PSHE

At Brierley, Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education is an important part of helping every child grow into a happy, healthy, confident and caring young person. Through PSHE, children learn about themselves, their relationships with others, their physical and emotional wellbeing, staying safe, making responsible choices and playing a positive part in their community. We want children to develop the knowledge and confidence they need for everyday life. This includes understanding their emotions, building healthy relationships, recognising risk, knowing when and how to ask for help and becoming increasingly independent. Our values of Nurture, Aspire, Believe and Achieve are at the heart of this learning. We want every child to feel valued, understand that they matter and develop the confidence to make positive choices for themselves and others.

Strong Foundations from the Beginning

Personal and social development begins as soon as children join Brierley. In the Early Years, children develop these foundations through carefully planned learning alongside the everyday relationships, routines and experiences of Nursery and Reception. Learning develops through three important areas: Self-regulation, Building relationships and Managing self. Children explore their feelings, learn strategies that help them feel calm, develop listening skills and learn how to respond to instructions. They consider what makes relationships special, learn to share and take turns and develop an understanding of what makes a good friend. They also learn about perseverance, wellbeing, healthy choices and keeping themselves safe. Adults model kindness, respect and positive relationships and help children manage small difficulties and disagreements. Stories, play, discussion and real-life experiences help children make sense of their emotions, relationships and the world around them. These early experiences provide strong foundations for the increasingly detailed PSHE learning children encounter as they move through school.

How We Teach PSHE

Our PSHE curriculum is carefully planned so that children's knowledge and understanding develop as they grow. From Year 1 onwards, children repeatedly encounter important areas of learning including:

• My healthy self

• Connecting with others

• The online world

• Citizenship

• Health protection

• Staying safe

• Growing up

• economic wellbeing, money and careers

Sex education in Year 6

Not every area appears in exactly the same way every year. Instead, learning is sequenced so that pupils meet important knowledge when it is most appropriate and then build upon it as they become older. Lessons include discussion, stories, scenarios, questioning, reflection and opportunities to consider what children might say or do in real-life situations. Teachers create safe and respectful classrooms where sensitive issues can be discussed appropriately. Children are encouraged to ask questions and adults use clear, age appropriate language.

Our RSE policy also makes clear that teaching should be sensitive to children's age, development, needs and experiences.

PSHE does not exist only within a weekly lesson. Important messages are reinforced through assemblies, Computing, Science, PE, RE, visitors, wider school experiences and the relationships children experience every day at Brierley.

My Healthy Self

Children learn that their physical and emotional health are closely connected. In Year 1, pupils begin by recognising and naming emotions and learning simple ways to manage how they feel. As they progress, they explore healthy routines and choices including movement, sleep, food, drink and dental health. They also learn about emotional wellbeing, self-regulation, resilience and where to seek support.

By Key Stage 2, children consider the connection between mind and body, the impact of bullying on wellbeing, healthy habits and increasingly independent choices. In Year 5, pupils explore how nutrition, physical activity and strategies for managing emotions can support them as they grow. By Year 6, they consider how choices made now can affect longer-term health and wellbeing, including dental care, food, lifestyle choices and resilience. We want children to understand not simply which choices are healthy, but why they matter.

Connecting with Others

Positive relationships are at the heart of life at Brierley. Children progressively learn how to build and maintain safe, kind and respectful relationships. In Year 1, pupils think about how friends, families and classmates can support one another and learn simple ways of managing disagreements. In Year 2, this develops into learning about different families and communities, kindness, bullying, personal space, privacy and boundaries. Children also identify trusted adults they can turn to if they feel worried or unsafe.

As pupils move through Key Stage 2, they develop greater understanding of self-worth, belonging, friendship difficulties, bullying, trust and stereotypes. Older children consider identity, values, commitment and healthy relationships, before Year 6 explores standing up for themselves and others, setting boundaries and challenging bullying, discrimination and stereotypes. We want children to know what healthy relationships look and feel like and to understand that respect should always work both ways.

