Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE)

Under Review
 PSHE in Action

  • Miss Green

    PSHE subject lead

  • Mrs Appleby

    PSHE subject lead

Personal, social, health and economic education underpins the philosophy and practice at Brunton First School. We pride ourselves on creating an inclusive culture where every child can thrive.  PSHE is at the core of everything we do.  Through our whole-school approach we believe children who feel seen, valued, included and important will thrive both academically and socially at Brunton and in later life.  We use our ‘Successful Lifelong Learning’ as our school drivers.  Through this, children learn the skills behind being a successful learner, helping our children grow into resilient, independent and confident individuals.

The staff at Brunton ensure that they deliver the objectives from the National Curriculum, tailored to our children, in a multitude of ways, using the PSHE Association for guidance. PSHE, British Values, No Outsiders, positive touch massage and our ‘Successful Lifelong Learning’ initiative are fully embedded in every aspect of our creative curriculum. We teach PSHE in a variety of ways: as a discrete subject, cross- curricular and through assemblies.  In addition, through outdoor educational visits, community work and themed weeks. At Brunton we encourage all our pupils to play a positive role in contributing to school life and the wider community through class and school councils, reading ambassadors, digital leaders, art ambassadors, eco warriors, fundraising events, supporting nominated charities and involvement in community activities.

We plan for consolidation of skills and knowledge progression within each year group. Skills and knowledge are built on year by year and sequenced appropriately to maximise learning for all children.  The curriculum is divided into three core areas:

  •          Health and Wellbeing
  •          Relationships
  •          Living in The Wider World

We promote pupils’ personal social and emotional development, as well as their health and wellbeing.  We have a strong focus on emotional literacy, building resilience and nurturing mental and physical health.    We educate our children about what a positive, healthy, respectful relationship is by looking at family relationships, friendships and relationships online.  We aim to normalise all family types to prevent and remove prejudice.  We prepare our children for life in Modern Britain by developing a deep sense of respect for diversity.  We learn about one another and celebrate our individual differences.  Our Sex and Relationships Education (RSE) is set within a moral framework and matched to the pupils’ level of maturity.

PSHE at Brunton follows our planned curriculum but also staff and leaders are responsive to real life issues as and when they occur.  In addition to this we respond to current research and world events.  With an ever-changing society, we are able to provide our children with a strong understanding of the diverse world around them and support them in playing a positive role in contributing to the school and the wider community.

To enhance our current practice and to further build on our inclusive practice we are undertaking a new project in response to the findings from the CLPE Reflecting Realities Survey of Ethnic Representation within UK Children’s Literature and aim to ensure that every child, regardless of their background, gender, ethnicity or ability, is able to see themselves in the literature they have available to them at school.  It is important for children to have access to quality literature, but it is also important that this literature prepares and equips them to be valuable contributors to life in a diverse, multi-cultural society. 

Our project ‘Reflecting Realities’ led by the Literacy and PSHE team, alongside the elected ‘reading ambassadors’ will audit the whole school use of literature.  In addition to auditing literature, we will be auditing the role models the children study across the curriculum.  New books purchased are a blend of quality literature, and literature written or illustrated by authors and illustrators from a diverse range of backgrounds, races and ethnicities and genders. Furthermore, books selected feature a diverse range of central characters within books, including those who are neuro diverse and have disabilities.  We believe that to feel truly valued, all children deserve to see themselves in the books they are reading/having read to them, and to feel represented in the literature that they are accessing at school.