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Useful information and weblinks

WHY DOES PSHE MATTER?

Personal, Social, and Health Education (PSHE) is central to giving pupils the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to lead confident, healthy, independent lives and to become informed, active and responsible British citizens.

PSHE enables students to understand and respect our common humanity: its diversity and its differences so that they can go on to form, the effective, fulfilling relationships that are an essential part of life and learning.

Safeguarding is a key element of PSHE as pupils learn about their own identity, risks, decision-making and how to keep themselves safe.

PSHE helps pupils to learn to recognise their own value, work well with others and become increasingly responsible for their own learning.

They can reflect on their experiences and understand how they are developing personally and socially, tackling many of the spiritual, moral, social and cultural issues that are part of growing up.

PSHE doesn’t just exist within the curriculum. The wide range of activities and experiences that schools offer beyond the curriculum in which pupils contribute to their school life and community, are a key part of PSHE.

For truly effective PSHE, the whole school ethos will support the curriculum and principles.

EXAMPLES OF WORK COMPLETED DURING LESSONS IN DIFFERENT YEAR GROUPS

      

        

       

We use a variety of activities, so the lessons are interesting, varied and accessible to all children with all needs in school. We record our lessons in 'Class Floor Books' and these recordings may be postit notes, photographs, worksheets, pictures or notes. 

WELCOME TO THE PSHE CURRICULUM AT SOUTH WINGFIELD PRIMARY SCHOOL

At South Wingfield Primary School, we strongly feel that children need to be provided with the personal tools, attributes, skills and abilities to enable them to tackle and prepare for various issues and opportunities which they may face in their lives.

Mental Health Education is now a huge part of the curriculum and we endeavour to educate children in all areas of mental health and, as a school, we acknowledge and celebrate World Mental Health Day. The mental health of our children is taken very seriously and we extensively do all that we can to ensure that our children feel safe, happy, valued and content at our school. We offer Positive Play Sessions, Forest Schools Sessions, Nurture Sessions, ELSA sessions, weekly PSHE sessions and a lot of outdoor education to ensure our children receive the best mental health support they possibly can. We know that it has been proven that secure relationships are the key to good mental health in adults and, at South Wingfield Primary School, we wish to provide children with a solid foundation of education on how to build, develop, maintain and deepen secure positive relationships within not only the family setting but also friendship and colleague settings as well.   

Within each classroom setting is a 'Class Worry Box' where children can privately and confidentially place any worries they may have, knowing they will be dealt with using discretion and sensitivity.

We practise 'Restorative Justice' when dealing with behaviour issues so children feel valued, supported and are able to learn from behaviours when moving forwards. The children are encouraged to repair broken relationships by thinking of ways they can fix the issue they have and in some cases, 'make up' for what they have done if it has been offensive. 

Our curriculum offers children a wealth of opportunities to investigate and role play all sorts of situations children will come across in life that may require the confidence and knowledge of 'previous experience'. We hope they leave us in Year 6 as well balanced and happy individuals who are aware of world issues and the impact they can have as individuals on the immediate and distant world around them. 


The government introduced PSHE reforms for the year 2020 - 2021. They were the biggest reforms to the subject the government have implemented in over 20 years! Parts of this PSHE curriculum are now statutory - namely Health and Relationships Education. 

At South Wingfield Primary School we have seized the opportunity to offer this curriculum in our child-centred school. We use the Derbyshire County Council 'PSHE Matters' scheme to ensure we are covering all that we need to within the subject. It is fully up to date and if any new updates come out, we receive these immediately and use them within our school PSHE curriculum. 

In PSHE at South Wingfield Primary School we cover the following topics: 

  • Being Healthy
  • Difference and Diversity 
  • Exploring Emotions
  • Relationships
  • Being Responsible 
  • Bullying Matters
  • Drug Education
  • Being Me
  • Changes 
  • Growing up (Sex and Relationships Education)
  • Money Matters 
  • Being Safe

Each topic is carefully differentiated to be age appropriate so that all children can access all areas of it and so that each new year they are learning fresh skills and knowledge. It is fully inclusive and encourages inclusivity in the attitudes of all children. 

If you feel as a parent you need any support with any aspect of our PSHE curriculum, or any support with areas of personal, social, health or communication education then please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Wood. 

PSHE CURRICULUM OVERVIEW:

Units are taken from the PSHE Matters Scheme for Derbyshire. It is a 2 year cycle, so all areas are covered in Key Stage One, Lower Key Stage 2 and Upper Key Stage 2, despite us having mixed year group classes.

The exception to this is the Sex and Relationships Education, which is taught by year group, This allows for an age appropriate curriculum to be taught. . 

PSHE should be taught weekly, in at least one 1 hour slot. We feel that the subject should be taught weekly and not 'blocked' at the end of a term as children need to be consistently and persistently visiting this subject so it can be practised and so that many important personal skills can be developed and embedded. 

This is how it is structured:

OUR SCHOOL PSHE GROUND RULES:

We know as a school that PSHE can bring up issues and topics the children may not have spoken about before, and children may wish to contribute very personal feelings, ideas and experiences within lessons. As a result of this, we want our children to feel very safe within lessons and be able to share whatever they like without feeling rejection or ridicule. 

