Swaffield School

PSHE

‘Today’s children and young people are growing up in an increasingly complex world and living their lives seamlessly on and offline. This presents many positive and exciting opportunities but also challenges and risks. In this environment children and young people need to know how to be safe and healthy and how to manage their academic, personal and social lives in a positive way’.

DfE Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education Statutory guidance for governing bodies, proprietors, headteachers, principals, senior leadership teams, teachers. 

Our school is committed to promoting the health and well-being of the whole school community and fully recognises the important relationship between well-being and learning.

Through PSHE and the wider curriculum we promote the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and work to prepare pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.

PSHE education is extremely important to us, is at the heart of our school ethos and is embedded throughout all areas of the wider curriculum.

At Swaffield we use the Jigsaw – The Mindful Approach to teach PSHE from Year 1 to Year 6. These are different themes which are followed by every year group:

Being Me in My World
Celebrating Difference
Dreams and Goals
Healthy Me
Relationships
Changing Me

 

Each year group covers content related to each theme, ensuring that a spiral programme is in place: one that revisits themes, gradually extending thinking, expanding knowledge and developing skills. Where possible we make cross-curricular links between PSHE and other subjects, for example English, Religious Education, Physical Education, History and Geography.

PSHE learning comes in many different forms: through whole-class teaching, group activities, individual tasks, assemblies, outside speakers, cross-curricula lessons and discrete lessons. During PSHE sessions children are encouraged to both ask and answer questions, to deepen their knowledge and understanding.
A great deal of time is spent considering scenarios and possible responses to them.

Visit our Curriculum page which gives details of Swaffield's 2023/2024 curriculum for each year group.

Relationships and Sex Education (RSE)

The Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education (England) Regulations 2019 have made Relationships Education compulsory in all primary schools. Sex education is not compulsory in primary schools.

Relationships and Health Education comprises two distinct areas:

  • Relationships
  • Physical health and mental wellbeing

This will be taught in a way that is:

  • Appropriate for children’s ages and development stage.
  • Sensitive to the needs and religious backgrounds of the children in the school.

The new Relationships and Health Education 2020 curriculum is designed to:

  • Help all children grow up healthy, happy and safe.
  • Give all children the knowledge to make informed decisions about their wellbeing, health and relationships.
  • Support all children to manage the challenges and opportunities of modern Britain.
  • Prepare all children for a successful adult lives.

Teaching relationships in primary education
The Relationships part of the new curriculum will teach the children what they need to learn to build positive and safe relationship with family, friends and online.

Children will be supported to answer the following questions:

  • What is a relationship? What is friendship? What is a family? Who can children look to for support?
    What will children be taught by the end of primary school?

By the time a child finishes primary school, they will have been taught about the following in Relationships Education:

  • Family and people who care for them.
  • Caring friendships.
  • Respectful relationships.
  • Online relationships.
  • Being safe.

Link to government guidance:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/908013/Relationships_Education__Relationships_and_Sex_Education__RSE__and_Health_Education.pdf

Physical health and mental wellbeing in primary schools

The physical health and mental wellbeing part of the new RSE curriculum will teach the children how to:

  • Make good decisions about their own health and wellbeing.
  • Recognise issues in themselves.
  • Recognise issue in others.
  • Seek support as early as possible when issues arise.

By the time children finish primary school, they will have been taught about the following:

  • Mental wellbeing.
  • Internet safety and harms.
  • Physical health and fitness.
  • Healthy eating.
  • Facts about drugs, alcohol and drugs and the risks associated with them.
  • Health and prevention of illness.
  • Basic first aid.
  • Changes to the adolescent body, including puberty

Link to government guidance
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education/physical-health-and-mental-wellbeing-primary-and-secondary#by-the-end-of-primary-school

Can parents withdraw their children from the new RSE Curriculum?

Parents cannot withdraw their child from any part of the Relationships and Health Education or Science aspects of the RSE curriculum. It is important for all children to be taught the content on such essential matters like friendships and keeping safe.

There are separate rules on withdrawing a child from Sex Education.

Sex education is separate from the Relationships and Health curriculum and parents can withdraw children from some or all of the lessons on Sex Education. Sex Education lessons are only taught in Year 6. If a parent/carer wishes to withdraw their child from Sex Education lessons then they need to put their request in writing to the Headteacher, Ms Hamilton. She will then contact the parent/carer for a discussion.

Before making a request, parents should:

Remember that the Science and Health curriculums in all maintained schools includes content on human development including changes to the adolescent body, and that there is no right for a parent to withdraw their child from the science curriculum.

Details of lessons are available on request.
A charge may be made for photocopying, as stated in our Charging and Remissions Policy.

You can read our RSE Policy here. 

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