PSHE

Welcome to pshe at Chesswood

We are proud of the PSHE curriculum that we are delivering to the children at Chesswood Junior School, providing them with the vital skills and knowledge needed to equip them through their primary years. The team is led by Jessica Hayman, Gaby Robinson-Wright and Jack Davis. We are supported by an experienced and valuable pastoral team.

The curriculum is delivered through a variety of avenues, including assemblies, in-class teaching, school excursions, visiting speakers and celebrations of events.

Scroll down to see some of the inspiring opportunities our children are experiencing.

pshe Vision

As a result of the real, relevant and engaging curriculum children will be genuinely enthusiastic about PSHE in all its forms. They will appreciate the importance of developing the knowledge, skills and attributes needed to keep themselves healthy and safe, whilst preparing them for life in modern Britain. Evidence shows that a well delivered PSHE program has an impact on both academic and non-academic progress for pupils, particularly the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. This curriculum will be underpinned with activities and questions carefully linked to Bloom’s Taxonomy, in order to provide challenge for all children.

Learning is focused on five core strands: safety, relationships, health and well being, the wider world and the BRIGHT SPARKS community code. Children will be inspired by carefully planned lessons, motivational and informative assemblies, ACRO job profiles which give children an insight into real life opportunities, inspiring them to aim beyond their school journey; all of which will allow their confidence to flourish so that they are happy, resilient and aware of the world around them.

pshe principles

In line with the whole school curriculum policy, the following drivers and principles underpin everything we do in PSHE.

Curriculum Drivers

Life Opportunities Creativity, Confidence, Competence

Curriculum Principles

Balanced

Coherent

Real & Relevant

Knowledge Rich

Cognitively Challenging

Inclusive

pshe strategy

Life Opportunities

Life skills are vital to PSHE at Chesswood. The focus is on safety, relationships, health and well-being and the wider world. Opportunities to link all units of work to careers are taken – e.g. The ACRO job profiles which link to roles in the wider community - we look at the ACRO (attitude, creativity, relationships, organisation) skills needed for different careers, inspiring the children to think beyond their school life. Real life opportunities are sought, linking to the local and wider world, such as looking at our legal system - e.g. In Year 6, we have visitors from the local Magistrates' Court who give a special assembly/workshop; we then apply this knowledge to re-enact our own Magistrates' Court, looking at a fictional case.

At Chesswood, we encourage visits from professionals and experts from all kinds of fields. For example, Kelly Simm, a national gymnast, inspired our whole school community with a fitness workshop and challenges for the children to complete at home. In Year 3, geological engineer Graham Carter, showed the children the relevance of their soil unit in real life terms, particularly looking at building foundations in engineering. Children whose parents have a speciality have also interviewed their mums and dads, with a focus on ACRO skills, which we celebrate in school with our ACRO job profile posters.

Creativity Confidence Competence

The PSHE curriculum seeks to build creativity, confidence and competence through a variety of experiences. In doing so, the skills and knowledge embedded though their time at Chesswood encourage confidence within the children in familiar and new experiences.

They will be able to apply their knowledge in discussions; have the confidence to express their point of view, while being open to taking on board others' opinions. The children are given the opportunity to apply for jobs in and around the school to encourage personal responsibility for example Digital Leader, Junior Governors and Junior Librarians.

Balanced

As a school, we collectively contribute to children's moral, social, cultural and emotional development through the curriculum; through the use of appropriate teaching and learning strategies e.g. discussion, reflection, pupil participation; and through upholding the school ethos with our own conduct.

British values, including the diversity of cultural traditions is recognised and celebrated in many different ways, including a celebration of the different languages spoken in school, and a flag-bearing ceremony as part of our Christmas Carol concert each year.

