PSHE at Saint Teresa’s

Intent

Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education is a school subject through which pupils develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to manage their lives, now and in the future. These skills and attributes help pupils to stay healthy, safe, and prepare them for life and work in modern Britain. PSHE education helps pupils to achieve their academic potential, and leave school equipped with skills they will need throughout later life.”

-PSHE Association, 2016

In PSHE at Saint Teresa’s , children will gain the skills to grow in confidence and to develop a sense of responsibility within themselves. They develop their own God-given attributes, form positive relationships with others built on respect and develop a healthy and safe lifestyle. The personal development of each pupil will be nurtured within the ethos of our Catholic School through their on-going PSHE education.  A wide range of opportunities will be offered for our children including inviting in outside professionals to discuss topics such as healthy lifestyles, personal safety, relationships, diversity, citizenship and the wider world.

Implementation

PHSE is taught both through explicit lessons but is also embedded in other areas of the curriculum and in the day to day life of the school.  
 

Impact

Children will have an understanding of what constitutes physical and mental well-being and understand how to live a balanced lifestyle. They will understand the importance of eating a balanced diet, enjoying regular exercise and having sufficient sleep. Children learn the importance of personal hygiene and how to prevent the spread of disease. They will understand the importance of developing relationships with others based on respect. At St Teresa’s, children know how to let adults know if they feel unsafe and know how to report bullying. Children learn how to maintain their personal safety both in and outside of school and they have an awareness of the risks posed by the internet. Our ready, respect and safe mantra is embedded in our classroom practice and in our awards at assemblies.
 

Cultural Capital

Our children are given opportunities to learn about British Society and the Wider World and are given an understanding about the diversity of our society and different cultures and religions. Children are taught about rights, responsibilities and duties at home, in school and towards the wider community.
 

Promoting Citizenship and British Values

In PSHE, children are taught about British Values and democracy. They learn about why there is a need for rules and laws and how to take part in making and changing laws.

Children will be taught about social justice and the importance of showing respect to all members of society. Children will be taught to understand and respect diversity and different religious and cultural practices. Diversity within St Teresa’s School is celebrated and embraced.

We have a very strong sense of community at St Teresa’s and are active members of both our church and local community. This is reflected in our charity work including, CAFOD, St Joseph’s Penny, Francis House, The Downs Syndrome Association and other causes throughout the year.
 

Each year, new School Council representatives are elected by each class. We have an established prefect system with Head Girl /Head Boy. We have buddy classes who come together for collective worship or other projects.  We have a positive house system based on the four Gospel writers which give our children a clear sense of community and identity.

We have an active journalism club who produce The Little Flower Magazine regularly.

Our Gift Chaplaincy team lead in the spiritual life of the school supporting the RE lead in assemblies and collective worship. Our Reading Ambassadors regularly work with younger children to promote reading for pleasure. Our sports ambassadors lead play sessions at break times and receive training by our PE Lead. Here are many other areas which the school uses to support the children’s learning including:

• Circle time opportunities
• Yearly drama performances – incorporating all year groups over the course of the year
• School trips
• Guest speakers
• A wide variety of charity fund raising activities including those initiated by individual classes such as during our Lent fund raising.
• Involvement with visiting the local community such as our choir visiting a residential care home
• After school and weekend sports activities
• Electing pupils for a wide range of positions and responsibilities
• Residentials, retreats and sports activities
• A learning mentor who supports the children through a wide range of interventions
• Wide range of intervention programmes to support our children such as Motor Skills Utd, Welcomm Speech and Language
• A range of clubs after school and at lunch time
• Choir Young Voices

At St Teresa’s, we strive to support pupils, staff and families, not only with the academic aspect of our pupils' development, but also their emotional, social and physical development. As our faith is at our centre, we have also adopted the Ten:Ten 'Life to the Full' programme to complement our PSHE curriculum.

Throughout the school year, class teachers tailor their teaching and curriculum to the needs of their particular classes. For example, if there have been issues flagged up within a particular year group, then circle time opportunities, collective worship or story time will be adapted to support children and explore their feelings. Our learning mentor also works closely with each class teacher and develops supportive programmes, one to one opportunities and group work to deal with a variety of issues or concerns.
 

