Personal, Social, Health & Economic Education

Atwood aims to develop emotionally resilient students who have strategies to cope with the demands of school life and living in the wider world. Through teaching children how to be healthy and safe, self-regulating and confident to tackle daily challenges, we embed our school values, which align with British fundamental values. We teach and celebrate acceptance, diversity and respect.

What is our approach to PSHE?

Our PSHE curriculum is based around three core themes of Health and Wellbeing, Relationships and Living in the Wider World. The whole school framework is linked to the Health Education Partnership and the PSHE Association. Through quality delivery, our PSHE programme aims to develop confident individuals who know and understand how to live safe, happy, healthy, fulfilling lives. It is our aim that children will go on to become responsible citizens, who understand they have rights and responsibilities that help them make a positive contribution to society.

These aims will be achieved by providing pupils with the knowledge, skills, attitudes to:
develop emotional resilience and skills to self-regulate
develop skills to make and maintain positive relationships
develop positive attitudes and values and to respect differences
develop a positive self-image and high self esteem
develop personal responsibility for one's actions

What does our approach to PSHE look like in the classroom?

PSHE is taught in weekly 30-minute sessions. Lessons focus heavily on whole class discussions and group activities. Each PSHE unit is centred around a driving question, linked to one of the three core PSHE themes. The lessons are sequenced in a way that builds up to a final summative task, which gives the children the opportunity to reflect on their learning across the unit. The framework guides and ensures full coverage of the National Curriculum objectives, but teachers will always adapt and differentiate to meet the individual needs of their class. Content covered in whole-class PSHE sessions is supplemented through whole-school assemblies and themed weeks.

Children’s mental health and wellbeing are a priority for the school. Therefore, our curriculum includes content and principles developed by the charity MindUp, to promote children’s wellbeing and increase mindful awareness. We also use Zones of Regulation as a school-wide approach to develop children’s emotional resilience.

Each session will include a whole-class discussion guided by the teacher, during which pupils will communicate their thoughts and ideas with verbal and non-verbal responses. Teachers will guide the discussions and encourage children to reflect on their learning.

How do we measure success in PSHE?

Following a successful PSHE session, children will be able to articulate their thoughts and feelings on a specific topic or issue. They will demonstrate critical thinking skills by listening to and building on the contributions of others and justify their own thinking.

Personal Development at Ark Atwood

We have three central aspirations for children at our school: (i) strong academic outcomes setting them up for secondary school (ii) rich experiences that help shape their view of the world (iii) become well rounded individuals with strong values. We believe these three areas also underpin our approach to developing children’s character and the document below sets out the different approaches we take. The document also sets out our approach to the teaching of Fundemental British Values - through assemblies, specific teaching in PSHE and elsewhere in the Atwood PSHE curriculum

Personal Development at Ark Atwood.pdf