PSHE
PSHE at St James
At St James CE Primary Academy, we understand that pupils must be provided with an education that prepares them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life, ensuring that they are ‘ready for the future’. We want our children to be prepared, socially, morally, spiritually and culturally for their next steps. Our PSHE curriculum is a key part of this. It teaches our children the importance of mental, social and physical development and how they can help themselves to stay fit: mentally, socially and physically.
The curriculum teaches our children how to make informed decisions about their wellbeing, health and relationships and supports them to build a positive sense of themselves.
We use morning routines to support children's mental health and wellbeing. We have a half-termly worship that introduces the theme for the half term and we also teach weekly PSHE lessons to children throughout school.
PSHE is taught through the One Life programme, following a deliberately planned and carefully sequenced curriculum which goes above and beyond the Department for Education’s statutory guidance for RSHE (Relationships, Sex and Health Education) and the DfE’s non-statutory guidance for the teaching of PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education). Through One Life, PSHE content is broken down into 3 strands:
- Mental Fitness
- Physical Fitness and
- Social Fitness.
We are passionate in our belief that, for our children to grow into happy, healthy and well-rounded young people and adults, we must teach them, explicitly, how to develop mentally, physically and socially.
Values across the curriculum
Our school values are used in all PSHE lessons. Children often work in pairs or groups to discuss areas of learning. Together, children and adults in the class agree on key rules that all will follow in PSHE lessons. Values of democracy, trust, peace, respect and forgiveness are all encouraged and modelled by adults, showing how and why we should value the opinions of others. The classroom environment is important and adults work hard to ensure that children feel comfortable to show curiosity, ask questions and share opinions in a safe space.
Our PSHE curriculum
The curriculum
Each half term, children focus on a theme. The 3 key pillars of One Life are explored and discussed in each theme, with books being used to provide a context that children can understand. The theme is the same across school. In KS2, children learn some basic first aid in Spring 2, as well as emergency repsonses. The books used and the content of lessons will differ so that it is age appropriate.
The process
Meet and Greet
PSHE starts as soon as children come into school with Meet and Greet. Class teachers welcome children into their class with a 'safe touch'. This could be a high five, a handshake, a fist bump or a hug and is chosen by the child. They may choose not to have a safe touch greeting and opt for a smile and a 'hello' instead.
Morning Routine
Monday - Thursday: Once all children are in the classroom, the morning routine begins. All children have the opportunity to 'Talk it Out'. Here, children talk and share anything that they are thinking about, what they may be worried about or what they are looking forward to. This moves on to journalling - children can note down any thoughts and decide if the thoughts are useful or not. It gives children time to note down all thoughts, they aren't having to 'stew' on them, they have had the chance to share. Children take a mindful minute before moving on to positive affirmations and words of wisdom that set them up for a positive day of learning.
Friday: The routine is the same, however, hot cross bun is used instead of journalling. Here, children think about a situation that hasn't gone to plan during the week. They have the opportunity to reflect on what didn't go as well and what they could do diffierntly in future, giving them strategies to use if the situation occurs again. This reinforces the teaching of stopping and catching the urge to react. On Friday's, children rate the basics: sleep, hydration, diet and exercise. Children reflect on whether they are having the right amount of sleep, eating well, staying hydrated and exercising enough, as all these are important for us to thrive and live our One Life well.
