Hatfield Peverel Infant School

INTENT

By nurturing and educating children we aim to help them develop the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to live happy, healthy and successful lives, now and in the future. We provide our children with opportunities for them to learn about rights and responsibilities, making SMART choices and becoming independent thinkers. Our children are encouraged to develop their understanding of feelings and self-worth.

Under guidance issued by the DfE, as of September 2020, Relationships Education at primary school is compulsory. We believe that, to be effective, this should be taught within a broader PSHE programmes of study. Relationships education focusses on giving children the knowledge they need to make informed decisions about their wellbeing, health and relationships, and to build their self-efficacy. Health education focusses on equipping children with the knowledge they need to make good decisions about their own health and wellbeing.

IMPLEMENTATION

Relationship Education in Key Stage 1 as part of the Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) is embedded in all curriculum areas including personal, social and health and economic (PSHE) education. For example, some biological aspects of RSE will be taught within the science curriculum. E-safety will be taught within Computing and ICT. Discussion around feelings may be taught through some RE lessons. We make connections with wider aspects of school life. For example, our school values and class rules, school council, celebration assemblies, themed activities such as World Book Day, Anti-bullying week, Comic Relief.

At our school, we have developed our own scheme of work based upon the ‘PSHE Association Programme of Study’ for KS1.

Our scheme of work is based on three core themes:

• Relationships: Families and friendships; Safe relationships; Respecting ourselves and others

• Health and Wellbeing: Physical health and mental wellbeing; growing and changing; Keeping safe

• Living in the Wider World: Belonging to a community; Media literacy and digital resilience; Money and work

Our long-term yearly overviews set out learning opportunities for each year group, providing a spiral curriculum to develop knowledge, skills and attributes, where prior learning is revisited, reinforced and extended from year to year. Each core theme is organised into subtopics to ensure core knowledge is sectioned into units of manageable size. Teaching of PSHE and RSE includes sufficient and well-chosen opportunities and contexts for children to embed new knowledge so that it can be used confidently in real-life situations. We make connections between learning in PSHE and real-life experiences children have encountered or may be likely to. Links are often made between PSHE and other subjects, most notably Science, PE, Computing and RE.

PSHE lessons will be delivered by class teachers or visiting external experts e.g. doctor. Throughout every year group, appropriate diagrams, videos, books, games and practical activities will be used to assist learning. In the teaching of PSHE and RSE only correct medical terminology will be used. Teachers will ensure that children’s views are listened to and will encourage them to ask questions and engage in discussion. Teachers will answer questions sensitively, honestly and appropriate to the children’s age. Children will also get the opportunity to ask anonymous questions and share any concerns by writing a note or can use the class worry boxes or worry monsters.

Children in EYFS develop knowledge, skills and attributes that form a crucial foundation for later teacher of PSHE at KS1. Both curriculums complement each other, providing opportunities for progression throughout the school. The PSHE curriculum in EYFS is largely covered in the ‘Development Matters Framework’ prime area of Personal, Social and Emotional Development covering key concepts and skills around – Making relationships; Self-confidence and self-awareness; Managing feelings and behaviour. Specific areas are also covered, such as, Physical Development – Health and self-care and Understanding the World – People and communities, and supports the teaching of Relationships; Health and Wellbeing along with Living in the Wider World.

Long Term Overview

For an overview of what is being covered across the year in each year group, please refer to this document.

We teach PSHE using a variety of strategies. These include:

• Zones of Regulation
• Philosophy for Children (P4C)
• SMART thinking

Zones of Regulation

The Zones of Regulation is a framework, created by Leah Kuypers, designed to “foster regulation and emotional control.” The programme aims to teach children about self-regulation by categorising all the different ways we feel and states of alertness we experience into four concrete-coloured zones. It provides strategies to teach pupils to become more aware of and independent in controlling their emotions and impulses, manage their sensory needs, and improve their ability to problem solve conflicts.

What Are the Zones?

The zones are a self-regulation approach to behaviour that categories all the different ways we feel into different colours, which helps children to identify the way they are feeling.

Emotions in all of the zones are natural to experience, but by using the framework children will learn how to recognise and manage feelings from all zones, as well as further understand how those around them may be feeling.

It provides strategies to help children understand how they can control their emotions and improve their ability to problem solve conflicts. It enables children to move towards independent emotion regulation. This is a lifelong skill that they will not only be able to transfer to future educational settings but also use in their relationships and situations they encounter outside of school.

Philosophy for Children (P4C)

We use Philosophy for Children (P4C) approach to teaching and learning, to help children to develop into effective, critical and creative thinkers and to take responsibility for their own learning in a caring and collaborative way. We do this by providing practical ways of developing good thinking, questioning and communications skills. We use a variety of stimuli to aid discussion including use of stories, pictures, film clips, ‘would you rather’ questions to encourage discussions. It can often be used in conjunction with topics we are studying. We develop the children’s skills of:

• Asking questions
• Active listening
• Giving reasons
• Making connections

With experience, children’s questions get deeper and more thoughtful. The children’s discussions become more disciplined and focused yet, at the same time, more imaginative.

We find this approach helps to develop creative and critical thinking skills, encourages children to care more about what others say, to develop the ability to recognise differences and to explore their differences collaboratively.

SMART thinking

SMART thinking provides a focused and systematic way for children to develop their own feelings, thoughts and behaviours and encourages them to make links between them.

SMART thinking is taught using a wide variety of resources including ideas from books, film clips, pictures and cartoons showing scenarios. The process can also be developed purely through verbal scenarios and discussions.

The main focus of each session is to develop the principles behind successful interpersonal

social thinking skills:

STOP, THINK, CHOOSE, DO – these actions lie at the heart of this process.

Each step is broken down and presented to the children in a consistent way. The children are encouraged to feel safe enough to suggest a variety of options and ideas, both ‘good’ and

‘not so good’. Children understand that there are a lot of different options available that each of these may have either a positive and/or negative outcome for themselves and/or other people. Detailed discussions around the consequences of different options and the associated feelings involved will help children to learn how to evaluate the options available before they take any ‘direct’ action.

IMPACT

First and foremost, we want our children to be safe and happy so that they can achieve their personal best in all aspects of school life. Through our PSHE curriculum, we believe that we prepare our children for the next stage in their education as well as preparing them, during this vital stage of their life, for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of an adult world. Our curriculum provides them with a chance to reflect and learn about these crucial elements.

Children will be able:

To view themselves positively and be aware of their skills, attributes and achievements.

To have respect for themselves and others.

To develop positive and healthy relationships with their peers both now and in the future, including on-line relationships and understand their boundaries.

To understand how to keep healthy both physically and mentally and know how to keep themselves safe physically, mentally and technologically.

To confidently discuss problems and seek help to solve them.

To manage risk in their play, friendships, work and also on-line.

To demonstrate knowledge and understanding of diversity and equality.

To understand their responsibilities as well as their rights. Promoting fairness.

To respond positively to change.

To understand the physical aspects involved in RSE at an age-appropriate level.

To manage power positively. They will be able to identify forms of bullying and work proactively to deal with these issues.

To demonstrate and apply the British Values of Democracy; Tolerance; Mutual Respect; Rule of Law and Liberty.

To have a positive attitude towards their learning and work proactively to meet their goals – be aspirational

To demonstrate a healthy outlook towards school – attendance will be in line with national and behaviour will be good.