PSHE (Personal, Social, Health Education - including Relationships and Health Education and our position on Sex Education) Whitchurch Community Primary School

Context and Vision

All schools must provide a curriculum that is broadly based, balanced and meets the needs of all pupils. Under section 78 of the Education Act 2002 and the Academies Act 2010, a PSHE curriculum: 

· Promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society, and

 · Prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.

At Whitchurch Community Primary School, Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE), Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) and all areas of Personal Development are central to the school’s ethos, supporting children in their development, and underpinning learning in the classroom, school, and in the wider community. Our aim is that our PSHE/RSHE curriculum equips children with the knowledge, understanding, skills and strategies required to live confident, healthy, safe, responsible and fulfilled lives. It encourages them to be independent, and supports them in making positive choices and effective transitions to be confident and responsible citizens. A critical component of PSHE and RSHE education is providing opportunities for children to reflect on and clarify their own values and attitudes, and explore the range of values and attitudes they encounter now and, in the future, which will help them to be good citizens. PSHE and RSHE are key components in all areas of our curriculum and therefore we aim to have them included in all aspects of school life such as assemblies, playtimes and wider community. We embrace the many additional opportunities to explore this area of the curriculum outside of the discrete lessons that link with other areas of learning and school life.

We teach Personal, Social, Health Education as a whole-school approach, from EYFS to Year 6, to underpin children’s development as people and because we believe that this also supports their learning capacity. We follow the Jigsaw Programme, which offers us a comprehensive, carefully thought-through Scheme of Work which brings consistency and progression to our children’s learning in this vital curriculum area.