Personal, social and health education

Why PSHE matters to us at Preston Park

At Preston Park, we believe in an education that provides pupils with knowledge, skills and understanding across the whole curriculum enabling them to leave us prepared for their future adult life. We provide a curriculum that is stimulating, relevant and memorable.

PSHE covers aspects of a child’s life which are real and meaningful to them and supports them in achieving their future goals and aspirations.

In teaching PSHE we want our pupils to:

• allow pupils to have a voice on topics which are important to them and to be able to share these in a safe environment;
• develop their understanding of human nature and human interactions;
• grow and cultivate healthy, positive and respectful relationships with others;
• enable all pupils to have the knowledge, skills and attributes to lead confident, healthy and independent lives;
• be prepared for life and work in modern Britain;

What’s in it for me?      

A key area of PSHE is the development of pupil aspirations and goal setting, identifying individual strengths and talents, and reflecting on areas for personal development in a safe environment. Through our PSHE lessons, pupils are able to explore questions about themselves and develop knowledge to keep them safe in a range of contexts. These include: personal safety, online safety, physical safety and mental safety. Pupils will recognise what constitutes a healthy relationship and be signposted to where to seek help.

The six core values which are integral to our vision at Preston Park (resilience, responsibility, reflective, reciprocity, respectful and resourcefulness) are interwoven in every PSHE lesson taught in the school. Pupils learn from each other, sharing their ideas and understanding, and demonstrate positive relationships and interactions with their peers through carefully designed tasks. We want every child to leave us fully equipped for the journey ahead and through their PSHE lessons, we support pupils in becoming:

PSHE enables pupils to see beyond the classroom and understand their role as global citizens in the 21^st century.

The children will find the answers to questions such as:

• What do I want for my future?
• What makes me special and unique?
• How can I be the best version of me?

How we teach PSHE effectively

We have developed a personalised curriculum for our pupils, written and developed by our staff to ensure that the needs of our pupils are being met, taking into consideration an awareness of local and global issues.

Pupils are provided with opportunities to reflect on their own growth as well as their personal and social development, and are encouraged to develop their sense of self-worth through playing a positive role in contributing to the school and the wider community.

Over the course of the academic year, pupils are taught through themed curriculum areas, with each year group building on prior knowledge. This enables all pupils to develop their PSHE skills and understanding at a level suitable for their age and developing needs.

As well as our weekly discrete lessons, PSHE is embedded in other areas of the curriculum and day-today life of the school through aspects including:

Lessons may include discussions, videos or giving pupils the opportunity to share their personal experiences. Where relevant, external visitors may be used as well as school trips to support the learning which occurs in class.

Our Relationships Education Curriculum     

In September 2020, the teaching of Relationships Education will become a compulsory part of the PSHE curriculum. Although Relationships Education has always been taught as part of our PSHE lessons, this will ensure that there is greater consistency in schools across the country in the content.

Relationships education, especially, enables all pupils to be happy, safe and confident. It is vital that pupils are taught what makes a healthy relationship (in all forms) and what to do if they are not happy about something in a relationship.

Pupils understand how they should be treated and also how to treat others, in increasingly wider social contexts. Relationships Education also helps pupils to identify and respect differences in others as well as recognising that everyone has a part to play in the world.

Below is an overview of the Relationships coverage across the school:

Throughout the lessons, pupils are encouraged to ‘dream big’ and to aspire to be the best version of themselves that they can be. They are taught not to limit themselves to stereotypes and are shown that there are endless opportunities and possibilities available to them in the future.“Don’t just aspire to make a living. Aspire to make a difference.”- Denzel Washington

Additional Resources

Here are some useful organisations you can use to support your child’s PSHE development at home.