Personal, Social & Health Education

Subject Leader: Hilary Silva

Subject Coordinators: Laura Humphries (PSHE Support), Paris Gardner (Diversity Lead), Sarah Herbert (Eco School)

Link Governor: Pauline Black

At Beaver Road Primary School, PSHE drives the social, cultural and moral foundation of our whole school curriculum and is at the very heart of what we do and who we are. The study of self, community, being safe and being healthy are threaded through the different subject areas and continually explored, modelled and referred to in our wider school experience. The study of PSHE is not simply about making children good citizens; it is about developing sound decision-making power through understanding, tolerance and respect of the changing world around us and the relationships that we make.

Emotional Literacy, Mental Health and Wellbeing

Building healthy relationships and nourishing mental health and wellbeing is a key driver in a healthy and happy school community. Through our PSHCE programme, we talk about feelings and emotions from the moment children enter foundation stage and help pupils build strategies to manage their own mental health through models like the Zones of Regulation (giving emotions a colour and scale to help identify and manage feelings such as anxiety and anger). HEARTSMART (founded by one of our parents) is another programme that we use throughout school to develop communication skills, empathy and mindfulness with memorable slogans to tag the children’s learning – ‘Too much selfie isn’t healthy……No way through, isn’t true’. We encourage the children to narrate their own feelings and emotions and relate these to actions and how these change the dynamics of a relationship. This dialogue is key in equipping the children with good emotional literacy and building understanding around mental health. As part of our child-led Rights Respecting School programme, there is a pupil-led mentoring service where children can access mental and emotional support from trained peer coaches. This is delivered through the Anna Freud foundation and coordinated by our upper school pupils.

Citizenship

Through our study of citizenship, the children develop their understanding of different communities and how as individuals, we can affect change and be advocates for others. Our Rights Respecting programme is centred around the Convention on the Rights of the Child and how we can respond to the seventeen sustainable development global goals. Children learn about democracy and how parliament works including how laws and charters are made in UK. As global citizens, we explore the contemporary issues and social, political and economic challenges that we face and how we can hold duty bearers to account through direct action. We place justice, tolerance and dignity at the heart of our citizenship programme which act as a golden thread for all that we do.

Healthy Lifestyles and Drugs & Alcohol Awareness

Making healthy lifestyle choices and being aware of the risks of poor choices is explored at different stages through our science, PE and food technology programmes. Lower KS1 learn how medicines get into the human body, the basic functions of the heart and lungs, and recognise that substances that we put into our bodies, affect them. In KS2, children explore the influence of peer pressure and how this can lead to risky behaviours such as smoking and substance abuse. Our healthy eating and ‘food for life’ programmes promote a positive food culture for all and connect children with the knowledge of where food comes from, how it is grown and the importance of well-sourced ingredients.

Relationships and Sex Education

RSE is a lifelong process. It helps children and young people acquire knowledge, understanding and skills, and develop attitudes, beliefs and values about sexual identity and relationships. RSE is a statutory part of the curriculum and is taught in a sensitive and inclusive manner. The NSPCC PANTS resource is used with younger children to help them stay safe from sexual abuse using the PANTS rules and Pantosaurus song. KS2 follow the Manchester Healthy Schools scheme of work covering personal health and hygiene, changes during puberty and different types of relationships. Human reproduction is not covered as a topic until secondary school. Questions such as, ‘Can a healthy relationship change?’ and ‘Is there such a thing as a perfect relationship?’ give a forum for children to prompt discussions in an open, honest and sensitive way whilst preparing our children for young adulthood and knowing what a healthy or unhealthy relationship looks like.

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