At Towngate Primary Academy, we are committed to the holistic development of our pupils, placing a strong focus on our pupils personal development and welfare.
Subject co-ordinator is Mrs Schofield.
At Towngate Primary Academy, our intent is to build a PSHE curriculum, which develops learning, and results in the acquisition of knowledge and skills, enabling children to access the wider curriculum, work collaboratively with others and make a positive contribution to the life of the school. Our curriculum will prepare children to be a global citizen in a diverse society and prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences for later life. We are aware that the delivered curriculum must reflect the needs of our pupils. We build on the statutory content already outlined in statutory guidance and follow the ‘3 Dimensional’ scheme of work to provide consistency throughout our academy, support staff with subject knowledge and reduce teacher workload. Teaching and learning in the classroom should show progression across all Key Stages within the PSHE core themes: health and wellbeing, relationships and living in the wider world. Each phase builds on the vocabulary, knowledge and skills taught in the previous to allow children to acquire further knowledge, know more and remember more.
Teachers use a PSHE programme to equip pupils with an age-appropriate, sound understanding of risk, with the knowledge and skills necessary to make safe and informed decisions and to recognise the importance of their own mental health and well-being. Our PSHE curriculum will incorporates an age appropriate understanding of RSE, as set out in the statutory guidance, enabling all children to be safe and to understand and develop healthy relationships both now and in their future lives.
We strive to provide our children with learning opportunities across and beyond the curriculum, in specific lessons, circle time, special school projects and other activities that enrich pupils’ experiences. There are always occasions where teachers may feel it necessary to teach PSHE as a result of an issue arisen in their own class. Our academy environment reinforces the PSHE curriculum through questioning, vocabulary and discussion topics on displays throughout school. We use Picture News, Values Based Learning, British Values and SMSC displays to provide these opportunities for children. Through life skills sessions, Kings Church interventions, links with the local communities, fundraising opportunities, visitors and national and international events we provide enrichment opportunities to contextualise learning. PSHE is an important part of school assemblies were children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural curiosity is stimulated, challenged and nurtured.
PSHE Teaching Sequence
Children understand the importance of PSHE, RSE, SMSC and British Values and the effects it can have on life in and out of school, this is evident through termly pupil voice and Holistic Learning and PSHE coverage folder monitoring by the curriculum leader.
By teaching pupils to stay safe and healthy, and by building self-esteem, resilience and empathy, an effective PSHE programme will tackle barriers to learning, raise aspirations, and improve the life chances of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged pupils. The skills and attributes developed through PSHE education are also shown to increase academic attainment and attendance rates, particularly among pupils eligible for free school meals, as well as improve employability and boost social mobility.
By the time they leave our academy, personal, social and health education (PSHE) enables our learners to become healthy, independent and responsible members of a society. It helps them understand how they are developing personally and socially, and tackles many of the moral, social and cultural issues that are part of growing up. Our curriculum allows pupils to learn about rights and responsibilities and appreciate what it means to be a member of a diverse society. Our children are encouraged to develop their sense of self-worth by playing a positive role in contributing to school life and the wider community.
We know that everyone experiences life challenges that make us vulnerable and at times, anyone may need additional emotional support. We take the view that positive mental health is everybody’s business and that we all have a role to play.
The Department for Education (DfE) recognises that: “In order to help their children succeed; schools have a role to play in supporting them to be resilient and mentally healthy”. We make our school a place for children and young people to experience a nurturing and supportive environment that has the potential to develop self-esteem and give positive experiences for overcoming adversity and building resilience.
We offer different levels of support:
Universal Support– This is delivered through our overall ethos and our wider curriculum using our Values Based Curriculum, Learning Powers, PSHE and Picture News to meet the needs of all our pupils.
Additional support– We offer bespoke workshops for groups of children who may have short term needs and those who may have been made vulnerable by life experiences.
Targeted support– Our pastoral team work closely with children and their families to offer a personalised approach to support wellbeing.
