PSHE

At Gordon Children’s Academy, we teach Personal, Social, Health Education (PSHE) as a whole-school approach to underpin children’s development as people and we believe that this also supports their learning capacity. At Gordon Children’s Academy, PSHE lessons are part of our Thinking Healthily Curriculum area. Thinking healthily teaches our children to be their best self through the knowledge, skills and understanding of how to keep themselves physically and mentally healthy.  

A Thinking Healthily approach to the curriculum is used to develop confident and articulate individuals whilst celebrating their uniqueness as expressed through their personality, intelligence and potential for development.  It recognises pupil’s lives as a whole, as a child, and aims to cater for their needs and potential as they evolve day by day. Children use their learning to make healthy choices; demonstrating the ability to know how their choices impact on themselves and the people around them.  

The Jigsaw Programme offers us a comprehensive, carefully thought-through Scheme of Work which brings consistency and progression to our children’s learning in this vital curriculum area.  

In PSHE lessons, our children have opportunities to develop as resilient, confident and independent learners. Teachers have designed lessons that ensure all children at Gordon Children’s Academy make leaps in their personal development, preparing them for life once they leave our school. 

Relationship, Sex and Health Education (RSE):

At Gordon Children’s Academy, good relationships are fundamental to our ethos and our success in being a happy, caring and safe school. Relationship, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) is lifelong learning about relationships, emotions, looking after ourselves, different families and sex. We aim for the children in our school to acquire the appropriate knowledge, develop their skills and form positive beliefs, values and attitudes. RSHE has a key part to play in the personal, social, moral and spiritual development of young people. 

An important part of the Jigsaw PSHE programme is delivered through the 'Relationships' and 'Changing Me' puzzle pieces, which are covered in the summer term.  

Implementation 

RSHE is taught as explicit lessons through the PSHE and science curriculums but is also embedded in other areas of the curriculum and day-to-day life of the school. In PSHE, RSHE is specifically covered in the units ‘Relationships’ and ‘Changing Me’ and in science ‘Animals Including Humans’ and ‘Living Things and Their Habitats’ also cover the statutory requirements; other elements are also covered in the Religious Education curriculum. Children are taught by familiar adults who they have a good rapport with, in order to facilitate constructive and supportive discussions around sensitive topics in a safe and secure environment. Staff have received in-house CPD to support them in responding to the needs of the individual child and support children with any questions or concerns they may have. If staff feel uncomfortable or unsure when delivering the RSHE curriculum or dealing with individual pupil needs, they know where to seek advice and support. The RSHE curriculum has been mapped out clearly in the progression grids for PSHE and science which ensure coverage of all of the statutory elements by the end of the primary phase; these are delivered at the appropriate stage for our children. Our high expectations of behaviour, interpersonal relationships, respect and tolerance of others reflect the British Values upheld in both our community and the wider world. Through our rigorous and progressive curriculum, children develop key skills and are prepared for the wider world beyond primary school, a world in which they can keep themselves safe and healthy and thrive with the support of the positive relationships they forge with those around them. 

Impact 

The impact of our curriculum offer will be that the standards of attainment across the school will meet or exceed those which are expected of our children nationally. We continuously assess the implementation and impact of our RSHE curriculum in order to achieve the highest outcomes possible across all year groups and ensure we provide the support that is necessary for all children to have a good understanding of the complexities of relationships and sexual matters and a secure knowledge and skills base to navigate their way through these, now and in the future. Through our RSHE curriculum, we believe we can enhance children’s education and help them to become confident individuals who have positive body awareness, an in-depth knowledge of how to keep themselves safe and healthy and who will, through respect, tolerance and understanding, forge and maintain positive relationships with a diverse range of family and friendship groups.