Shaw Cross Infant and Nursery School

Intent

Our mission statement at Shaw Cross is “working together, valuing and nurturing children.” This links closely in the way that we prioritise the health and wellbeing of our school community and have a whole school approach to PSHE. We believe that developing children’s personal, social and health education has an essential role in keeping our children safe and preparing them for life and work in modern Britain. For this reason we teach PSHE as a discrete subject, however it also has an integral role across the curriculum. We endeavour to actively involve our families through home-school agreements and in keeping our parent/careers up to date on our PSHE learning so they can reinforce this at home.  We engage with professionals in delivering specific aspects of the curriculum and in supporting individual pupils where necessary. The intent of this being to ensure our children are well supported in their wellbeing and are equipped for life.

We also understand that it is essential that our pupils have the language and vocabulary to be able to express their ideas, opinions and needs. It is our intent within our PSHE curriculum to ensure our children are equipped with the emotional literacy and language to be able to do this effectively in order to keep themselves safe, and to function effectively not only now, but as adults of the future. We intend that all our pupils are able to contribute to society as respectful, responsible members of the community with healthy bodies and minds.

Part of our role as practitioners, is to ensure we give our pupils the foundations which will open the gates to a wealth of opportunities and also equip them with the tools to keep themselves safe. PHSE has a role in this in opening our pupil’s hearts and minds beyond what they may otherwise experience. To believe in them, inspire them and invest in them and their futures and giving them strong personal, social, emotional and health education and ensure they are not limited by giving them the foundation from which they can build on and be whatever they want to be. 

Implementation

At Shaw Cross School we teach children to be respectful, resilient and reflective and aim to ensure that these values are at the core of the PSHE curriculum that we teach through embedding the characteristic of effective learning (EYFS) and the secrets of success (KS1) in all that we do. PSHE teaching lends itself in many ways to develop these key traits. Respect for others is instilled from day 1, and children are explicitly taught, and have many opportunities to show this in their daily lives. We have units of work based specifically on being resilient, through setting goals and not giving up in the quest to reach them. We also work extensively on reflecting on our actions and our learning, and to use this as a way to learn and make progress.

In the EYFS the importance of PSHE is evident in its role as a prime area of learning within the EYFS Statutory Framework. As a school the way in which we baseline children upon entry puts wellbeing at the forefront of a child’s early school experience. Staff ensure that children are settled and happy before any assessment occurs. This is then built upon in the Personal, Social and Emotional Development strand of the curriculum. Children are supported in developing their confidence and self-awareness within a range of familiar settings and are encourage to develop friendships. Within all areas of provision children are guided in managing their feelings and behaviour in order to develop an understanding of what behaviour is and is not acceptable, and how to manage themselves in a range of scenarios. This links with the three strands of self-regulation, managing self and building relationships in the EYFS curriculum for PSHE.

In Key Stage 1 we use the Jigsaw Scheme which places a strong emphasis on emotional literacy in order to equip children to thrive in today’s world, build resilience and self-esteem and help them to understand how to manage themselves and their feelings in real life situations e.g. bullying, self-image, on-line safety. Lessons also include a mindfulness approach and in doing so have a focus on supporting mental health and wellbeing. The whole approach enables children to develop their concentration and focus and helps them to regulate their emotional state.  Key concepts taught in Year One such as friendship and feeling safe are built upon in Year Two and explored in greater depth at a level appropriate to the emotional maturity of our eldest children. Children take part in whole class and small group discussions which explore and debate feelings, well-being and behaviour pertinent to their age group. This is often followed up with written work, cementing ideas and thoughts about the topics discussed.

Throughout school, our PSHE curriculum supports and inter-links with the development of a child’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding. We focus on the elements below.

 Impact

The Jigsaw scheme provides a mindfulness approach to PSHCE in which there is particular emphasis on emotional literacy, mental health, SMSC and spiritual development. This enables the development of the ‘whole child’ and supports children in understanding the need to respect themselves and others no matter who they are, and how to relate to each other in an ever-changing world.

At Shaw Cross we pride ourselves, and are regularly commended by parents on the priority we put into creating a nurturing environment. As a school this is an integral part of our daily lives, but they are also promoted through our discrete PSHE, RE lessons and assemblies, and the discussion of current affairs issues linked to Newsround and picture news. Regular discussion of well-being issues reflects itself in the children’s positive behaviour and their knowledge of how to handle different social situations. They are taught the difference between right and wrong and the need to make the right choices. Through these taught sessions, children know how to help others in a variety of ways and also know who they can ask to help and support them if necessary. Children feel safe and supported and listened to, and the employment of a children’s champion with a specific role to provide bespoke support for children with emotional needs enhances this further. The PSHE Jigsaw scheme also supports the fundamental British values as set out by the DfE; democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.

When children leave our school and move on into Key Stage Two in Junior School, they have all the social tools to help them to understand and cope with new and different situations. Our early PSHE foundation will be the building blocks for them to grow into well-rounded adult citizens and that they will in turn be positive role models for future generations of children, and be highly effective members of the community.

Click here for the EYFS curriculum.

Click here for the KS1 curriculum.

Click here to find out about British values.