In PSHE, there are four core strands, which are: safety (e.g. fire, Internet, water, stranger danger), relationships (e.g. family, puberty, stereotypes, bullying), health and well-being (e.g. balanced diet, exercise, mental health) and the wider world (e.g. current affairs, democracy, climate change). A further focus is the application of knowledge from other linked subjects, particularly PE, science and geography (eco knowledge and sustainability) to address a range of briefs.

Coherent

The PSHE leaders ensure that learning is sequenced from Year 3 to Year 6, building upon prior knowledge and embedding what children have learned throughout Chesswood. PSHE makes explicit connections and links within and between the different subjects and year groups. For example, Internet safety is first introduced in the lower school, and revisited and developed as children progress through the school. By the time children are in Year 6, they are looking at the risks and dangers associated with social media, relevant to their age group.

A Chesswood pupil secure in PSHE knowledge will be a confident, resilient, empathetic and tolerant citizen.

Real and Relevant

PSHE is rooted in real and relevant experiences for children; it seeks to use real-life examples in every lesson so that children can apply what they have learned to their everyday life. The core focus on key life skills, such as safety, relationships and health and well-being, and links to the local community, is central to the planning of the subject. Lessons, excursions, school visits and assemblies are designed based on real and relevant briefs, taking inspiration from the real world, both historically and currently.

Vocational ambitions are promoted in the use of ACRO profiles around school and within lessons, with a particular focus on local community members whose jobs can inspire children at Chesswood to see their learning manifest in actual careers.

Knowledge Rich

The PSHE curriculum seeks to cover relevant skills and learning effectively, ensuring that children have a good understanding of core knowledge, which is taught to be remembered, relevant and applicable, not merely encountered. As such, children are equipped with the right skills to keep themselves and those around them safe, healthy and balanced. For individual units where appropriate, specific knowledge is covered and sequenced over the years; for example: personal hygiene, puberty and relationships, where we build on embedded learning from earlier teaching.

The PSHE curriculum is designed with all learners in mind, especially those who are disadvantaged, to help develop their cultural capital, so that they are able to negotiate their way through a world that is ever-changing.

Cognitively Challenging

The PSHE curriculum is designed to encourage discussion and critical thinking. Units have been selected specifically to challenge, explore and promote children's ideas. As they get older, children's thinking is challenged further to enable them to understand bigger issues and to be able to discuss and debate contemporary issues and events. Learners are encouraged to think outside of the box and beyond their immediate locality and experiences. Through this, we equip children with the relevant cultural capital and procedural knowledge that they need in order to be successful in the wider world.

Inclusive

PSHE is crucial for individual pupils and important for society as a whole. It is the heart of what education is all about – helping pupils to grow and develop as people and become effective participants in modern Britain. PSHE permeates all areas of school life and its principles are promoted at all times. It is covered across all year groups, whether in class or assemblies. Pupils learn to know what is right and wrong along with how their actions affect other people. They are taught to empathise and to value themselves and others.

At Chesswood, we provide a wide range of opportunities to celebrate pupils' work. Every week, class teachers celebrate home learning through selecting the ten top children who have spent the most amount of time on IXL, Times Table Rockstars and Accelerated Reader. In turn, every month, awards are chosen for Courtesy Care and Kindness, Be The Best You Can Be and Going the Extra Mile. Crucially, we make every effort not to just celebrate outstanding achievement, but also reward those who consistently exemplify the values, learning and behaviour expected of Chesswood pupils.

The PSHE curriculum is constructed in a way that is ambitious and designed to give all learners, particularly the most disadvantaged and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life. Units have been designed to support the development of key skills which can be used by all pupils every day, such as personal, social and emotional welfare, stranger danger and healthy relationships.

We have built assemblies and workshops into our curriculum to celebrate and raise awareness of difference ensuring an inclusive school community. Enterprise within the local community (for example, Goblin Cars in Year 6) is designed to inspire all children to aspire to future career and entrepreneurial opportunities. The knowledge and skills foci seek to overcome barriers of the varied life experiences of children at Chesswood.