PSHE including Relationships Education

At Clayton-le-Woods Church of England Primary School, we place a high value on the development of the ‘whole child’. The teaching of Personal, Social, Health & Economic (PSHE) education underpins children’s development as people and supports their learning capacity. PSHE also forms part of our wider, holistic approach to addressing sensitive subjects and protection of our pupils. Through our PSHE curriculum, we aim to provide children with the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to lead confident, healthy, independent lives and to become informed, active and responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society. We value PSHE as one way to support children’s development as individuals, to enable them to understand and respect who they are, to empower them with a voice and to equip them for life and learning.

From September 2020, PSHE incorporates statutory Relationships Education and Health Education for all primary school pupils. At Clayton-le-Woods CEP, we include statutory Relationships and Health Education within our whole-school PSHE Programme; some elements will also be reinforced through links in other areas of the curriculum such as Science and Religious Education.  Further information regarding this area can be found here: Understanding Relationships and Health Education in your child’s primary school: a guide for parents

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PSHE at Clayton-le-Woods CEP is taught in dedicated lessons, but is also embedded in our programme of assemblies and with links across the curriculum. We have selected the 1decision scheme of learning in conjunction with the PHSE Association for PSHE as this offers us a comprehensive scheme of work that provides consistency and progression to our children’s learning in this vital curriculum area.  This offers a developmental approach to PSHE with a spiral curriculum with learning that deepens and broadens each year. Lessons are supported through school assemblies and celebrations. The specific Relationships and Sex Education lessons are taught in the second half of the Spring Term (Spring 2) but reference will be made to certain topics as relevant through other subjects and at other times of year.

The aim of our PSHE lessons fulfils the expectations set out in the statutory guidance: Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education and ensures children are taught about the following areas:

Families and people who care for me

Pupils should know:

• that families are important for children growing up because they can give love, security and stability
• the characteristics of healthy family life, commitment to each other, including in times of difficulty, protection and care for children and other family members, the importance of spending time together and sharing each other’s lives
• that others’ families, either in school or in the wider world, sometimes look different from their family, but that they should respect those differences and know that other children’s families are also characterised by love and care
• that stable, caring relationships, which may be of different types, are at the heart of happy families, and are important for children’s security as they grow up
• that marriage represents a formal and legally recognised commitment of two people to each other which is intended to be lifelong
• how to recognise if family relationships are making them feel unhappy or unsafe, and how to seek help or advice from others if needed

Caring friendships

Pupils should know:

• how important friendships are in making us feel happy and secure, and how people choose and make friends
• the characteristics of friendships, including mutual respect, truthfulness, trustworthiness, loyalty, kindness, generosity, trust, sharing interests and experiences and support with problems and difficulties
• that healthy friendships are positive and welcoming towards others, and do not make others feel lonely or excluded
• that most friendships have ups and downs, and that these can often be worked through so that the friendship is repaired or even strengthened, and that resorting to violence is never right
• how to recognise who to trust and who not to trust, how to judge when a friendship is making them feel unhappy or uncomfortable, managing conflict, how to manage these situations and how to seek help or advice from others, if needed

Respectful relationships

Pupils should know:

• the importance of respecting others, even when they are very different from them (for example, physically, in character, personality or backgrounds), or make different choices or have different preferences or beliefs
• practical steps they can take in a range of different contexts to improve or support respectful relationships
• the conventions of courtesy and manners
• the importance of self-respect and how this links to their own happiness
• that in school and in wider society they can expect to be treated with respect by others, and that in turn they should show due respect to others, including those in positions of authority
• about different types of bullying (including cyberbullying), the impact of bullying, responsibilities of bystanders (primarily reporting bullying to an adult) and how to get help
• what a stereotype is, and how stereotypes can be unfair, negative or destructive
• the importance of permission-seeking and giving in relationships with friends, peers and adults

Online relationships

Pupils should know:

• that people sometimes behave differently online, including by pretending to be someone they are not
• that the same principles apply to online relationships as to face-to-face relationships, including the importance of respect for others online including when we are anonymous
• the rules and principles for keeping safe online, how to recognise risks, harmful content and contact, and how to report them
• how to critically consider their online friendships and sources of information including awareness of the risks associated with people they have never met
• how information and data is shared and used online

Being safe

Pupils should know:

• what sorts of boundaries are appropriate in friendships with peers and others (including in a digital context)
• about the concept of privacy and the implications of it for both children and adults; including that it is not always right to keep secrets if they relate to being safe
• that each person’s body belongs to them, and the differences between appropriate and inappropriate or unsafe physical, and other, contact
• how to respond safely and appropriately to adults they may encounter (in all contexts, including online) whom they do not know
• how to recognise and report feelings of being unsafe or feeling bad about any adult
• how to ask for advice or help for themselves or others, and to keep trying until they are heard,
• how to report concerns or abuse, and the vocabulary and confidence needed to do so
• where to get advice, for example family, school or other sources

This useful document from 1decision helps parents/carers to understand the key facts of Relationship and Health Education

For even more information, including the Knowledge Organisers used throughout Key Stage 1 and 2, click the following link to the 1decision website parent/carer zone

https://www.1decision.co.uk/resources/parent-carer-zone 

Should you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to speak to your class teacher or Mrs Bashora.