PSHE & R(S)HE

At Badsey First School, we provide all of our children with knowledge that will enable them to make informed decisions about their well-being, health and relationships. This will ensure that they are ready to embrace the challenges of creating a happy and successful adult life in modern Britain.

It is our intent to provide high quality teaching and learning through a coherently planned curriculum which provides children with enriching opportunities to learn new skills, practise and apply embedded skills and allows children quality time to reflect on what it means to them. We aim to prepare pupils adequately for adult life: its decisions, responsibilities, experiences and opportunities, and to allow pupils to develop fully as emotional mature human beings.

PSHE is a crucial part of a child’s education as it gives children access to critical information about themselves and the many facets of the diverse world around them. Children are encouraged to have high aspirations and respect for themselves and for others, within our local, national and global communities. We aim to enable children to develop a deepening knowledge of their health and wellbeing, including their mental and physical health. Our curriculum aims to equip all children with information, skills and values to understand and to be able to cope with the physical and emotional changes that happen during puberty. The information provided is relevant and appropriate to the age and maturity of pupils. 

You can find our current RSHE Policy here and our current Curriculum Overview here. 

Click here to see our PSHE end point statements for PSHE. 

British Values

What are British Values? 

In 2014 the Government published a document that emphasised the importance of teaching fundamental British Values in schools:

• Democracy
• The Rule of Law
• Individual Liberty
• Tolerance & Respect

How do we promote 'British Values' at Badsey?

British Values have always been promoted at our school, through assemblies, Religious Education, topic work, our curriculum and PSHE sessions.

We seek to promote British Values in our policies and practice here at our school. Our activities and the way we manage learning and behaviour, clearly reflect British Values. We promote these values in the following ways:

DEMOCRACY 

There will be opportunities for all members of our academy community to have their voices heard. We will provide pupils with a broad general knowledge of, and promote respect for, public institutions and services by discussing these whenever appropriate in curriculum work. We will teach our pupils how they can influence decision-making through the democratic process. We hold an election process to decide which children become members of the Badsey School Council.  The School Council itself will meet on a regular basis and members can bring issues for discussions that have been raised by their class peers. We will encourage pupils to become involved in decision-making processes and ensure that they are listened to in school. This will be supported by an annual 'Pupil Questionnaire' which allows children to express opinions about their school. We will help pupils to express their views; in all areas of the curriculum there will be opportunities to present their work and opinions. We will model how perceived injustice can be peacefully challenged e.g. through our interactions with pupils and the academy’s behaviour system. We also discuss scenarios in assemblies and class PSHCE (personal, social, health, citizenship and economic education) work.

Parents will always be actively encouraged to share their views with us and an annual 'Parent Questionnaire' is one way they will be given this opportunity.  We operate an open door policy where parents can discuss their views with office staff, class teachers and members of the leadership team.

THE RULE OF LAW

The importance of laws, whether they are those that govern the class, the school or the country, will be consistently reinforced day to day through our behaviour management systems. Pupils will be taught the value of and the reasons behind our laws; that they govern and protect us; the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken. We will have visits from local Police officers and also the Fire Service to reinforce their understanding. We will ensure that our school rules and expectations are clear and fair. Each class agreeing to a set of class rules contributed to by all children in that class in early September is an example of this. The children will spend time talking about what the rules should be, why they need to have certain rules and also understanding the implications of breaking the rules. We will help pupils to distinguish right from wrong during everyday interactions and discussions of stories, fables and other literary materials. During Religious Education, the children will learn about other faiths and belief systems and consider the rules that govern those. Other subjects will provide opportunities for children to appreciate and understand the importance of rules, for example in PE lessons.

INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY 

Within school, pupils are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. We promote freedom of choice and the right to respectfully express views and beliefs. Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are advised to exercise these safely, for example through our Anti-Bullying, E-safety and PSHCE (personal, social, health, citizenship and economic education) lessons. This includes making sensible choices and keeping safe in a variety of situations. We support pupils in developing their self-knowledge, self-esteem and self-confidence through all areas of teaching and learning. We challenge stereotypes in school through PSHCE work and assemblies. Children are encouraged to take responsibility for their behaviour, as well as knowing their rights. We implement a strong anti-bullying culture as detailed in our handbook, policy and procedures.

RESPECT & TOLERANCE 

All our pupils will develop an understanding of respect for a wide range of religious values, languages and cultural traditions and different ways of life. Our pupils will understand that it is expected that respect is shown to everyone, irrespective of whatever differences they may have. Children will learn that their behaviour choices have an effect on their own rights and those of others. We will always challenge prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour. We will encourage our pupils to be thoughtful and reflective learners. We will discuss differences between people, such as differences of faith, ethnicity, disability, gender or sexuality and differences of family situations, such as looked-after children or young carers. We will hold fund-raising events throughout the year to support a variety of charities that have touched some of our children and their families. This raises awareness among the children of the charity, its work and the people it supports. The curriculum will be used to maximum effect to enhance pupil's understanding and respect for their own, and other faiths and beliefs or those who have none. Through religious education (RE) and PSHCE we will develop an understanding of other cultures; through specific topics; through visits from members of different faiths; through celebration of the festivals and religious days of other religions such as Diwali, Chinese New Year, Easter, Christmas and Harvest Festival.