Goldstone Primary School & Little Owls Nursery

Pupil's personal development is well considered.  Leaders have ensured that the well-structured personal, social and health curriculum responds to pupils' needs in an age-appropriate way.  Ofsted July 2023

Intent

At Goldstone we aim to provide children with the skills and support to enable them to become successful learners; confident individuals and responsible citizens. PSHE education is a central part of our curriculum as it enables our pupils to build positive, equal, consensual friendships and relationships and to develop skills to keep themselves and others healthy and safe, for now and in the future. The PSHE education curriculum supports personal development, behaviour for learning including promoting attributes such as kindness, respect, consent, resilience and self-efficacy. Our curriculum is ambitious and designed to give all pupils the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in life. It will provide opportunities to embed new knowledge and practice skills that can confidently be used in real life situations on and offline.

Our PSHE education programme supports our school ‘to promote the well-being of pupils at the school’ and to ensure that we have a balanced and broadly-based curriculum which:

· Promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society.

· Prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.

As part of this broad and balanced curriculum, PSHE education also promotes the values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those from secular and atheist backgrounds.

In the planning and delivery of PSHE education we will show due regard under the Equality Act 2010 to the need to:

· Eliminate discrimination and harassment.

· Advance equality of opportunity.

· Foster good relations.

We will also comply with the Human Rights Act 1998

We will make every effort therefore to ensure that our PSHE programme is inclusive of all groups of pupils, is informed by their needs and reflects the diversity of our school and wider community. PSHE supports understanding of equality and diversity, the development of critical thinking skills, and encourages respectful and safe discussion and debate on sensitive issues.

Our PSHE programme also supports us in our safeguarding duties and develops the skills pupils need to keep themselves safe including online.

Implementation

The programme will be taught through a spiral curriculum. This means a theme will be approached in an age-appropriate way and returned to later, building on what has gone before and which reflects and meets the personal and developmental needs of the children and young people.

Brighton & Hove City Council has produced a Programme of Study for PSHE education and a range of resources to support planning and delivery. We have used these resources alongside statutory guidance from the Department for Education as a guide to developing our own curriculum to suit the needs and character of our school, the pupils in it and in the context of a broad and balanced curriculum.

PSHE education is given dedicated curriculum time; our discrete curriculum weekly time allowance for PSHE education is 30 minutes a week in KS1 & 40 minutes in KS2. We do our best to ensure the content, resources, approaches and language used reflects the rich diversity of our school and meets the needs of all.

Many of the skills learned in PSHE are crucial life skills and in particular we focus on skills to:

· Keep safe (including online) using a Protective Behaviours Approach.

· Access help and support when needed and support our friends to do so.

· Be able to ask for and give or refuse consent.

· Develop healthy, mutually enjoyable relationships at the point at which they feel it is right for them.

· Make positive choices and be resilient including when faced with challenging situations.

· Think critically.

· Identify and manage feelings.

· Discuss sensitive issues respectfully.

Impact

At Goldstone we aim to ensure our programme provides representation of all groups in our school including the range of ethnicities, disabilities, sexes, gender identities, sexual orientations and faiths and religions. The PSHE education programme will also support pupils to develop an understanding of our similarities and differences, to have respect for others and how to communicate respectfully. We aim to educate children and young people to understand the nature and consequences of discrimination, teasing, bullying, sexual harassment and aggressive behaviours (including online bullying), use of prejudice-based language and how to respond and ask for help.

Our PSHE programme covers specific issues such as safe touch and e-safety in an age appropriate way. We recognise that some of these topics are sensitive areas for some people, but believe that to prepare our pupils for life in the modern world they need to be explored. Our programme also promotes protective behaviours, self-esteem, assertiveness and the skills needed to ask for help.