PSHE/RSE - Every Child A Curious Learner
GORSEWOOD PRIMARY SCHOOL
RSE and PSHE EDUCATION POLICY
DREAM, BELIEVE, ACHIEVE
Every Child A Curious Learner
All pupils are entitled to a broad and balanced curriculum regardless of race, gender, religion or ability. Here at Gorsewood Primary School, we are committed to the development of the whole child and as a consequence we place Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE) and Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) at the heart of all that we do.
We recognise that schools support pupils to develop in many diverse aspects of life, and the responsibility of preparing pupils for their adult lives is one that Gorsewood Primary School takes pride in, and assumes with integrity and purpose. This policy outlines the Intent, Implementation and Impact of how PSHE and RSE is taught using a spiral curriculum in our school.
The PSHE and RSE Policy should be read in conjunction with the following policies: Curriculum Policy, SEND Policy and Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy.
The teaching of PSHE in school is combined with the RSE curriculum in one scheme of work. We use the Kapow Scheme of work.
- Aims
The scheme aims to give children the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that they need to effectively navigate the complexities of life in the 21st Century. The curriculum covers key areas which will support children to make informed choices now and in the future around their health, safety, wellbeing, relationships, and financial matters and will support them in becoming confident individuals and active members of society.
Kapow Primary’s RSE/PSHE scheme of work covers the Relationships and Health Education statutory guidance (as set out by the Department for Education), including the non-statutory sex education.
The scheme covers wider PSHE learning, in line with the requirement of the National Curriculum (2014) that schools ‘should make provision for personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE).’ Children’s learning through this scheme would significantly contribute to their personal development as set out in the Ofsted Inspection Framework and promotes the four fundamental British values which reflect life in modern Britain: democracy; rule of law; respect and tolerance and individual liberty.
The Kapow Primary scheme does not specifically cover gender identity, although identity is a theme that runs through all year groups and units more generally.
Quality PSHE and RSE teaching is an important element in helping schools to carry out their duty of care with regards to safeguarding. As part of our teaching we ensure children are taught about safeguarding, including online safety. The curriculum also introduces and revisits ideas of personal boundaries, consent and communicating our boundaries with others. This prepares pupils for the challenges and responsibilities they will face in the future.
- ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The governing board is responsible for:
- Ensuring all pupils make progress in achieving the expected educational outcomes.
- Ensuring the curriculum is well led, effectively managed and well planned.
- Evaluating the quality of provision through regular and effective self-evaluation.
- Ensuring teaching is delivered in ways that are accessible to all pupils with SEND.
- Providing clear information for parents on subject content and their rights to request that their children are withdrawn.
- Making sure the subjects are resourced, staffed and timetabled in a way that ensures the school can fulfil its legal obligations.
The headteacher is responsible for:
- The overall implementation of this policy.
- Ensuring staff are suitably trained to deliver the subjects.
- Ensuring that parents are fully informed of this policy and have opportunities to ask questions and review the curriculum.
- Reviewing requests from parents to withdraw their children from certain lessons (year 6 only).
- Organising alternative education for pupils, where necessary, that is appropriate and purposeful.
- Reporting to the governing board on the effectiveness of this policy.
- Reviewing this policy on an annual basis.
The SENCO is responsible for:
- Advising teaching staff how best to identify and support pupils’ individual needs.
- Advising staff on the use of TAs in order to meet pupils’ individual needs.
The PSHE/RSE subject leader is responsible for:
- Overseeing the delivery of the subjects.
- Ensuring the subjects are age-appropriate and high-quality.
- Ensuring teachers are provided with adequate resources to support teaching of the subjects.
- Ensuring the school meets its statutory requirements in relation to the relationships, sex and health curriculum.
- Ensuring the PSHE/RSE curriculum is inclusive and accessible for all pupils.
- Working with other subject leaders to ensure the relationships, sex and health curriculum complements, but does not duplicate, the content covered in the national curriculum.
- Monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the subjects and providing reports to the headteacher.
The appropriate teachers are responsible for:
- Delivering a high-quality and age-appropriate PSHE/RSE curriculum in line with statutory requirements.
- Using a variety of teaching methods and resources to provide an engaging curriculum that meets the needs of all pupils.
- Ensuring they do not express personal views or beliefs when delivering the programme.
- Responding to any safeguarding concerns in line with the Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy.
- Acting in accordance with planning, monitoring and assessment requirements for the subjects.
- Liaising with the SENCO to identify and respond to individual needs of pupils with SEND.
- Working with the PSHE/RSE subject leader to evaluate the quality of provision.
