At Lord Street Primary School, we teach Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE) as a whole-school approach to underpin children’s development as people and because we believe that this also supports their learning capacity. A strong PSHE curriculum and a focus on positive physical, emotional and mental health and well-being is a key element of learning at Lord Street, starting with our very youngest children in EYFS when meeting their Personal, Social and Emotional Development needs. PSHE is recognised as a key subject area and is a high priority across whole-school initiatives, and our curriculum design has our children’s health, well-being and personal development at its heart.

Our PSHE curriculum has been designed to meet the 2020 DfE statutory requirements for Relationship Education, Sex Education and Health Education, and is built around progressive units of work. This also supports the “Personal Development” and “Behaviour and Attitude” aspects required under the Ofsted Inspection Framework, as well as significantly contributing to the school’s Safeguarding and Equality Duties, the Government’s British Values agenda and the SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social, Cultural) development opportunities provided for our children.

We follow the scheme and guidance set out by the PSHE Association, as it offers us a comprehensive, carefully thought-through programme of study which brings consistency and progression to our children’s learning in this vital curriculum area. The overview of the programme can be seen via a link below and is based around the three key strands:

• Relationships
• Living in the wider world
• Health and wellbeing

Each strand is delivered across all year groups for a whole term. Additional themes, such as information around career aspirations and economic wellbeing, are also addressed through focus days or organised events outside the classroom.

E-safety is an integral part of our PSHE curriculum and is covered throughout the year to ensure that children are aware of how to stay safe online. This also links to the work around online safety covered in our Computing curriculum. The PSHE Association SEND Planning Framework is used by teachers in the planning cycle and is referred to when setting appropriate EHCP pastoral targets for children with SEND. The bespoke, spiral approach of our PSHE curriculum supports children of all abilities to build on prior learning and revisit key concepts, essential life skills, and positive attributes in a deeper and more complex way as they grow and develop during their time with us. Our aim is to enable the children of Lord Street Primary to feel prepared for life after primary school and to become healthy, active, engaged and risk-aware citizens of the future.