PSHCE Policy
Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education (PSHCE) Policy
Introduction
THIS DOCUMENT IS a statement of the aims and practice in teaching personal, social, health and citizenship education.
IT WAS DEVELOPED during Spring 2004 in consultation with staff.
IT IS IN LINE WITH our mission Statement and the aims of the school.
IT WAS APPROVED BY GOVERNORS in
IT WILL BE REVIEWED every three years. Next review will be Spring 2007
Personal,
social health, and citizenship education (PSHCE) and enables children
to become healthy, independent and responsible members of society. As a
church school we encourage children to care for one another, our school
and the wider community. We encourage our pupils to play a positive
role in contributing to the life of the school and the wider community.
In so doing we help develop their sense of self worth. We teach them
how society is organised and governed. We ensure that they experience
the process of democracy in school through their input to school
improvement etc. We teach them about rights and responsibilities. They
learn to appreciate what it means to be a positive member of a diverse
multicultural society.
Aims
The aims of personal, social, health and citizenship education are to enable the children to:
· know and understand what constitutes a healthy lifestyle;
· be aware of safety issues;
· understand what makes for good relationships with others;
· have respect for others;
· be independent and responsible members of the school community;
· be positive and active members of a democratic society;
· develop self-confidence and self-esteem, and make informed choices regarding personal and social issues;
· develop good relationships with other members of the school and the wider community.
Teaching and learning style
We
use a range of teaching and learning styles. We place an emphasis on
active learning by including the children in discussions,
investigations and problem-solving activities. We encourage the
children to take part in a range of practical activities that promote
active citizenship, e.g. charity fundraising, the planning of school
special events such as an assemblies or our Fairtrade coffee mornings,
or involvement in an activity to help other individuals or groups less
fortunate than themselves. We organise classes in such a way that
pupils are able to participate in discussion to resolve conflicts and
agree school rules of behaviour. We offer children the opportunity to
listen to visitors, such as health workers, firemen, and
representatives from the local church, whom we invite into the school
or go to visit.
PSHCE curriculum planning
We teach PSHCE in a variety of ways. In some instances, we teach PSHCE as a discrete subject such as our Health Week.
Some
of the time we introduce PSHCE through other subjects, e.g. when
teaching Physical Education we talk about the need for regular exercise
as part of a healthy life style. As there is a large overlap between
the programme of study for religious education and the aims of PSHCE,
we teach a considerable amount of the PSHCE through our religious
education lessons.
We also develop PSHCE through activities
and whole-school events, e.g. such as our Multicultural Week We offer a
residential visit to Cirencester in Years 3 & 4, where there is a
particular focus on developing pupils' self esteem and giving them
opportunities to develop co-operative skills learning together.
Foundation Stage
We
teach PSHCE in reception classes as an integral part of the topic work
covered during the year. As the reception class is part of the
Foundation Stage of the National Curriculum, we relate the PSHCE
aspects of the children's work to the objectives set out in the Early
Learning Goals (ELGs). Our teaching in PSHCE matches the aim of
developing a child's personal, emotional and social development as set
out in the ELGs. We also support citizenship education in reception
classes when we teach 'how to develop a child's knowledge and
understanding of the world'. Some of this is done through our Forest
School activities in school and on visits to Ammerdown.
Teaching PSHCE to children with special educational needs
At
our school we teach PSHCE to all children, whatever their ability.
PSHCE forms part of the school curriculum policy to provide a broad and
balanced education to all children. Through our PSHCE teaching we
provide learning opportunities that enable all pupils to make progress.
We do this by setting suitable learning challenges and responding to
each child's different needs. Assessment against the National
Curriculum allows us to consider each child's attainment and progress
against expected levels.
When progress falls significantly
outside the expected range, the child may have special educational
needs. Our assessment process looks at a range of factors - classroom
organisation, teaching materials, teaching style, differentiation - so
that we can take some additional or different action to enable the
child to learn more effectively. This ensures that our teaching is
matched to the child's needs.
Intervention through School Action
and School Action Plus will lead to the creation of an Individual
Education Plan (IEP) for children with special educational needs. The
IEP may include, as appropriate, specific targets relating to PSHCE.
We
enable pupils to have access to the full range of activities involved
in learning PSHCE. Where children are to participate in activities
outside the classroom, for example, trips out we carry out a risk
assessment prior to the activity, to ensure that the activity is safe
and appropriate for all pupils.
Assessment and recording
Teachers
assess the children's work in PSHCE both by making informal judgements
as they observe them during lessons and by more formal assessments of
their work, measured against the specific learning objectives set out
in the National Curriculum. We are particularly focussing on learning
skills. Teachers record the achievements of pupils in PSHCE and report
these achievements to parents each year.
Resources
We keep
resources for PSHCE in the stockroom in topic boxes and there are also
appropriate books in the library. We will add to them gradually as we
need to.
Monitoring and review
The PSHCE curriculum will
be reviewed on a rolling programme with other foundation subjects. At
that time we will focus in detail on that area, review the scope of the
curriculum, standards achieved, resources and teaching.
This PSHCE policy should be read in conjunction with:
The Health, Safety and Welfare Policy.
The Policy for Religious Education
The Behaviour Policy