St PetersCE Primary School
'What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.' – Jane Goodall
Curriculum Intent
At St Peter’s CE Academy, we believe that PSHE plays an essential role in helping children to understand themselves, build positive relationships and make responsible choices. Rooted in our Christian ethos, our PSHE curriculum supports our ambition to develop good people who have a positive impact on their community.
We want every child to develop the knowledge, vocabulary, confidence and practical skills they need to lead a safe, healthy and responsible life. Through PSHE, pupils learn to understand and manage their emotions, build respectful relationships, make informed decisions, keep themselves and others safe, and recognise when and how to seek help.
Our curriculum prepares pupils not only for life at St Peter’s, but for their lives beyond it. We want children to develop the self-awareness, resilience, empathy and critical thinking needed to navigate the opportunities and challenges they will encounter, respect difference, understand their responsibilities and contribute positively to their community and wider society.
We use Kapow Primary’s RSE & PSHE curriculum as the foundation for our teaching, ensuring that our curriculum reflects statutory requirements while responding to the needs, experiences and values of our school community.
Curriculum Design
Our PSHE curriculum is designed as a coherent programme of learning from EYFS to Year 6. It is organised around four key areas of personal and social development: self-regulation, managing self, building relationships and critical thinking. These strands provide a consistent framework for planning and progression across the school.
Staying Safe
Children learn how to recognise potential risks and keep themselves and others safe. They develop their understanding of personal boundaries, safety, emergencies and how to recognise when something is unsafe or harmful and know how to seek help.
My Healthy Self
Children learn how to look after their physical and mental health and wellbeing. They develop an understanding of healthy lifestyles, emotions, exercise, sleep, nutrition and how to make informed choices about their health.
Connecting with Others
Children learn how to develop and maintain positive, respectful relationships with others. They explore friendship, family, communication, empathy and boundaries, developing the skills to navigate relationships confidently and respectfully.
Growing Up
Children learn about the physical, emotional and social changes that happen as they grow. They develop an age-appropriate understanding of puberty, personal hygiene, relationships and the responsibilities that come with growing and becoming more independent.
Citizenship
Children learn about their rights and responsibilities and their role within their school, community and wider society. They explore fairness, diversity, democracy, rules, the environment and how their choices and actions can affect others.
Online World
Children learn how to use technology safely, responsibly and positively. They explore online relationships, privacy, digital wellbeing, online risks and how to make informed choices about their behaviour and interactions online.
Learning follows a spiral model, with important concepts and vocabulary revisited throughout a pupil’s time at St Peter’s. Each revisit builds on previous learning, with pupils encountering familiar ideas in increasingly mature and complex contexts. This enables children to make connections between different aspects of PSHE and apply their understanding to new situations.
As a talk-rich school, discussion is central to our PSHE teaching. Carefully chosen scenarios, stories and real-life contexts provide opportunities for pupils to question, debate, consider different perspectives and rehearse decision-making in a safe environment.
The curriculum is inclusive and accessible to all pupils. Teaching is adapted where necessary to ensure that pupils with SEND and those who may be disadvantaged or vulnerable can access the same ambitious curriculum.
PSHE is further enriched through collective worship, pupil leadership, visitors and opportunities for children to contribute to school and community life, allowing pupils to apply their learning beyond the classroom.