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

WELCOME TO THE BRAND NEW PSHCE CURRICULUM

At Ripley Junior 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, Lego 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 Ripley Junior 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 with 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 new curriculum offers children a wealth of opportunities to investigate and role play all sorts of situations they 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 has introduced brand new PSHCE reforms for the year 2020 - 2021. They are the biggest reforms to the subject the government have implemented in over 20 years! Parts of this new PSHE curriculum are now statutory - namely Health and Relationships Education. 

At Ripley Junior School we have seized the opportunity to begin 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 Ripley Junior 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

This is a curriculum we are very excited about and cannot wait to deliver. 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 PSHCE curriculum, or any support with areas of personal, social, health or communication education then please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Wood. 

PSHCE CURRICULUM OVERVIEW:

Units are taken from the brand new PSHE Matters Scheme for Derbyshire. It is a 2 year cycle, so all areas are covered in Lower Key Stage 2 and Upper Key Stage 2. The exception to this is the Sex and Relationships Education, which is taught yearly as this curriculum has been tailor made for the children in our school by contribution of teachers, parents, children and other staff at school. This has replaced the 'Bullying Matters' unit as we teach about bullying and do 'Bullying Matters' through not only a discrete curriculum but also during 'Anti-Bullying Week'. We also do a lot of work related to online bullying and Online Safety through our Computing lessons and in assemblies. 

PSHCE 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 much important personal skills can be developed and embedded. 

This is how it is structured:

OUR 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 did 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: 

• NEVER LAUGH AT OR TEASE ANYONE FOR THEIR IDEAS, OPINIONS OR PERSONAL FEELINGS. 
• WHAT IS SAID IN PSHE LESSONS, STAYS IN PSHE LESSONS. 
• ALWAYS LISTEN WHEN SOMEONE IS SPEAKING AND WAIT FOR THEM TO FINISH. 
• KNOW THAT WE CAN ASK FOR FURTHER HELP OR ADVICE IF WE NEED OR WANT TO. 
• JOIN IN KNOWING YOU WILL NOT BE LAUGHED AT OR JUDGED. 
• IT IS OK IF YOU DON'T FEEL OK - SEEK HELP IF NEEDED. 
• REMEMBER WE ARE A TEAM - ALL DIFFERENT BUT THE SAME!

RIPLEY JUNIOR SCHOOL'S SRE CURRICULUM

The Sex and Relationships Education Curriculum is brand new for 2021 and has been created based on the views of teachers, parents and children! One way in which the government have helped schools is by allowing them to create their own Sex and Relationships Education based on their own children's needs. What children need and is relevant in one school, might be completely different to the needs of another set of children! 

Thank you to everyone who responded to the surveys sent out about the content of Sex and Relationships Education at Ripley Junior School, we were overwhelmed and very pleased that parents care so much about what their children are taught. The feedback has directly influenced the curriculum we have created with most views in mind. Unfortunately we could not create a curriculum that matched everything parents suggested, however we are very pleased to say the majority of opinions and beliefs have been catered for. 

Thanks to staff, parents and children we have been able to create a modern Sex and Relationships Education Curriculum that focuses on current topics and areas that are important to people today. 

YOU ARE ENTITLED TO REMOVE YOUR CHILD FROM SOME OR ALL OF THE SRE IF YOU WISH TO. 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. IN FACT WE OFFER A 'LENDING LIBRARY SCHEME' (PLEASE SEE BELOW) SO YOU CAN BORROW RESOURCES AND RETURN THEM TO US. 

Here are the basic objectives your child will cover in each year group: 

Please find below the Sex and Relationships Education Policy and the letter that was sent home to parents once the curriculum had been reviewed and created. 

OUR PSHE LENDING LIBRARY...

You or your child’s teacher may notice your child needs help with:

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

Please find below examples of books you can borrow from us if you would like to help teach your child at home about a particular aspect of SRE or PSHE. The books can be found with Mrs Wood in her classroom and can be collected and signed out any day of the week... 

From left to right the books below address the following issues: 

1. Sex and reproduction

2. First aid 

3. Puberty 

4. Inclusion/race 

5. Behaviour 

6. Behaviour

From left to right these books below address the following issues: 

7. Behaviour 

8. Drugs and alcohol 

9. People 

10. Medical issues including eating disorders, exercise and germs 

11. Safety including road safety, bicycle safety and fire safety 

12. Bereavement 

We will constantly update and add to our lending library book collection. If you know of any books that would be useful in helping with particular areas of personal, social or health education, that you feel we could add to our collection, then please let Mrs Wood know and she will look into doing this. Thank you. 

Visiting sites such as Family Lives is a good start point – there are lots of videos supporting various topics – you can access Parents TV through here as it splits it up into age ranges and topics for you. Click here to access the site:

USEFUL LINKS TO HELP YOU:

MENTAL HEALTH IDEAS AND RESOURCES:

If you wish to speak to your child about mental health issues, here is a link to some great ideas and resources that schools use. We realise that these are not just good for schools, but parents and carers also... 

OUR WRAP AROUND CARE ETHOS...

At Ripley Junior School your views and contributions really do matter to us. We designed the SRE Curriculum around the views of our wider school community, but we do not want it to stop there! 

Once we have taught SRE, we send out our Parent Questionnaire to find out whether your child has spoken about it when they have been at home, raised any questions with you and seek your opinion on ways that we can improve. 

This will help us constantly streamline and tailor make our SRE 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. 

HOW DO WE TEACH PSHE AT RIPLEY JUNIOR SCHOOL?

Lessons will take place at different times and will be shaped based upon the needs of each year group, class or even individual pupil(s). We complete units in whole classes as a general rule or even in year groups depending on the nature of the subject. We always target the teaching of PSHCE at an age appropriate level.

In some lessons, we may use videos, images or stories to create opportunities for discussion. At times, we may even use topical events or work issues - it will all depend on the nature and needs of the unit and class. Not every lesson will produce written work as PSHE lessons provide great opportunities to develop speaking and listening skills. In some lessons, we may produce poems, post-it ideas, write letters or brainstorm ideas around an issue. In others, we will spend time talking and debating issues.

If you feel that you have any resources (or are able to come into school and help us in any way) please contact your child's teacher! 

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 PSHCE being taught in class, please ask the class teacher if you can view our Wellbeing Class Books. 

Sex and Relationships Education can be found fully in Science Books, however some examples of what we have covered have also been put as evidence into Wellbeing Books too.