Class teachers will be delivering PSHE/RSE lessons. We will also work with other professionals and agencies to enhance learning opportunities including school nurses, fire and rescue services, Health Schools, our PCSO and the NSPCC
- Intent
In Gorsewood Primary School, we value the importance of a high quality PSHE and RSE and strive to spark children’s curiosity about themselves and others in the world that we live in. We strive to inspire pupils to take an interest in and show an appreciation of all.
Our PSHE/RSE curriculum is well planned and takes full advantage of the rich breadth of our locality.
In PSHE/RSE, we aim to ensure that all pupils benefit from an exciting, rich, broad, balanced, and adapted curriculum that is matched appropriately to their ages, abilities and aptitudes. Our well-planned curriculum ensures the progressive, chronological development, knowledge and skills; and for the pupils to develop a love for the world that we live in.
- Implementation
The Kapow Primary scheme is a whole school approach that consists of three areas of learning in EYFS: Reception (to match the EYFS Personal, social and emotional development prime area) and five areas of learning across Key stages 1 and 2.
EYFS:
- Self-regulation
- Building relationships
- Managing self
Key stage 1 and 2:
- Families and relationships
- Health and wellbeing
- Safety and the changing body
- Citizenship
- Economic wellbeing
- Identity (year 6 only)
Each area is revisited to allow children to build on prior learning. The lessons also provide a progressive programme. The lessons are based upon the statutory requirements for Relationships and Health education, but where our lessons go beyond these requirements (primarily in the Citizenship and Economic wellbeing areas) they refer to the PSHE Association Programme of Study which is recommended by the DfE. Sex education has been included in line with the DfE recommendations and is covered in Year 6 of our scheme.
A range of teaching and learning activities are used and are based on good practice in teaching RSE/PSHE education to ensure that all children can access learning and make progress. In key stage 1 and 2, there is an introductory lesson at the start of each year group which provides the opportunity for children and teachers to negotiate ground rules for the lessons. These introductory lessons can then be referred to throughout the year to help create a safe environment. All lessons include ideas for adapting learning to stretch the most able learners and give additional support to those who need it. Many lessons, stories, scenarios, and video clips provide the opportunity for children to engage in real life and current topics in a safe and structured way. Role-play activities are also included to help children play out scenarios that they may find themselves in.
There are meaningful opportunities for cross-curricular learning, in particular with Computing for online safety and Science for growing, nutrition, teeth, diet and lifestyle. The scheme provides consistent messages throughout the age ranges including how and where to access help.
In addition to the lessons, there is a suite of eight Q&A videos for teachers, featuring experts from various fields, covering the key areas: Families, Friendships, Healthy and safe relationships, Digital safety and The changing adolescent body.
The scheme also includes documentation related to the implementation of the curriculum:
- Long-term plans outlining the learning within each year group. There are standard, condensed and mixed-age versions.
- Statutory guidance mapping illustrating how the units of lessons deliver the learning required within the Statutory guidance for Relationships, Sex and Health Education.
- RSE & PSHE Progression of skills and knowledge.
- Protected characteristics mapping.
- SMSC, Personal development and British values mapping.
- Education for a connected world mapping (alongside our Computing scheme).
- Keeping children safe in education: Child on Child Sexual harassment knowledge outcomes and mapping.
- Knowledge organisers summarise the learning for each unit.
- Sex Education
Although it is not statutory to deliver sex education outside of the science curriculum at primary level, the DfE recommends that all primary schools should have a sex education programme in place. This should be tailored to the age, and physical and emotional maturity of pupils, and should ensure that boys and girls are prepared for the changes that adolescence brings, drawing on knowledge of the human life cycle.
All pupils must be taught the aspects of sex education outlined in the primary science curriculum – this includes teaching about the main external parts of the human body, how it changes as it grows from birth to old age, including puberty, and the reproductive process in some plants and animals.
Schools are free to determine whether pupils should be taught sex education beyond what is required of the national curriculum. At Gorsewood, we teach pupils sex education beyond what is required of the science curriculum. This is in Year 6. Parents can withdraw children from these lessons. The lessons are:
- Learn about the biology of conception. (Parents have the right to withdraw their child from the 'Main event' part of this lesson.)
- Learn how a baby develops in the womb and is born. (Parents have the right to withdraw their child from the lesson.)
- WITHDRAWAL FROM RSE
Relationships and Health education are statutory at primary and parents do not have the right to withdraw their child from the subjects.
As Sex Education is not statutory at primary level (other than what must be taught as part of the science curriculum), parents have the right to request to withdraw their child from the non statutory sex education curriculum. In Gorsewood Primary School, the only non-statutory lessons are in Year 6 (see above).
