St Patrick's Primary School, Liverpool

PSHE & RSE

Personal, social, health and economic (PSHE)  is at the heart of everything that we do at St Patrick’s. In our school we follow the 3D PSHE scheme of work and supplement this with any extra support our pupils need. We enable our pupils to become responsible members of society who are healthy and independent. We encourage our pupils to play a positive role in contributing to the life of the school and the wider community and look for opportunities for our pupils to practice this. We believe that providing an excellent PSHE curriculum we will develop self-esteem and confidence in our young citizens. For our RSHE scheme we follow ‘Journey in Love’ as recommended by The Archdiocese of Liverpool. Please see our RSHE policy

We teach our pupils using three core themes:

Health and Wellbeing, Relationships and Living In The Wider World (including financial education)

INTENT

We want our children to know how to be safe and healthy, to be aware of the risks around them and to know how to manage their academic, personal and social lives responsibly. In PSHE, we plan adaptable lessons which can be adjusted to meet the needs of all of our pupils across our school. We teach Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) using Journey in Love sensitively and inclusively, with respect to the backgrounds and beliefs of pupils and parents while always with the aim of providing pupils with the knowledge they need of the law.  Although we teach explicit PSHE and Relationships Education lessons, we also support our children’s personal development through ensuring that they have a wide range of experiences and visitors to support their journey. We make use of charities and their resources (such as the NSPCC) to further support our delivery of PSHE and Relationships to our children as well as taking part in initiatives such as anti-bullying week, mental health awareness days and well-being weeks. As well as the teaching of PSHE in the classroom environment, the support for our children’s personal development is on-going and displayed in daily school life (assemblies, outside agency visits, , awareness days,  and donations, holding charity events and through Debate lessons)  The aims of personal, social and health education are to enable the children to:

  • know and understand how to stay healthy, both physically and mentally.
  • know and understand how to keep themselves safe, physically and emotionally, in and beyond the school setting.
  • understand how to develop good relationships with others
  • have respect for themselves and others
  • be independent and responsible members of the school community
  • be positive and active members of a democratic society
  • develop self-confidence and self-esteem, and make informed choices regarding personal and social issues
  • develop good relationships with other members of the school and the wider community.
  • develop an understanding of how to manage a budget and plan for future economic wellbeing
  • understand the importance of rules both within school, as well as in the community and wider British society embedded in the law

Implementation 

We implement our PSHE curriculum using the 3D PSHE scheme and adapt it to ensure full coverage, especially with regards to current or local issues. All PSHE lessons are taught with a focus of the 3 key pillars of learning. These are: Physical and Mental Health, Living in the Wider World and Relationships. Key elements of PSHE will also be seen in all subjects which display SMSC values, as well as supporting the children’s SEMH (social, emotional and mental health). We teach all content in an age and developmentally appropriate way and regularly teach through the use of story books, classroom circle discussions, scenarios and drama. These diverse approaches of teaching and learning support our pupils in understanding events and situations which they may not have any personal experience of and will equip them with vital skills.  

Relationships and Sex Education  (RSE)

From September 2020, all primary schools in England are required to teach relationship education.

At St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School, all of our lessons are taken from Journey in Love the approved Catholic Scheme (which fulfils the government guidelines). These are core lessons that are taught age appropriately to our pupils. For sex education lessons, we focus on some of the changes the human body experiences, which is cross-curricular to the Science curriculum. This will prepare and support children as they develop through their education and be well equipped for further RSE lessons as they progress through their education. Our priority as a school, is to ensure that through the teaching of the RSE curriculum, our pupils know how to be safe and healthy, and how to manage their academic, personal and social lives in a positive way.

Parents have the right to withdraw their child from some or all of sex education delivered as part of statutory RSE. However, we would ask families to speak to the headteacher before making this decision. 

 Protected Characteristics – Equalities Act

It is important that all children gain an understanding of the world they are growing up in, and learn how to live alongside, and show respect for, a diverse range of people. These will not be taught in every year group. Children should be able to demonstrate an understanding that we respect those who have protected characteristics.

The Equality Act 2010, identifies the ‘protected characteristics’ as:

  • age

  • disability

  • gender reassignment

  • pregnancy and maternity

  • race

  • religion or belief

  • sex

  • sexual orientation

At St Patrick’s, we pride ourselves on having a well-considered approach to the teaching of the protected characteristics, in order to:

  • eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation

  • advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it

  • foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it

PSHE and Safeguarding Curriculum LTP 23-24

RSE Page

A great resource to help with hygiene and infection control 

https://e-bug.eu