Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education and Relationships and Sex Education Intent

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more so that we may fear less.”

(Marie Curie)

At Abbey Primary School, our PSHE and RSE curriculum centres around our six school values:

Respect – Responsibility – Resilience – Integrity - Inclusion – Aspiration

We recognise that PSHE and RSE teaching is fundamental to fostering lifelong aspirations, goals and values within our pupils. As a result of a high-quality PSHE and RSE education, all our pupils receive an equal opportunity to develop the skills and knowledge required to thrive in a range of situations, now and throughout their lives. The curriculum is designed to respond to the evolving challenges, needs, cultures and backgrounds of the pupils within our school.

In all aspects of school life, pupils are helped to deal with the issues they face every day such as friendships, emotional wellbeing and change. By providing them with strategies and the resilience to face the challenging opportunities that lie ahead, they feel equipped to navigate a world full of uncertainty, with hope and positivity.

The curriculum comprises three major themes that encompass the statutory requirements of:

Relationships - Living In The Wider World - Health and Wellbeing

Throughout all themes run our contextual concepts of:

Consent - Identity - Prejudice - Diversity - E-Safety

Teaching enables pupils to make informed decisions about the lifestyle choices that lead to healthy bodies, minds and financial wellbeing. PSHE and RSE education at Abbey helps pupils to prepare for all the opportunities, challenges, life decisions and responsibilities they will encounter.

All our pupils are supported and equipped to be safe and stay safe both on and offline through planned, explicit teaching, as well as through contextual and purposeful encounters across the curriculum. Abbey Primary School’s PSHE and RSE curriculum is unique in its potential to address online safety and a range of related issues (from safe online relationships to mental health, media literacy to online gambling) in a progressively planned, holistic way.

 The PSHE and RSE curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils:

• Understand the link between physical and mental health and wellbeing and achieving academic success, as well as happiness and fulfilment in all aspects of their lives
• Understand how to recognise and build healthy and positive relationships (including online)
• Develop self-esteem, embrace responsibility, and acquire attitudes that support them in developing and sustaining caring, stable and healthy relationships
• Demonstrate sensitivity and understanding towards the needs of others through their words, thoughts and actions
• Understand and appreciate diversity through inclusive attitudes and interactions
• Are equipped with knowledge and strategies to keep themselves, and others, safe (including online)