Horwich Parish CE Primary School

Policy for Personal, Social and Health Education and Citizenship.

Our school mission statement

Lighting the way.

At Horwich Parish School, we aim to

- Provide a safe, healthy and happy place for learning and fun.

- Help each person gain the skills they need to be confident members of the community.

- Encourage each person in their life’s journey to achieve the best they can.

Aims

In the light of this mission statement, it is the aim of Horwich Parish CE Primary School:-

•  to provide all pupils with their national curriculum entitlement
•  to know and understand what is meant by a healthy lifestyle;
•  to be aware of safety issues;
•  to understand what makes for good relationships with others;
•  to have respect for others;
•  to be thoughtful and responsible members of their community and their school;
•  to become active members of our democratic society;
•  to develop self-confidence and self-esteem;
•  to make informed choices regarding personal and social issues;
•  to develop good relationships with other members of the community.

Teaching and learning style

• We use a range of teaching and learning styles to meet the PSHE and citizenship requirements of the National Curriculum. We emphasise active learning by including the children in discussions, investigations and problem-solving activities.
• We encourage the children to take part in a range of tasks that promote active citizenship, e.g. charity fundraising, the planning of special school events (such as the School Christmas Fair), or involvement in helping other individuals or groups less fortunate than themselves e.g. Operation Christmas Child.
• We organise classes in such a way that pupils are able, through discussion, to set agreed classroom rules of behaviour, and resolve any conflicts.
• We offer children the opportunity to hear visiting speakers, such as health workers, police and local clergy, whom we invite into the school to talk about their role in creating a positive and supportive local community.

PSHE and citizenship curriculum planning

• We teach PSHE and citizenship in a variety of ways. PSHE is embedded in our long term planning and we use the SEAL resources to deliver the majority of the objectives in this subject area.  We introduce the remaining PSHE and citizenship objectives through teaching in other subjects. For example, when teaching about a healthy lifestyle, we organised a cross curricular Health week. We also make good use of our links with Namibia.
• Years 3 and 4 develop strong links with other schools in the Bolton area with training provided from the Schools Linking Network. This national charity supports young people, schools and local authorities to explore identity, diversity, equality and community, using four key questions: Who am I? Who are we? Where do we live? and How do we all live together?
• We also develop PSHE and citizenship through various activities and whole-school events, e.g. the school council meets regularly to discuss school matters. Themed weeks are planned during the school year to raise awareness of key issues for example Anti-bullying Week, Health Week incorporating Walk to School Week and Citizenship Week.
• We also offer residential visits in Year Six to Robinwood and sometimes Year Five/ Six to France, where there is a particular focus on developing pupils' self-esteem and giving them opportunities to develop leadership skills and positive group work.

Assessment

Our teachers assess the children's work in PSHE and citizenship by making informal judgements, as they observe them during lessons.  We have clear expectations of what the pupils will know, understand and be able to do at the end of each Key Stage.

Early Years Foundation Stage

We teach PSHE and citizenship in reception classes as an integral part of our topic work. As the reception class is part of the Foundation Stage of the National Curriculum, we relate the PSHE and citizenship aspects of the children's work to the objectives set out in the EYFS framework. Our teaching in PSHE and citizenship matches the aim of developing a child's personal, emotional and social development as set out in the EYFS framework.

PSHE and citizenship and ICT

ICT makes a contribution to the teaching of PSHE and citizenship in that children in ICT lessons learn to work together in a collaborative manner. They also develop a sense of global citizenship by using the Internet and e-mail. Through discussion of safety and other issues related to electronic communication, the children develop their own view about the use and misuse of ICT, and they also gain an insight into the interdependence of ICT users around the world.

PSHE, British values and SMSC

As a school, we believe PSHE and citizenship contribute particularly to the development of British values and generally to the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of our children.  We aim to build opportunities in our provision to include an understanding of local and wider democracy, the rule of law, respect and tolerance.  We are supported in this work through our large number of elected pupil groups, as well as via Horwich Rotary, who fund experiences for our children of democracy at the local level, in the wider borough and nationally.

Links across the curriculum

PSHE is an important aspect of our work using Reflection Journals (which relate to children’s work across the curriculum) and to Religious Education and collective worship.  We are developing “What If?” Learning, which aims to incorporate core Christian values into all aspects of the curriculum, and these values fit well with PSHE materials such as SEAL resources, used extensively in school.

Equal opportunities/Multicultural Education

All pupils have equal access to PSHE and citizenship and all staff follow the equal opportunities policy. Planned activities are never gender or culturally biased.  Part of our aims in PSHE and Citizenship is to develop understanding of the range of cultures in our society, and to support community cohesion.

PSHE and citizenship and inclusion

• We teach PSHE and citizenship to all children, regardless of their ability. Our teachers provide learning opportunities matched to the individual needs of children with learning difficulties. When teaching PSHE and citizenship, teachers take into account the targets set for the children in their IEPs, some of which targets may be directly related to PSHE and citizenship targets.
• For gifted and talented pupils, teachers will provide additional opportunities to take responsibility, develop leadership skills, think creatively and use their talents for the good of the class or the wider community.

Training

Should staff require any training for their CPD in PSHE and citizenship then the correct procedure of filling in a course application form should be followed and submitted to the Headteacher for approval.

Evaluation and Review

We see our policy as a working document and we plan to review this policy periodically.