PSHE at Cropredy CE Primary School

At Cropredy CE Primary School we aim to create a happy, purposeful and supportive environment where children are enabled to become successful learners, develop their full potential and achieve the highest educational standards they can. We have a  complete commitment to learning and recognising the uniqueness of individual learners. It is driven by our desire to offer the best possible education for our pupils in partnership with parents, Governors and the local community.

 

We believe a collaborative culture is fundamental in enabling children to develop personally and emotionally, and as young citizens. Children grow up in a complex and ever changing world and are exposed to an increasing range of influences. As a school we aim to build on and complement the learning that has already started at home to provide the knowledge, understanding and skills that children need to lead healthy, fulfilling and meaningful lives, both now and in the future. Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE) are central to our school’s ethos, commiting to our Christian Values and supporting children in their development, underpinning learning in the classroom, school, and in the wider community.

 

Values are fundamental expressions of what we think and believe. As a school we encourage children to think about personal and social values, to become aware of, and involved in the life and concerns of their community and society, and so develop their capacity to be active and effective future citizens. Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education equips children with the knowledge, understanding, skills and strategies required to live healthy, safe, productive, capable, responsible and balanced lives. It encourages them to be enterprising and supports them in making effective transitions, positive learning and career choices, and in achieving economic wellbeing.

 

A critical component of PSHE education is providing opportunities for children to reflect on and clarify their own values and attitudes, and explore the complex and sometimes conflicting range of values and attitudes they encounter now and in the future. PSHE education is taught as a planned, developmental programme of learning through which children acquire the knowledge, understanding and skills they need to manage their lives now and in the future.

 

As part of a whole-school approach, PSHE education develops the qualities and attributes pupils need to thrive as individuals, family members and members of society. Further it can help reduce or remove many of the barriers to learning experienced by pupils, significantly improving their capacity to learn and achieve.

 

PSHE education also makes a significant contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development, their behaviour and safety, and to their emotional wellbeing. PSHE education contributes to personal development by helping pupils to build their confidence, resilience and self-esteem, and to identify and manage risk, make informed choices and understand what influences their decisions. It enables them to recognise, accept and shape their identities, to understand and accommodate difference and change, to manage emotions and to communicate constructively in a variety of settings.

 

Developing an understanding of themselves, empathy and the ability to work with others will help pupils to form and maintain good relationships, develop the essential skills for future employability and better enjoy and manage their lives.

 

The aims of teaching PSHE, SMSC and Emotional Wellbeing and the overarching aim for PSHE education is to provide pupils with:

• Accurate and relevant knowledge.

• Opportunities to turn that knowledge into personal understanding.

• Opportunities to explore, clarify and if necessary challenge, their own and others’ values, attitudes, beliefs, rights and responsibilities.

• The skills and strategies they need in order to live healthy, safe, fulfilling, responsible and balanced lives.

 

The PSHE curriculum at Cropredy CE Primary School  provides values-based, progressive content that promotes positive behaviour, mental health, wellbeing, resilience and achievement. Research shows that there is a link between a pupil’s wellbeing and positive mental health and academic achievement.  Therefore, in order for our children to learn and be well, they need to have good mental health, resilience and the ability to keep themselves safe. Through our PSHE curriculum, we aim to equip children with these attributes and the skills to implement them in different contexts.