Ticehurst and Flimwell Church of England Primary School

At the Bewl Federation, our intention through PSHE is to ensure all pupils holistically develop knowledge, skills to keep themselves happy and safe and to lead Christian lives as reflective and considerate members of a modern society. The curriculum encourages curiosity through inviting opinion, discussion and exploration within a culture of respectful questioning.  

We use “Let’s Talk”, a PSHE curriculum that creates the culture of outstanding learning behaviours that we seek our pupils to develop.                                      The lessons build children’s resilience and give them to tools to manage life’s challenges with curiosity and confidence.  

The concepts we plan to teach permeate through every aspect of school life and will establish a calm, safe and supportive environment where everyone can flourish.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                These elements align with the virtues and values of our Federation and support our prioritisation of PSHE as a key subject in our curriculum offer, whose skills and knowledge are vital in enabling pupils to succeed in all aspects of their education. 

“Let’s Talk” aligns with our Therapeutic Behavioural approach and dovetails seamlessly with our prioritisation of pro-social behaviours for learning, an inclusive school culture and communication skills for life.  

We recognise the sensitive nature of PSHE learning and respect the fact that every child will have their own unique and varied life experiences to date. To this end we establish a non-judgemental environment of safety, confidentiality and respect to offer all children the freedom and opportunity to share and develop their own thoughts, ideas and opinions about challenging topics.  

Our intent is for children to gain the confidence and skills to articulate and debate within a respectful forum, using appropriate language, within a context of “courageous presenting” as made explicit in the Let’s Talk scheme. Talking is prioritised as important. We intend to give children the space to breathe and make sense of the world around them. 

PSHE underpins all aspects of learning and is carefully woven into all learning opportunities (planned and unplanned) within the school curriculum. This includes Collective Worship, SRE and Careers provision and we intend that it is integral to the school culture, supported by our Christian virtues. 

The children’s knowledge and understanding of PSHE, compassion and respect for the differing views of others will be enhanced. They are developing into empathetic and reflective citizens who are prepared for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life in modern Britain. 

The Bewl Federation implements the “Let’s Talk” PSHE scheme, which is designed to build on pupils’ previous and current experiences as a basis to prepare them for their future. The Let’s Talk programme of study therefore provides a spiral curriculum to ensure progression of knowledge, skills and attributes where prior learning is revisited, reinforced and extended year on year throughout their primary school education.  

Our coherently sequenced spiral curriculum allows core concepts to be revisited and knowledge to be embedded as children move up through the school.  High quality resources support children to develop their own thoughts and beliefs and/or philosophical ways of seeing, living and thinking, believing and belonging.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Lessons are designed to promote meaningful and informed discussion within a respectful culture which enables and encourages challenging questions and views.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Children become emotionally literate with a deeper understanding of self within a wider world and culture.                                                                                         Their increasing knowledge and self-awareness gives them the confidence they need to form their own views and to make their own choices with accountability for the decisions they make.                                                                                                                                                                                                      Adults are supported to have a secure subject knowledge and in turn are confident in providing a safe space for children to ask difficult questions, challenge their thinking and the thinking of others, and to navigate and challenge stereotypes, prejudice and extremism. 

In developing understanding of self, children feel their 5 C needs (of comfortable, count, connected, control and curious) are met within our therapeutic approach and are thus accepted as belonging within school community, encouraging all to live well together. 

Assessment strategies include: 

• An end of unit quiz that can be used as a class, group or individual level as appropriate 

• Application of knowledge/skills evidenced in Journals 

• Use of subject specific vocabulary and language in discussion and pupil voice 

• Use of AFL techniques to focus on key discussion objectives 

Our curriculum is structured around six key areas of learning which are taught in terms across the school. They are: 

• Resilience – identify challenges such as failure, emotions, triggers and other people, giving tools to tackle them  

• Relationships- different types of families and collaboration skills. Bullying, stereotyping, online issues, and violence. 

• Well-Being-ideas to build happy, healthy lives. The importance of talking and expressing ourselves, thought gremlins, gratitude and self-care. 

• Health Education- treating our bodies kindly. Focus on sleep, healthy eating and exercise, with tips to stay safe in life and online. 

• Friendships- Developing skills for good friendships. Honesty, empathy and managing conflicts. 

• Wider world- Questions about tolerance, money, change, work and serving the community.  

• SRE lessons are taught discretely within Year groups – shining a spotlight on how our bodies change as we grow. Puberty, physical contact and how to keep safe. 

• In addition, we deliver the Careers Aspect of the Let’s Talk scheme which complements the learning and prepares children for the wider world with ambition for their future and increased cultural capital awareness. 

• Safeguarding is prioritised within the ethos of PHSE lessons, with disclosures being identified, addressed and managed within the procedures of the school with sensitivity and empathy.  

We are confident all children will leave the Federation flourishing as emotionally literate and respectful citizens, who live by the values and virtues we have supported them to embed. PSHE is a prioritised element of our curriculum offer, inclusive of opportunities for emotional and spiritual growth and reflection, which is woven into all that we do.  

All children leave our schools with the knowledge they need to be confident in their own sense of identity and belonging, together with an ability to be ever curious and questioning of the diverse world in which they live, with a mindset of respectful acceptance of difference. 

If our children are keeping up with the curriculum, they are deemed to be making good or better progress.                                                                                        We measure the impact of our curriculum through the assessment and reflection of what they know and remember regarding the progressively mapped knowledge goals, for each year group. 

We track knowledge, skills and vocabulary through formative and summative assessment as specified in our implementation section above.  

We analyse understanding and knowledge provided verbally in discussion and evidenced through application in collaborative floorbooks (EYFS/Yr1) and individual journals. End of unit quizzes are used as summative assessment to support teacher judgements. 

Strategic pupil voice is used to understand the impact of our curriculum with questions such as: 

• Tell me what you have learnt in PSHE this term? 

• How have you used PSHE skills at school/home?  

• What do you think about PSHE lessons? Are they important? Why?  

• Tell me about the journaling in the lesson. Does it help you? Why?  

• How do PSHE lessons help you to think about your physical health?  

• How do PSHE lessons help you to think about your mental health?  

• Tell me how PSHE lessons help you to treat everyone equally.  

• How could PSHE lessons be improved? 

Beyond the Bewl Federation 

 The impact of our PSHE curriculum is that our pupils are equipped with the knowledge that will enable them to be ready for the next stage of their curriculum and for life as an adult in the world outside the classroom.  

Pupils are able to use the vocabulary and language techniques that they have developed to benefit them across the wider curriculum.  

The transferable skills of oracy and social confidence will enable them to succeed in the world beyond education and to live with moral compass as Christian citizens in our communities.