Personal Social and Health Education

PSHE is taught throughout the curriculum with links from debate in English, to school assemblies, to behaviour at playtime. We promote confidence, health and independence to educate our pupils to become informed, active, responsible citizens.

During key stage 1 pupils learn about themselves as developing individuals and as members of their communities, building on their own experiences and on the early learning goals for personal, social and emotional development. They learn the basic rules and skills for keeping themselves healthy and safe and for behaving well. They have opportunities to show they can take some responsibility for themselves and their environment. They begin to learn about their own and other people's feelings and become aware of the views, needs and rights of other children and older people. As members of a class and school community, they learn social skills such as how to share, take turns, play, help others, resolve simple arguments and resist bullying. They begin to take an active part in the life of their school and its neighbourhood.

During key stage 2 pupils learn about themselves as growing and changing individuals with their own experiences and ideas, and as members of their communities. They become more mature, independent and self-confident. They learn about the wider world and the interdependence of communities within it. They develop their sense of social justice and moral responsibility and begin to understand that their own choices and behaviour can affect local, national or global issues and political and social institutions. They learn how to take part more fully in school and community activities. As they begin to develop into young adults, they face the changes of puberty and transfer to secondary school with support and encouragement from their school. They learn how to make more confident and informed choices about their health and environment; to take more responsibility, individually and as a group, for their own learning; and to resist bullying.

During key stage 3 pupils learn about themselves as growing and changing individuals and as members of their communities with more maturity, independence and power. They become more self-aware, and are capable of more sophisticated moral reasoning. They take more responsibility for themselves and become more aware of the views, needs and rights of people of all ages. They build on the experience, confidence and competence they developed in key stage 2, learning new skills to help them make decisions and play an active part in their personal and social life. They learn how to plan and manage choices for their courses and career. They continue to develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle, coping well with their changing bodies and feelings. They also learn to cope with changing relationships and understand how these can affect their health and well-being. They make the most of new opportunities to take part in the life of the school and its communities.

During key stage 4 pupils use the knowledge, skills and understanding that they have gained in earlier key stages and their own experience to take new and more adult roles in school and the wider community. They develop the self-awareness and confidence needed for adult life, further learning and work. They have opportunities to show that they can take responsibility for their own learning and career choices by setting personal targets and planning to meet them. They develop their ability to weigh up alternative courses of action for health and well-being. They gain greater knowledge and understanding of spiritual, moral, social and cultural issues through increased moral reasoning, clarifying their opinions and attitudes in discussions with their peers and informed adults and considering the consequences of their decisions. They learn to understand and value relationships with a wide range of people and gain the knowledge and skills to seek advice about these and other personal issues. They learn to respect the views, needs and rights of people of all ages.

We offer children a stable and continuous framework to develop within our school. Children interact within their own class, within the infant and junior school communities and of course within the whole school. From our very first day of opening we have fostered friendships from Nursery upward and are lucky to be able to support and develop these links with a secure and friendly environment. We highly value the input of individuals and each child's family within our school family.