The Online World

Children's lives increasingly include the online world, so learning how to navigate it safely and thoughtfully is an important part of PSHE. In Year 1, children compare online and offline activities and learn about safe and respectful online behaviour.

In Year 2, they consider personal information, privacy and the fact that not everything online is necessarily real. As children become older, they learn about respectful online communication, online bullying and how misunderstandings can happen.

Year 4 pupils begin to evaluate online information, check sources and recognise misleading content. In Year 5, pupils explore advertising, influencers, scams, pressure and persuasion, while Year 6 considers how online experiences can affect thoughts, feelings and behaviour. This learning works alongside our Computing curriculum so that children learn both how technology works and how to use it safely, respectfully and critically.

Citizenship, Equality and Belonging

We want children to understand that they are valued members of Brierley and that they can make a positive contribution to the communities around them. Citizenship begins with familiar ideas such as caring for others, looking after the environment and understanding why communities have rules. Children then explore belonging, jobs and where money comes from before developing their understanding of rights, responsibilities and how communities are organised.

In Year 3, pupils learn about children's rights and human rights and consider how responsible choices can help people and the environment. By Year 5, children explore how people can influence change through communities, pressure groups, local councillors and MPs. In Year 6, this develops into learning about rights, laws, fairness, prejudice, discrimination and challenging stereotypes.

Alongside this planned learning, we help children develop an age appropriate understanding of fundamental British values and protected characteristics. We want pupils not simply to know about respect, equality and responsibility, but to demonstrate these values through the way they treat other people.

Money, Careers and the Wider World

PSHE also helps children begin to prepare for adult life. In Year 2, pupils explore communities, different jobs and where money comes from. As they progress, children develop greater understanding of careers, skills and aspirations. They learn that there are many different routes through working life and consider how stereotypes can sometimes influence people's choices.

Children also develop their financial understanding. In Year 4, pupils learn about different ways to pay for things, budgeting, value for money and responsible financial choices. We want children to develop aspirations for their future while also beginning to understand the practical knowledge and decision-making that growing independence will require.

Health Protection and First Aid

Children progressively learn how everyday choices can help protect their health and the health of others. In Year 1, pupils learn about illness, injury, germs, healthcare workers and when and how to seek medical help. This learning develops further in Key Stage 2.

In Year 3, children explore healthy habits, medicines, hygiene and sun safety. They also practise basic first aid and learn when it is appropriate to call 999. We want pupils to know that in an emergency they do not need to know everything themselves. An important part of staying safe is recognising when help is needed and knowing how to get it.

Staying Safe

Helping children develop the knowledge they need to keep themselves safe is a particularly important part of PSHE at Brierley. In Key Stage 1, children begin by recognising everyday hazards, understanding that rules help keep people safe and knowing how to seek help from a trusted adult. They learn about personal boundaries and begin to recognise when words, actions or touch may not be appropriate. As children become older, they develop increasingly sophisticated personal safety knowledge.

In Year 4, pupils learn to recognise warning signs, respond to uncomfortable situations, cross roads safely, understand dangers around water and distinguish medicines from harmful substances. By Year 6, learning includes safety at home, outdoors, on public transport and around water, alongside peer pressure, consent, boundaries and drug misuse.

At Brierley, we also adapt safety education to our local context. Crewe is a railway town, so railway safety is particularly important to us. Children also learn about road and pedestrian safety, walking to and from home safely, water safety, fire and firework safety and how to stay safe as their independence grows.

Rather than relying only on the traditional idea of "stranger danger", we help children recognise unsafe situations and behaviours, understand boundaries and know that they should tell a trusted adult whenever something worries them.

Growing Up and the Changing Body

Learning about growing and changing develops gradually and sensitively. In Year 2, pupils begin by understanding that bodies change as people grow. They learn about privacy, personal boundaries and the correct scientific names for private body parts. In Year 4, children learn about the physical and emotional changes associated with puberty and understand that these changes are normal and happen at different times for different people. Year 5 develops this further through learning about puberty, feelings, behaviour, relationships, hygiene, periods, respect and personal boundaries. Children also identify trusted sources of support. Teaching is factual, age appropriate and sensitive. We want children to understand what is happening to their bodies and emotions so that growing up does not feel confusing or frightening.

