money comes from, keeping it safe and the importance of managing it effectively 
7. the part that money plays in people’s lives
8. a basic understanding of enterprise 

There are nine overarching concepts which are developed through our PSHE Curriculum-

1. Identity (their personal qualities, attitudes, skills, attributes and achievements and what influences these; understanding and maintaining boundaries around their personal privacy, including online)
2. Relationships (including different types and in different settings, including online)
3. A healthy (including physically, emotionally and socially), balanced lifestyle (including within relationships, work-life, exercise and rest, spending and saving and lifestyle choices) 
4. Risk (identification, assessment and how to manage risk, rather than simply the avoidance of risk for self and others) and safety (including behaviour and strategies to employ in different settings, including online in an increasingly connected world
5. Diversity and equality (in all its forms, with due regard to the protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010)
6. Rights (including the notion of universal human rights), responsibilities (including fairness and justice) and consent (in different contexts) 
7. Change (as something to be managed) and resilience (the skills, strategies and ‘inner resources’ we can draw on when faced with challenging change or circumstance)
8. Power (how it is used and encountered in a variety of contexts including online; how it manifests through behaviours including bullying, persuasion, coercion and how it can be challenged or managed through negotiation and ‘win-win’ outcomes)
9. Career (including enterprise, employability and economic understanding)

Curriculum Content

Our programme for PSHE and Citizenship encompasses a variety of materials for each year group with planning adapted to meet the needs of the children in those year groups. 

Within the three core themes, we cover a wide variety of aspects, which are-

-British Values

-Safety/Personal Safety

-Relationships/Sex Education

-Equality/Diversity

-Drug Education

-Physical Activity

-Eating and Health

-Emotional Health / Responsibility / Self Esteem

-Citizenship

-Radicalisation/Extremism

SEAL is a teaching programme (social and emotional aspects of learning) which will help the children in their personal, social and emotional development.  It will bring together work we have been teaching in our PSHE curriculum and each term we will teach a topic across the whole school. 

Also, knowledge, skills and understanding of Global Learning and Citizenship forms part of the curriculum which supports our RE programme of study, Come and See. Aspects of PSHE and Citizenship will also be covered within other subject teaching and in special awareness days and weeks.  In the Foundation Stage, the same themes are taught each year and revisited regularly, as well as following the stepping stones for the Early Learning Goals and different aspects of PSHE and Citizenship will be taught in special days/weeks.  There will be good work and celebration assemblies which celebrate and reward children from each class in terms of their consideration and citizenship towards others.

Delivery of Curriculum

A range of teaching strategies will be used as appropriate.  These will include:

Circle time, role play, discussion – whole class, small group, 1:1, workshops, visitors e.g. PC, Fire Brigade, School Health Advisor etc, stories e.g. exploring behaviour of characters, creative activities, and pupil initiated activities.

There are weekly timetabled PSHE lessons in KS1 and KS2, and specific events and activities, as well as through other subjects.  There will also be opportunities during collective worship e.g. stories and discussion, Good Work Assembly.  The whole school ethos promotes our work in PSHE and Citizenship, as set out in our Mission statement.  In the Foundation Stage it is taught throughout the whole curriculum and in circle time sessions.

Teachers will choose the method most appropriate for their whole class to meet the objectives of the lesson. The PSHE and Citizenship curriculum will be linked to our work towards the National Healthy Schools Award status.  All classes use circle time to promote and discuss issues within PSHE and Citizenship, and where appropriate we follow the Quality Circle Time model.

The elected School Council are actively involved in promoting PSHE and Citizenship issues, as are Phys Kids, Worship Warriors and our other ambassadors.

Equal Opportunities

Provision for PSHE and Citizenship is in line with all of our policies, including the Equality Policy.  All children have equal access to the PSHE and Citizenship curriculum and developmentally appropriate materials.  Delivery will be differentiated appropriately.  Resources etc. are sensitive to the needs and backgrounds of the children and will not reflect gender or cultural stereotypes, and are monitored annually to ensure that sensitivity.

Parental and Community Involvement

Parents are invited to join in events in school, including class assemblies and liturgies on relevant themes.  Parents are regularly informed of events and developments on the website, by letter and newsletter.

Working with parents is a vital part of the whole school approach to PSHE and Citizenship.  There will also be links with local businesses and councillors, as part of the work in Citizenship.  We also work closely with the local church and parish.  We involve outside agencies e.g. School Health Advisors, School Police Liaison Officer, Dental Health Advisors etc. as much as possible to deliver aspects of the curriculum.  These are highlighted in our scheme of work for PSHE and Citizenship.

Education Opportunities

Holy Cross Catholic Primary School believes that partnership with parents and the community enables us to receive specialist support and information to plan the best possible PSHE and Citizenship curriculum for our children.

Bonfire Safety

Year two discussed the importance of Bonfire Safety during circle time and came up with some rules to follow. We then created Bonfire displays using black card and pastels. 

Talk PANTS helps children understand that their body belongs to them, and they should tell someone they trust if anything makes them feel upset or worried. The children remembered from previous years the Underwear rule. We spoke about the difference between good touch and bad touch, how our privates are private, and how we should never be asked to keep secrets about touch. We listened to a fun song by Pantosaurus. Then, Year 4 enjoyed designing their own pants!

Nursery have become gardening ambassadors and have given each class a tub of winter flowers and spring bulbs.

Nursery had a visit from Vauxhall Children’s Centre to explain about dental care.

Using the Zones of regulation approach the children have been learning about their own emotions. We have been exploring how we feel a range of different emotions throughout the school day and have begun to focus on how the different zones affect our learning. We practised techniques we can use to bring us back to green zone. We practised using the Rainbow breathing technique. We also enjoying writing our worries in a worry bag - we then scrumpled this up and threw our worries away!