To find out more about mental health and well-being at Towngate, please do not hesitate to contact us.
– develop sleeping well
– support for devices and social media
– managing childhood worries
– building emotional resilience
– transition to high school
Our Relationships and Sex Education Leader is Mrs L Poole.
At Towngate Primary Academy, we deliver the RSE (relationships and sex education) curriculum by ensuring that our pupils’ needs and community is reflected in the curriculum we teach. We believe that the purpose of RSE education is to build, where appropriate, on the statutory content already outlined in the National Curriculum, our comprehensive PSHE curriculum and with the considerations of our parental community firmly in mind. Our Relationships and Sex Education curriculum is derived to build upon pupils’ prior knowledge and readiness for new knowledge, set at an age-appropriate level. Teachers plan and deliver the content of the RSE curriculum following the subject progression grid which is based upon the 3D scheme of learning, paying particular attention to the progression in vocabulary pupils are taught to use. Some aspects of the RSE curriculum including lifecycles are taught in science, and others are taught as part of personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE).
Each phase builds progressively to ensure pupils receive a well-rounded curriculum, ensuring pupils’ learning is pertinent and retained.
The RSE curriculum is woven into other subject areas in order to ensure the curriculum complements other subject matters including science, Values Based Learning and PSHE. The curriculum progresses through a series of units which we believe provide pupils’ with the essential knowledge and skills in order to make well informed decisions at every stage of their journey growing up. Class teachers expose pupils to the vocabulary to be taught in regular reviews to ensure this becomes retained and effectively applied in discussion. During lesson times, children partake in partner / collaborative learning where children learn to talk and discuss their ideas. Children are encouraged to ask questions to lead their own learning follow an enquiry based approach. Worry or question boxes are available to pupils every day in all phases across school and these are used to support pupils’ enquiry and curiosity.
When delivering the Sex Education aspect of the curriculum, children are reminded of the safe space we are working in and can ask questions in anonymity to ensure all pupils can learn in a safe and positive environment. The curriculum is further enhanced by conducting regular assemblies which follow key themes throughout the academic year, visits into school by professionals including School Nursing, the Police Force, Barnados and Drugs Awareness Charities to talk about keeping safe online, drugs and alcohol awareness, and charity workers/volunteers.
We measure the impact of our RSE curriculum through conducting pupil voice and observation of pupil relationships. We collate information through pupil surveys to measure the effectiveness of the curriculum in place: this is collected at a range of ages, often by our RSE leader or pastoral staff in school.
We hold consultation with parents and teachers to ensure that our curriculum is purposeful and a good fit for our children and the community in which we serve.
Through the provision in place, our children are aware of how to keep themselves safe, what healthy relationships look like and how to establish and maintain good relationships. It is this curriculum and positive relationships with adults in school that allow pupils 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.
This supports our children as the transition through the academy, maintaining the accumulation of knowledge and experiences to take with them onwards to secondary school and into later life.
Policy Development and Consultation
In order to implement the Relationships and Sex Education curriculum in the academy, a consultation process was conducted, involving volunteers from our parental community; these individuals worked alongside the RSE Leader in school to review documentation – including curriculum coverage and policy – for implementation.
Please see below the RSE subject policy and progression grid which details the coverage of the Relationships and Sex Education curriculum here at Towngate Primary Academy.
Parental Rights to Withdraw
Parents have do not have the right to withdraw their children from the ‘relationships’ education curriculum, however parents do have the right to withdraw their children from sex education, with the exception of any statutory science curriculum content. Those parents/carers wishing to exercise the right to withdraw their child from part or all of the sex education aspect of the curriculum are invited in to see the teacher and/or RSE Co-ordinator who will explore any concerns and discuss any impact that withdrawal may have on the child.
Once a child has been withdrawn they cannot take part in the sex education aspect of the programme until the request for withdrawal has been removed. It is then the responsibility of the parents/carers to deliver the content of the RSE to their child as they see fit.