Relationships and Sex Education

Relationships Education forms part of our wider PSHE curriculum. Learning about relationships begins long before children encounter any sex education. Throughout school, pupils learn about families, friendships, kindness, respect, privacy, personal space, boundaries, consent, growing and changing and how to ask for help.

Our RSE policy makes clear that Relationships Education and Health Education form part of the statutory curriculum and are taught in an age appropriate and inclusive way. In Year 6, children complete the unit Sex education: How do people become parents and carers? This develops children's understanding of the correct terminology for body parts, conception, pregnancy and birth. Pupils also learn about different types of families and the responsibilities involved in becoming a parent or carer.

Our school policy explains which parts of this learning go beyond the statutory primary Science curriculum and the arrangements for parental withdrawal from those specific sex education lessons.

We value our partnership with parents and carers and encourage families to speak to us if they have questions about any aspect of this learning.

View our Relationships, Sex Education and Health Education Policy in the files below.

PSHE Through Assemblies and School Life

PSHE is woven through our whole-school assemblies as well as being explicitly taught through planned lessons. Assemblies give us regular opportunities to talk together about our values, relationships, kindness, behaviour, wellbeing, safety, equality, respect and belonging.

They allow us to revisit important messages, respond appropriately to events in school or the wider world and explore what Nurture, Aspire, Believe and Achieve look like in children's everyday choices and actions.

British values, diversity, equality, online safety and other aspects of personal development are also reinforced through assemblies and wider school life.

Assemblies do not replace PSHE lessons. Instead, they help children see that the things they learn in PSHE matter throughout the school day and beyond the school gates.

Revisiting and Remembering

We know that important PSHE knowledge needs to be revisited if children are to remember it and use it confidently. PSHE lessons regularly begin with a short Flashback activity, giving pupils opportunities to retrieve previous learning, revisit key vocabulary and make connections with what they are learning now.

Important ideas are revisited as pupils grow, but the level of discussion and the situations children consider become increasingly sophisticated. For example, early learning about friendship develops into work on healthy relationships, boundaries and standing up for others. Learning about online safety develops from basic safe behaviour into evaluating information, responding to persuasion and understanding the effect online experiences can have on wellbeing.

Our teaching follows the principle of I do, We do, You do. Teachers model new ideas and appropriate responses clearly, children then discuss and practise with support before increasingly applying their knowledge and decision-making independently. Questioning, discussion, scenarios, retrieval and reflection help teachers understand what children remember and where further teaching is needed.

A Sequenced Curriculum

Our PSHE curriculum is carefully planned from the Early Years through to Year 6 so that learning builds with children's age, maturity and growing independence.

In Early Years, Self-regulation, Building relationships and Managing self establish important foundations in emotional understanding, friendships, perseverance, listening and wellbeing. In Key Stage 1, children develop early knowledge about emotions, healthy bodies, relationships, online safety, communities, staying safe and growing up.

In Lower Key Stage 2, learning becomes more detailed. Pupils explore mind and body health, rights and responsibilities, communication online, first aid, financial choices, puberty and personal safety. In Upper Key Stage 2, children consider increasingly complex areas including healthy relationships, online influence, active citizenship, puberty, long-term health, discrimination, peer pressure, consent and preparation for greater independence. By Year 6, pupils are increasingly expected to apply what they know to situations that they may encounter as they prepare for secondary school and the next stage of their lives.

Supporting Every Child

PSHE is for every child. We recognise that children have different experiences, family circumstances and individual needs, particularly when discussing sensitive or personal subjects. Teachers therefore consider carefully how learning is introduced and what support individual pupils may require. This may include additional explanation, carefully chosen language, visual resources, pre-teaching, smaller group discussion, additional processing time or individual follow-up.

Our RSE policy specifically recognises the importance of teaching that is age appropriate, developmentally appropriate and sensitive to the experiences and needs of pupils, including children with SEND.

