PHSE / RSE

PSHE/RSE Lead – Mr M Walker

PSHE and Personal Development is a high priority at Rossington St Michael’s and we believe that the investment that we make in children’s Personal, Social, Health and Economical development will help to create happy, well-rounded and successful individuals as they progress throughout school and be ready to move on in their educational journey into adult life. We offer a curriculum that offers children the opportunity to build confidence, resilience and empathy, equip them with strategies to manage their wellbeing and relationships, prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of modern life by. The curriculum on offer meets and exceeds the statutory PSHE, Relationships and Health Education requirements.

To support the delivery of PSHE we use My Happy Mind Plus to ensure that our children have the opportunity to develop into fully rounded citizens of the global community and are able to develop essential skills whilst feeling a sense of belonging to their community (school, locally and globally). My Happy Mind Plus provides the whole school with a spiral scheme of learning with engaging lessons that build on prior knowledge and that are sequentially arranged to ensure that children have strong foundations in all aspects of PSHE. The scheme breaks learning down into smaller chunks so that children are not cognitively overloaded and have opportunities to use and apply their learning. It also encourages retrieval practice throughout each unit where children can remember prior learning from previous modules. My Happy Mind is also neuro-affirming, making it a sensible and suitable choice for children at St Michael’s with neuro-diversity.

My Happy Mind complements our development across school of the British Values and supports our work with the No Outsiders scheme of learning to develop children’s understanding of the protected characteristics. The Protected Characteristics are staggered across school to ensure children have a thorough understanding of them and also what it means to discriminate against someone because of one of those characteristics. It also ensures that children are exposed to content in an age appropriate way. 

The My Happy Mind programme is also complemented by the ‘Developing Healthy Attitudes’ scheme of work to ensure full coverage of the ‘Programme of Study’ available from the PSHE Association.

We believe in consistent, relevant and engaging content. Across school, we have a whole school dedicated time each week to the development of PSHE knowledge and skills. In doing this, it protects, highlights and cements the importance of delivering PSHE at St Michael’s and the values we believe it can teach children.  

In FS1

Children are taught to;

-          Be increasingly independent in meeting their own care needs e.g. brushing teeth, washing and drying their hands thoroughly.

-          Make healthy choices about food, drink, activity and toothbrushing.

-          Increasingly follow rules, understanding why they are important.

-          Remember rules without needing an adult to remind them.

-          Become more outgoing with unfamiliar people, in the safe context of their setting.

-          She more confidence in new social situations.

-          Play with one or more other children, extending and elaborating play ideas.

-          Find solutions to conflicts and rivalries.

-          Develop appropriate ways of being assertive.

-          Talk with others to solve conflict.

-          Show interest in different occupations.

-          Select and use activities and resources, with help when needed.

-          Develop their sense of responsibility and membership of a community.

-          Begin to understand the need to respect and care for the natural environment and all living things

In FS2

Children are taught to;

-          Manage their own personal hygiene needs.

-          Know and talk about the different factors that support their overall health and well-being.

-          Know and talk about the different factors that support their overall health and well-being.

-          Build constructive and respectful relationships.

-          Continue developing positive attitudes about the differences between people.

-          Express their feelings and consider the feelings of others.

-          Show resilience and perseverance in the face of challenges.

-          Identify and moderate their own feelings socially and emotionally.

-          Think about the perspective of others.

-          Name and describe people who are familiar to them.

-          See themselves as a valuable individual.

The FS1 and 2 curriculums are delivered primarily through stories that focus on the different characters within My Happy Mind. The stories allow children to think about situations and scenarios in a relatable and empathetic way and supports their social and emotional development through talk.

In Key Stage 1 and 2

Children are taught across 3 ‘core themes’. These are:

-          Health and Well-being

-          Relationships

-          Living in the Wider World

My Happy Mind promotes delivery of the outcomes by splitting learning into 5 distinct and valuable modules that the children undertake over the course of the year. These are;

-          Meet Your Brain – where children understand different parts of the brain and how they work together to support regulation.

-          Celebrate – where children learn to develop self-belief and growth mindset.

-          Appreciate – where children learn about gratuity and thankfulness

-          Relate – where children learn about relationships and connections.

-          Engage – where children bring learning together to set goals with a focus on perseverance and resilience.

Within each module, the children are introduced to a new character who support the children to understand the learning through videos, reading materials and tasks.

 

My Happy Mind Plus supplements the core modules with further modules to ensure that there is wide coverage of the ‘Programme of Study’ from the PSHE Association. These modules are;

-          My Happy Body

-          My Happy Relationships

-          My Happy World

The scheme promotes deliberate practice of regulation strategies and journaling as essential components. These elements ensure that children have the ability to practise regulatory breathing exercises called ‘Happy Breathing’ and tune into their emotions and thoughts regularly through the use of the journals.

In addition to this, the scheme promotes the use of a parent app. The parent app allows parents to access information about the content that the children have been learning, practise strategies for regulation and implement these at home as well as having sections for the children to engage in games and watch videos to summarise learning from school.

Beyond the PSHE curriculum

Children are encouraged to contribute to our school community by taking on leadership roles across different areas. These leadership roles are essential in school and promote children’s self-confidence and advocacy skills. Leadership roles include Happiness Heroes, Anti-Bullying Ambassadors, House Captains, Vice House Captains, School Council, Worship Council, Office Managers and Playground Leaders. These roles will often entail the children engaging in meeting and discussing priorities linked to their role across school.

We regularly promote key national theme weeks such as Anti-Bullying Week, Mental Health Week and Road Safety Awareness week. These events give us the opportunity to highlight important topic to all members of the school community. Learning of these themes is not limited to specific weeks and is revisited as the year goes on.