At Horsforth Newlaithes, our intent is to deliver a high quality PSHE curriculum which is accessible to all and that will maximise the outcomes for every child. We aim to build on prior knowledge to ensure that we are offering a curriculum which is progressive and is building upon previous learning. Our curriculum enables children to become healthy, safe, independent and responsible members of a society and helps them to understand how they are developing personally and socially. It gives them confidence to tackle many of the moral, social and cultural issues that are part of growing up.
SEMH - MindMate
Alongside our extensive and rich PSHE curriculum, we ensure our children have a deep understanding around the importance of positive mental health through our MindMate lessons. The intent is for our children to understand their own feelings, understand emotions and mental health, understand the changes during transition times and learn coping strategies to help deal with mental health issues.
Through the explicit teaching of mental and emotional health, we promote pupils’ wellbeing through an understanding of their own and others’ emotions and the development of healthy coping strategies. It also contributes to safeguarding, providing pupils with knowledge, understanding and strategies to keep themselves healthy and safe, as well as equipping them to support others who are facing challenges.

Relationships and Sex Education
Our intent is to deliver a PSHE curriculum that incorporates the understanding of RSE so that children know more, remember more and understand more. As a result, children will know how to be safe and to understand and develop healthy relationships both now and in their future lives.

Implementation:

At Newlaithes, we follow a clear and comprehensive scheme of work called You, Me, PSHE scheme in line with the National Curriculum. All lessons are age appropriate with the aim that all children achieve their fullest potential. The resource includes lesson plans, whole school and year group curriculum overviews, assessment activities (pre &post) and teaching resources to be used in the lesson.

The scheme is divided in to units which cover the following themes. Each topic in the scheme incorporates activities to establish the starting point of learners and assess progress. We want children to be successful learners and citizens and use the following threshold concepts to measure their skill progression: Try new things, Work hard, Concentrate, Push oneself, Imagine, Improve, Understand others, Not give up. Our curriculum is underpinned by knowledge categories which are threaded through the curriculum and include friendships and relationships, managing feelings, staying healthy and the wider world.

Our PSHE Curriculum is enhanced with MindMate Champions lessons. These lessons are divided in to units and they have been linked to our current PSHE unit themes. The following themes are taught across Key Stage 1 and 2:
• Feeling good and being me
• Friends and family
• Life changes
• Strong Emotions
• Being the same and being different
• Solving Problems

In PSHE lessons, it is important to establish a safe and supportive environment. Ground rules are agreed by the staff and pupils before the lesson begins and are adhered to throughout the lessons. Discussions are managed sensitively and the teacher responds appropriately to spontaneous questions and comments raised by pupils. The teacher is aware of vulnerable pupils and enables them to safely participate.

Our PSHE curriculum is also enhanced by assemblies, planned weeks/days and by inviting in visitors/people from the community such as: the police, NSPCC , local church etc. PSHE is an important part of school assemblies where children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural curiosity is stimulated, challenged and nurtured. We also cover a whole range of lifeskills including: British Values and the importance of it, road safety, stranger danger, anti-bullying, bike safety, first aid and online safety.

There are always occasions where teachers may feel it necessary to teach PSHE as a result of an issue arisen in their own class.

Pupil participation is integral to our school’s vision and ethos. Pupils have a range of opportunities to influence decisions which affect them.

RSE
We follow a clear and comprehensive RSE scheme of work within PSHE in line with the new recommendations of teaching RSE in National Curriculum. The teaching and learning of RSE is planned explicitly within each year group. The RSE programme of work is explicitly resourced. Parents are informed of the content of the RSE programme of work during the class transition meetings and further support / clarification is given if required.

In Early Years, PSHE is embedded through the EYFS statutory framework areas of Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED) and Understanding the World. It is at the heart of everything that we do. PSED supports children to have a positive sense of themselves, respect for others, social skills, emotional well-being and a positive disposition to learning. These are all crucial for school readiness.
Staff are clear on our philosophy of education understand that PSED levels are of the utmost importance to provide the children with life skills. The children are encouraged to be independent risk takers who are not afraid to be wrong. Through planning sessions, learning reviews and small group projects, children are
encouraged to persevere, manage their own time and conduct their own research and learning, to collaborative and learn to negotiate, speak well and listen constructively. These skills are at the heart of reception daily and are promoted through projects, planning sessions, learning reviews and key worker time.

We aim for all children at Newlaithes to be kind, confident and happy and to reach the expected standard in PSHE at the end of each year. Our curriculum ensures that children develop an interest in and a love of looking after themselves and others which enables them to be effective learners throughout their journey at Newlaithes and fully prepared for the next stage of their PSHE education.

We have developed our curriculum based on the needs of our children and ensure we respond to local or worldwide events. We have identified the key skills and knowledge which we want children to learn and consequently make judgements against this criteria during and at the end of the year enabling us to measure the impact teaching and learning has. The majority of assessment which takes place is formative assessment allowing teachers to adapt their planning to match the needs of the children.

The PSHE subject leader monitors the impact of the PSHE curriculum through protected monitoring time during which they complete a range of activities: lesson observations; scrutiny of planning and work; speaking to staff and children and analysing assessment data (introduced summer 2022). This process is quality assured by the Senior Leadership Team and agreed actions are added to subject leader action plans.