We do not make assumptions about children's lives or families. Our aim is for every child to develop the knowledge and confidence they need to be healthy, safe, respected and able to participate fully in school and wider life.

Assessment and Feedback

Assessment in PSHE is about understanding what children know, not judging their personal experiences, family circumstances or beliefs. Teachers use questioning, discussion, Flashbacks, scenarios, reflection and pupil voice to understand what children have learned. We consider whether children can explain important ideas, recognise appropriate and inappropriate situations, make informed choices and identify where they could seek help.

Our RSE policy describes assessment as formative and includes observation, discussion, pupil voice and reflection activities.

This helps teachers identify misconceptions or gaps and decide what needs to be revisited.

PSHE Beyond the Classroom

Some of children's most memorable personal development learning happens through real experiences. Visitors and community partners help us connect classroom learning with children's lives. We welcome visitors and organisations who can strengthen children's understanding of areas such as road safety, community safety, health and wellbeing.

Our local context is particularly important. Being part of a railway town means that rail safety has genuine relevance for our pupils, while road safety, water safety and increasing independence are reinforced through both planned teaching and wider school experiences. PSHE learning also connects naturally with Science, Computing, PE, RE and other areas of our curriculum.

Trips, visitors, sport, clubs, leadership roles, House activities and wider school opportunities allow children to practise teamwork, resilience, responsibility, communication and respect in real situations.

How You Can Help Your Child at Home

Parents and carers play an important role in children's personal and social development. Everyday conversations can help children feel comfortable talking about emotions, relationships, health and safety.

You can help your child by:

• asking how they are feeling and giving them time to talk

• helping them recognise and name different emotions

• talking about what makes a healthy and supportive friendship

• discussing kindness, respect and how disagreements can be resolved

• making sure they know which trusted adults they can speak to

• discussing road, rail and water safety when you are out together

• talking openly about online experiences and what to do if something feels wrong

• involving children in age appropriate conversations about money and choices

• encouraging healthy routines around food, activity, sleep and hygiene

• talking positively and factually about growing and changing

• using the correct scientific vocabulary for body parts when appropriate

• reminding children that they can always tell a trusted adult if something worries, frightens or confuses them

One of the most valuable things families can do is keep conversations open. We want children to know that they can ask questions, talk about worries and seek help whenever they need it.

Useful PSHE and Family Support Links

Families may find the following organisations helpful for further information and support.

NSPCC Keeping Children Safe https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/

NSPCC Talk PANTS https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/pants-underwear-rule/

Childline https://www.childline.org.uk/

NHS Children's Health https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/health/

Most importantly, we encourage families to talk to us. If you have a question about PSHE, Relationships Education, Health Education or RSE, please contact school.

Knowing Our Curriculum Is Working

Our PSHE Subject Leader works closely with staff to make sure that the curriculum remains relevant, progressive, inclusive and responsive to the needs of our children. Children's learning, assessment information, pupil voice, discussion, lesson visits and curriculum monitoring help us understand what pupils know and remember. We consider whether children can talk confidently about their health and wellbeing, relationships, online life, citizenship and personal safety and whether they know where and how to seek help. We also look beyond individual lessons at how this learning is reflected across school life, including assemblies, behaviour, relationships, leadership, participation and the way children treat one another.

We want to know not simply that an important topic has been taught, but that children have understood it, remembered it and can draw on their learning when they face real-life choices.

Confident, Safe and Caring Young People

By the time children leave Brierley, we want them to understand themselves and others, build healthy relationships and know how to look after their physical and emotional wellbeing. We want them to recognise risks, make informed choices, understand appropriate boundaries and know where to seek help. We want our children to be kind, respectful and confident when meeting people whose lives, families or experiences may be different from their own. We also want them to understand that they have rights and responsibilities, that their voices matter and that their choices can make a positive difference to their school, community and wider world.

We aim to develop confident, compassionate and responsible young people who are proud of who they are, care about others and are well prepared for the next stage of their education and for life beyond Brierley.