PSHE Curriculum

Intent and Implementation Statements for Personal, Social, Emotional and Health Curriculum

INTENT STATEMENT:

PSHE enables our children to become healthy, independent and responsible members of society. It aims to help them understand how they are developing personally and socially, and tackles many of the moral, social and cultural issues that are part of growing up. We provide our children with opportunities for them to learn about rights and responsibilities and appreciate what it means to be a member of a diverse society. Our children are encouraged to develop their sense of self-worth by playing a positive role in contributing to school life and the wider community

IMPLEMENTATION STATEMENT: 

At St Joseph and St Teresa’s we deliver the PSHE curriculum by utilising first-hand experience and sharing good practice and it is every staff member responsibility to do this by being a role model and having high expectations of St Joseph and St Teresa’s pupils.

The delivered curriculum (scheme of work) reflects the needs of our pupils and is tailored to meet specific needs. We expect teachers to use the PSHE programme to equip pupils with a sound understanding of risk and with the knowledge and skills necessary to make safe and informed decisions.

Through the programme of study, the children should have a good balance of these overarching concepts: 

• Education and Virtue
• Religious understanding of the human person: loving myself / others
• Me, my body and my health
• Emotional well-being and attitudes
• Life cycles and fertility
• Personal relationships
• Keeping safe and people who can help me
• Religious understanding of the importance of human communities
• Living in the wider world

At St Joseph and St Teresa’s we believe that PSHE plays a vital part of primary education and needs to be taught at least weekly; although there will also be opportunity to make cross curricular links and these opportunities should not be missed. This enables staff to ensure full coverage of the PSHE scheme of work. There are always occasions where staff may feel it necessary to teach PSHE as a result of an issue which has arisen in their own class.

PSHE is integral to the development of children’s values in order for them to become a positive citizen in a forever changing community.

PSHE is an important part of school assemblies and collective worship where children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural curiosity is stimulated, challenged and nurtured.

IMPACT STATEMENT: 

To develop the following attitudes and virtues:

reverence for the gift of human sexuality and fertility;

respect for the dignity of every human being – in their own person and in the person of others;

joy in the goodness of the created world and their own bodily natures;

responsibility for their own actions and a recognition of the impact of these on others;

recognising and valuing their own sexual identity and that of others;

celebrating the gift of life-long, self-giving love;

recognising the importance of marriage and family life;

fidelity in relationships.

To develop the following personal and social skills:

making sound judgements and good choices which have integrity, and which are respectful of the

individual’s commitments;

loving and being loved, and the ability to form friendships and loving, stable relationships free from exploitation, abuse and bullying;

managing emotions within relationships, and when relationships break down, with confidence, sensitivity and dignity;

managing conflict positively, recognising the value of difference;

cultivating humility, mercy and compassion, learning to forgive and be forgiven;

developing self-esteem and confidence, demonstrating self-respect and empathy for others;

building resilience and the ability to resist unwanted pressures, recognising the influence and impact of the media, internet and peer groups and so developing the ability to assess pressures and respond appropriately;

being patient, delaying gratification and learning to recognise the appropriate stages in the development of relationships, and how to love chastely;

assessing risks and managing behaviours in order to minimise the risk to health and personal integrity.

To know and understand:

the Church’s teaching on relationships and the nature and meaning of sexual love;

the Church’s teaching on marriage and the importance of marriage and family life;

the centrality and importance of virtue in guiding human living and loving;

the physical and psychological changes that accompany puberty;

the facts about human reproduction, how love is expressed sexually and how sexual love plays an essential and sacred role in procreation;

how to manage fertility in a way which is compatible with their stage of life, their own values and commitments, including an understanding of the difference between natural family planning and artificial contraception;

how to keep themselves safe from sexually transmitted infections and how to avoid unintended pregnancy, including where to go for advice.