Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE)
Our Intent – What we want for our children
At Barley Fields, we aim to nurture happy, healthy, confident, and responsible children. Our PSHE curriculum helps children understand their rights (UNCRC), develop safe and positive relationships, and become informed citizens both online and in the wider world. We encourage a growth mindset, resilience, independence, and respect for diversity, preparing children for life beyond primary school and helping them to play a positive role in their community.
Our Implementation – How We Teach PSHE
Our PSHE curriculum is taught progressively from Early Years to Year 6, with lessons delivered weekly by class teachers. Learning is discussion-based, practical, and tailored to children’s needs, often linking to current events through Picture News.
The curriculum is built around three key strands:
- Health and Wellbeing – developing mental, physical, and emotional health
- Relationships – building positive friendships and understanding others
- Living in the Wider World – understanding rights, responsibilities, democracy, and global issues
Our curriculum is enriched through:
- Charity fundraising and community projects
- School council participation
- Visits from emergency services, first aid workshops, and Careers Week
- Assemblies linked to PSHE, British Values, Rights Respecting Schools, and SMSC
The curriculum character Serena the Citizen helps children understand the skills and knowledge they are developing and the key end points expected at each stage.
Our Impact – The difference it makes
Through our PSHE curriculum, children:
- Make safe and responsible decisions in everyday situations
- Understand and apply British Values: democracy, tolerance, mutual respect, rule of law, and liberty
- Know their rights as children and appreciate diversity
- Look after their mental health and well-being
- Build positive and healthy relationships
- Stay safe online and understand their digital footprint
- Become active, informed, and responsible members of the community
Progress is tracked through curriculum floor books, pupil voice, and monitoring by the PSHE team. By the end of each key stage, children are expected to know, apply, and understand the PSHE skills and knowledge outlined in the curriculum.
Relationship and Sex Education (RSE)
Our Intent: What we want for our children.
At Barley Fields Primary School, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) lies within our PSHE curriculum and is taught by class teachers as direct teaching and is supported by teaching objectives from the Science curriculum. We feel it is an important part of children’s education to help them to understand how they are developing emotionally and physically as well as have a good understanding of healthy relationships with others.
All teaching in the RSE curriculum is appropriate for our children based on their:
- Age
- Physical and emotional maturity
- Religious and cultural backgrounds
- Special educational needs and/or disabilities
Our Implementation: How we teach RSE
Our RSE Curriculum has been designed using the CWP scheme as a basis and follows a sequence of teaching blocks that progressively build upon one another and link to themes in the PSHE curriculum as children move through school. We have written our curriculum not only within the Government guidelines, but also considering the needs, maturity and experiences of our children.
Across the school the children follow a planned programme of key curriculum themes and RSE is an integral part of this:
- Families and people who care for me
- Caring friendships
- Respectful relationships
- Online relationships
- Being safe – Healthy Relationships
- Sex Education – puberty and knowledge of the human lifecycle
Children will explore these key themes in practical and engaging lessons and will be encouraged to question, share their understandings and talk about concerns and worries within a safe and supportive environment. Lessons will be led by class teachers and will be taught in discrete blocks when appropriate.
Our Impact: The difference it makes.
Pupil voice is used in forming our curriculum, and we are currently looking at enhancing the children’s awareness of diversity. Many aspects of RSE are intrinsically linked to PSHE and to the school ethos and aims with our Rights Respecting schools, growth mind-set and Global Goals agenda’s.
Our key priority is to ensure children have the knowledge, understanding and skills to help them make informed and safe judgements about themselves and their relationships with others.