Parents will be fully informed when the non statutory lessons are taking place and given the opportunity to view the lesson content and speak to staff before making a decision whether to withdraw their child either in writing or verbally. The headteacher will automatically grant withdrawal requests; however, the headteacher will discuss the request with the parent and, if appropriate, their child, to ensure that their wishes are understood and to clarify the nature and purpose of the curriculum. The headteacher will keep a record of the discussion between themselves, the pupil and the parent.
- Inclusion
Class teachers ensure PSHE/RSE lessons are carefully planned to meet the needs of all learners. Through adult support, use of resources and personalised learning all children are able take part in PSHE/RSE lessons. The Kapow scheme supports the requirements of the Equality Act through direct teaching, for example learning about different families, the negative effect of stereotypes and celebrating differences, in addition to the inclusion of diverse teaching resources throughout the lessons.
The school SEND Policy, Inclusion policy, Disability Discrimination Scheme and Equal Opportunities policy are followed.
- Assessment, feedback and monitoring
At Gorsewood Primary School, assessment is an integral part of the teaching process. Assessment enables teachers to ensure that children understand what they are learning and that progress is being made. Effective assessment informs future planning and ensures all children can make progress. Each class will evidence learning in a ‘class book’. Presentation expectations will be in line with the school’s presentation policy, despite the children not having an individual work book.
Teachers will provide feedback and marking to children before, during and after lessons. The school’s Marking and Feedback Policy is followed. At the end of each year teachers will assess children on whether they are: working below age related expectations, working towards age related expectations, working at age related expectations or working above age related expectations using the end points they have taught that year.
Monitoring of PSHE takes place regularly through:
- Evaluation of topics
- Learning walks
- Lesson observations
- Scrutiny of books/work/displays
- Discussions with children
- Staff meetings
- Governors meetings
- Parental Involvement
We value parents and work in partnership with them to enrich the curriculum. The role of parents and carers is recognised, and guidance is provided to assist schools on how to work with them and include them in their children’s learning. Parents are informed about the PSHE curriculum through the website, newsletters, home learning and curriculum workshops, and are positively encouraged to become involved. We encourage parents to share any personal knowledge relevant to our learning to help make PSHE come to life and provide children with a greater understanding and context about their learning and the diverse world that we live in.
- Equal Opportunities
The PSHE/RSE curriculum is planned to ensure equality of opportunity irrespective of gender, race, culture or religion. The curriculum and resources used promote respect and understanding of the society in which we live.
- Health and Safety
It is the responsibility of every member of staff to have due care for Health & Safety in the planning, organisation and delivery of the curriculum. Staff should ensure resources that are used in PSHE lessons are appropriate and safe to use. The school safeguarding procedures should be followed for any visitors coming into school and staff should follow all procedures for visits off site including all planning documents and risk assessments are completed.
- Additional offer in Gorsewood
In addition to weekly PSHE/RSE lessons taught in class, the nurture team provides personalised nurture sessions for children who would benefit from this intervention. The Family Support Worker works in collaboration with the nurture team to tailor provision for individuals who need further support outside the classroom. ELSA (emotional literacy support assistant) sessions are also provided for the children in Gorsewood who need extra support.
We also have daily reflection and collective worship to promote British values, teach children about protected characteristics and support the social, moral, spiritual and cultural development of all pupils.
We are a trauma informed school and our monthly values also contribute to our PSHE/RSE curriculum.
All pupils receive forest school sessions. In these sessions they learn to appreciate the natural world as well as develop personal skills including teamwork, independence, resilience and problem solving.
- Impact
Each lesson within Kapow Primary’s scheme features assessment guidance, helping teachers to identify whether pupils have met, exceeded, or failed to meet the desired learning intentions for that lesson.
Each unit of lessons comes with an Assessment quiz and Knowledge catcher. The quiz contains 10 questions, nine of which are multiple-choice and can be used either at the end of the unit or at both the start and the end to help measure progress and identify any gaps in learning. The Knowledge catchers list some of the lesson titles in mind-map or table format and can be used at the start of a unit to see what the children already know and to inform planning, and then pupils can revisit the same version of the Knowledge catcher at the end of the unit to add what else they now know, further demonstrating their progression in learning.
Once taught the full scheme, children will have met the objectives set out within the Relationships and Health Education statutory guidance and can utilise their learning within their daily lives, from dealing with friendship issues to resilience to making healthy choices and knowing where and how to get help when needed.All pupils will have a secure knowledge of PSHE concepts, facts, skills and practices. Pupils will also have a firm understanding of differences. Children will be taught the value of acceptance and respect in the world that we live in and that even if beliefs are different to another, acknowledgement and acceptance of this is key to lifelong success. Pupils will be curious and be armed with the resilience and problem solving skills to investigate further key questions as they move onto their next learning journey.
April 2024
Amended policy due to new scheme being adopted.