PSHE and RSHE Intent

PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic education) and RSHE (Relationships, Sex and Health education) is a crucial part of a child’s education and the development of the ‘whole Freemantle child’ – see Curriculum Aims. PSHE and RSHE gives children access to critical information about themselves and the many facets of the diverse world around them.

At Freemantle we provide a specifically tailored curriculum that is both broad and balanced, and meets the unique context of our school. We give pupils access to big ideas and conversations, alongside practical experiences. At the heart of this, we encourage respect and understanding of the universal rights of the child, as articulated in the UNCRC.

At Freemantle we aim to develop children’s knowledge, self-esteem, emotional wellbeing and resilience, and to help them to form and maintain worthwhile and positive relationships. Children will be taught to have respect for themselves and for others, within our local, national and global communities.

We aim to develop key character skills, including decision making, informed risk taking, good communication, and self-regulation strategies. We encourage respect and exploration of values held by different cultures and groups within our local community, and promote the development of positive attitudes. We encourage honesty and respect in all relationships and nurture sensitivity to the needs and feelings of others.

We aim to enable children to develop a deepening knowledge of their health and wellbeing, including their mental and physical health. We aim to equip children and young people with information, skills and values to understand and to be able to cope with the physical and emotional changes that happen during puberty and prepare pupils adequately for adult life: its decisions, responsibilities, experiences and opportunities, allowing our pupils to develop fully as emotionally mature human beings.

Implementation

PSHE and RSHE is taught across the academy (see Thematic model below). PSHE and RSHE will also be taught within other subjects, especially Computing, Maths and Science, for example the teaching of e-safety within Computing lessons.

The curriculum is drawn from recommendations within the National Curriculum and the PSHE Association and has been developed to meet the specific needs of our diverse learners and their communities, supporting the many aspects of their personal development.

The PSHE/RSHE curriculum is split into the three key themes of ‘Health and Wellbeing’, ‘Relationships’ and ‘Living in the Wider World’. These three themes have equal weighting and importance within teaching, and topics are taught on a rolling, spiral basis. Topics are revisited across year groups, and understanding is deepened. This allows for progression and retention of key skills and knowledge, and also the introduction of some concepts at an age-appropriate point. This progression is detailed in the PSHE curriculum map. These topics are now ‘fixed’ so that teachers in recent years have been able to become more expert at teaching their year-group in PSHE, develop their resources, and develop effective curriculum links.

Year groups are encouraged to develop their own toolkit of resources specific to their topics, but whole-school resources, such as ‘Growing up with Yasmine and Tom’ have been purchased to support teachers in their PSHE and RSHE delivery.

PSHE/RSHE education is provided to all children within our academy. Children with SEND will be supported to access health, relationships and sex education through high-quality, teacher-led quality first teaching, following the guidance of the SEND code of practice. Teaching will be personalised to suit individual contexts and scaffolds will be used to support teaching and learning.

PSHE/RSHE is taught on a weekly basis, with some content also being taught through other subject areas, and within other contexts, such as through assemblies, circle times or meetings, and active learning methods are used to bring the curriculum to life.

There is no expectation that children complete formal written recording of teaching and some lessons may be talk based and have no written outcome at all. Assessment is essential to the effective teaching of PSHE and ipsative assessment methods are used to elicit children’s starting points and review learning at the end of a unit of work to check pupil’s knowledge and understanding related to the theme or topic.

Teacher’s PSHE/RSHE knowledge is an important part of providing high quality teaching within the school and staff are able to access CPD from the PSHE Association as well as from our PSHE/RSHE Leaders who are part of the School Accountability Team (SAT). The leaders access regular support from other PSHE leaders working across our local community of schools and Southampton Co-operative Learning Trust.

At Freemantle we believe PSHE education should not be left to chance and is a responsibility shared with our families, who we consult with in line with academy policy. Parents have the right to withdraw their child from sex education, but not from health or relationships education. Parents or carers wishing to withdraw their child from all or part of sex education should contact the Headteacher at the first instance and refer to the Academy RSHE policy.

Impact

The impact of high quality PSHE and RSHE education cannot be understated. Quite simply, it forms the preparation for adult life, enabling a child to understand and face the challenges, complexities and questions that arise in a diverse world.

Impact can be measured in a variety of ways. At Freemantle we recognise and celebrate the importance of the child’s voice and their individual experience of PSHE/RSHE education.

The skills that children at Freemantle will develop will include, but are not limited to:

• An understanding of our diverse and complex world, and an empathy and respect for the rights of all individuals
• Positive and constructive communication, with highly developed oracy skills
• Resilience and self-regulation, and a keen understanding of their own health and wellbeing, especially supporting their mental and emotional development
• Risk management and balanced decision making, within the context of a changing and challenging world

These skills are transferable to all other areas of the curriculum and will help children to understand these areas in new ways. Additionally, these ‘soft skills’ form the basis of a child’s wider development and experience. The ability to recognise and develop good relationships, the reinforcement of positive mental and physical health, understanding how their body will change and grow, the development of respect and tolerance for all, an understanding of society and the role of the individual in a community are the skills that will equip our children for life.