Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education at The Crescent Primary School

The information on this page, and in the links below, aims to give an overview of how we, along with each school in The Pioneer Academy, organises and delivers its curricula to meet both statutory and non-statutory requirements (as outlined by 2020 Relationships Education and Health Education, as well as the 2010 Equality Act).

What is PSHE?

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (sometimes also referred to as PSHCE with citizenship added) is a planned programme of learning which helps children and young people acquire the knowledge and skills they need to manage their lives, thriving as individuals, family members and members of society.

The Importance of PSHE Education

During key stages 1 and 2, PSHE education offers both explicit and implicit learning opportunities and experiences which reflect pupils’ increasing independence and physical and social awareness, as they move through the primary phase. It builds on the skills that pupils started to acquire during the Early Years Foundation stage (EYFS) to develop effective relationships, assume greater personal responsibility and manage personal safety, including online.

PSHE education helps pupils to manage the physical and emotional changes at puberty, introduces them to a wider world and enables them to make an active contribution to their communities.

What is Relationships and Health Education (RHE)?

From September 2020, all primary schools will be required to deliver, statutorily, ‘relationships education’.

The government have also committed to statutory ‘health education’, meaning the majority of personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education will be compulsory from 2020.

Every school within TPA delivers a number of additional, voluntary programmes, all of which help to ensure the delivery of a robust PSHE curriculum (including the latest statutory requirements).

The infographic below shows in blue, what each TPA school engages with in order to fulfil its statutory and non-statutory requirements in relation to both PSHE and the latest RHE.

How we teach

Due to the complex and sensitive nature of some of the mandatory areas within relationships education, health education, and the Equality Act, how we teach children is important.

An exploratory approach is typically adopted when considering more complex topics with children, for example ‘What makes a family?’, in which children are encouraged to ask questions to challenge, and be challenged over their pre-existing ideas, assumptions and possible misconceptions. We use a combination of class debates and circle time to explore these.

Philosophical questions are open to examination, further questioning and enquiry. They are contestable, central and common – that is, there is more than one valid point of view, the question is important in the lives of the children, and it is a shared issue or concern. Children might come up with philosophical questions such as:

• What makes you you?
• Do we have to respect everyone?
• Can good people do bad things?
• Do we all have the same rights?