Children in each class were given the choice about what 'Ground Rules' would be appropriate for the whole school so that children do feel fully safe and valued during PSHE lessons. As a result of their ideas, the following ground rules apply to all classes in school during PSHE lessons and in the curriculum beyond: 

  • WE MUST ALWAYS LISTEN TO EACH OTHER
  • WE MUST NOT INTERRUPT ANYONE
  • WE MUST ALWAYS BE KIND WHEN WE RESPOND
  • WE MUST NEVER LAUGH AT WHAT ANYONE SAYS
  • WE SHOULD FEEL SAFE TO SHARE WHATEVER WE WANT TO SHARE IN LESSONS
  • IF SOMETHING IS UPSETTING US, WE MUST TELL A TRUSTED ADULT OR PUT IT IN THE WORRY BOX.

HOW DO WE ASSESS PSHE?

During lessons, we observe and consider the responses given. At times, we will ask children targeted questions to gain a deeper understanding of children's ideas. Teachers, Teaching Assistants and Support Staff will also note down any key information as they lead sessions which may be referred back to at another time. If we feel that extra support is needed, based on discussions in class, we may use these assessments to support children within our nurture programme, or to work with parents at home. We also report back to parents during Parents' Evening and within the End of Year report.

At the beginning of each half term we do an informal baseline assessment which is evidenced in each 'Class Wellbeing Book' and then at the end of each half term we complete a summative assessment to show what the children have learned. 

Each class has a worry box that your child can write their worries in anonymously. This box also gives an idea to the teacher overall of how the children are developing personally and socially. It may also provide ideas for more PSHE lessons to be completed, should we feel the need arise, and in order to discretely address the issues that have come up in the Worry Box. 

If you wish to see written evidence of PSHE being taught in class, please ask the class teacher if you can view our Wellbeing Class Books. 

South Wingfield's Relationships and Sex Education Curriculum

The Sex and Relationships Education Curriculum currently follows the PSHE Matters Scheme from Derbyshire. It is taught by year group rather than class. This will be reviewed in September 2025, as we may look at creating a tailor made curriculum using the voices of the staff, children, parents and governors. 

YOU ARE ENTITLED TO REMOVE YOUR CHILD FROM SOME OR ALL OF THE RSE IF YOU WISH TO, HOWEVER THE LAW STIPULATES THAT IF YOU CHOSE TO DO THIS, YOU MUST PROVIDE THIS EDUCATION AT HOME. 

IF YOU FEEL CONCERNED ABOUT ANYTHING OR WISH TO KNOW MORE THEN DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT US. WE ARE ALWAYS HERE TO HELP YOU. 

PERHAPS YOU WOULD LIKE TO EDUCATE YOUR CHILD AT HOME ABOUT SEX AND RELATIONSHIPS? IF THIS IS THE CASE, WE HAVE RESOURCES IN SCHOOL THAT YOU CAN BORROW AND USE TO HELP YOU WITH THIS. WE WILL SUPPORT YOU IN ANY WAY THAT WE CAN.

OUR PSHE AND RSE LENDING LIBRARY

IN FACT, AS FROM SEPTEMBER 2025, WE WILL BE OFFERING A 'LENDING LIBRARY SCHEME', SO YOU CAN BORROW RESOURCES AND RETURN THEM TO US. WE ENDEAVOUR TO COVER THE AREAS OF:

  • Behaviour
  • Social issues
  • Emotions
  • Anxiety or worries
  • Questions on puberty
  • Internet safety
  • Grief
  • Separation / divorce

The Lending Library will be available in Class 3 and any parent, from any year group, can come and sign the books out and sign them back in again, as and when they are needed. 

Here are some useful links to help talk to your child about areas that may be classed as 'difficult'... 

Talking with the your child about PSHE and RSE including any awkward questions:

sre-guide-for-parents

rse-ks1-2-parents-talking-to-children-about-rse

help...answering_awkward_questions

student_booklet-on-periods

parent_booklet-on-periods

  • Amaze.org Age-appropriate information, clear and accurate language, with many short videos that help explore various topics around puberty, body changes, periods, etc

  • Outspoken Education Online resources including a range of free home-schooling lessons for different age ranges, to support parents to talk openly about bodies, body image and relationships. Subscribe to a free newsletter.

  • Brook.org Parents, carers and teachers can sign up to Brook Learn for free online modules on a range of RSE topics

Useful weblinks

Mental Health Resources:

Here is a great site that gives lots of ideas and resources to help your child with their mental health:

https://mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/resources/

OUR WRAP AROUND CARE ETHOS...

At South Wingfield Primary School your views and contributions really do matter to us.

Once we have taught RSE (academic year of 2025-2026), we will be sending out our Parent Questionnaire to find out whether your child has spoken about it when they have been at home or raised any questions with you so we can seek your opinion on ways that we can improve. 

This will help us constantly streamline and tailor make our RSE Curriculum to suit the needs of our cohort of children in the ways that are needed. Your opinion is valued and we do not want the objectives to become irrelevant, stagnant or inappropriate. 

Please respond to our survey with honesty so we can deliver an up to date and modern curriculum preparing our children for their future. 

At South Wingfield Primary School, we have a 'No Tolerance' policy on bullying. Each year we have an Anti-Bullying Week, when children learn what the different types of bullying are, how to respond and deal with bullying with a particular focus on cyber bullying. The children at South Wingfield are fabulous and we are very lucky that incidents of bullying are very rare.

  1. PSHE intent, impact, .docx docx