We are proud to be a very active school and, in addition to the statutory PE lessons, we encourage children to participate in our many active afterschool clubs; try out for our sports teams and give them opportunities to try new sports and activities. Our PE Co-ordinator often drives initiatives such as the Daily Mile or raising money for charity through sport.
 

We also hold a 'Healthy Week' every year in the Spring term. During this week, we often invite outside agencies and athletes in to promote healthy lifestyles. Through assemblies we discuss diet and nutrition, amongst a variety of other class based activities. We have close partnerships with Old Trafford Cricket Club, Manchester Utd, Stretford Leisure Club and often attend sporting tournaments. We have active sports clubs such as Football and cross country regularly participating in tournaments and competitions.
 

Our Year Six pupils attend Crucial Club sessions, bikeability and our residential at Robinwood which all help to develop their skills in the wider world.

PSHE Across the Curriculum

We consistently and enthusiastically encourage the children at St Teresa’s to be responsible, respectful, caring and active citizens of our school, church, local, national and global communities, through everything we do.

PSHE is not just taught as a discrete subject but through our RE curriculum, where we learn about tolerance and respect for others; in Maths, where we learn about financial capability; in Science, where we educate about germs and diseases and how they spread; in History, where we explore how learning lessons from the past can shape our future; in Geography, where we learn about other cultures and how we can look after our world; in Music and Art; where we learn to appreciate beauty and explore mindfulness; in DT, where we learn how to prepare healthy meals; in Computing, where we learn about how to keep safe online; in PE, where we learn how to keep our body and mind healthy; and through our everyday interactions and conversations, promoting good manners, a growth mind-set and high expectations.

As a school we mark events throughout the year which are significant to our pupil’s development. These are covered through assemblies and class activities such as Safer Internet Day, Anti- Bullying Week, Black History Month, significant celebrations within our Catholic Faith, World Book Day, etc. Our Curriculum Leads cascade resource material to staff.

Our clubs such as Choir also help to develop healthy minds and attitudes. As a school we regularly attend The Young Voices initiative.

Transition

We endeavour to ensure that our children have a smooth transition into their new year group each year.

Nursery /Reception

In the Summer term, prior to joining our school, the new starters are invited to attend a stay and play session. Their starting dates are staggered and built up gradually according to their need. For example, staying for an hour, two hours, lunch and building up to the full day.

Year 6 

We have strong relationships with all the local secondary schools and this enables us to have a good transition from KS2 to KS3 for all of our children. We start our transition work in the Spring Term in Year 6, when we begin to discuss the changes that will happen in the year ahead and try to develop resilience and other coping strategies to help to deal with these changes. For our vulnerable pupils, we ensure that all the relevant people are fully involved in the transition process and provide all the information and support we can to the secondary school, the pupil and their families, both prior to and after transition.

Other Year Groups

In the Summer term, each class will spend time with their new teacher and in their new classroom, allowing them to get to know each other before the Summer break. 

RSE and PSHE Curriculum

Life to the Full is a fully resourced Scheme of Work in Relationships and Health Education (RHE) for Catholic primary schools which embraces and fulfils the new statutory curriculum. Taught with a spiral approach to learning, in which pupils will revisit the same topics at an age-appropriate stage through their school life, the programme includes teaching about personal health, physical and emotional wellbeing, strong emotions, private parts of the body, personal relationships, family structures, trusted adults, growing bodies, puberty, periods, life cycles, the dangers of social media, where babies come from, an understanding of the Common Good and living in the wider world. The entire teaching is underpinned with a religious understanding that our deepest identity is as a child of God - created chosen and loved by God. The programme is fully inclusive of all pupils and their families.
 

The programme includes:

• Approx. 80 lesson plans for EYFS through to Year 6;
• High-quality videos created by Ten Ten specifically for UK-based Catholic primary schools;
• Programme of prayer and worship music to accompany the scheme of work;
• Assessment Activities;
• Guidance for Programme Coordinators;
• Teaching training sessions;
• Programme Pathways for a variety of school timetables;
• Online Parent Portal for links to home.

The framework of our programme is taken from the Model Catholic RSE Programme by the Catholic Education Service, which has been highlighted by the Department of Education as a work of good practice.

https://www.tentenresources.co.uk/relationship-education/