Intent

The intent of our PSHE and Mental Wellbeing offer is to deliver a curriculum that ensures the children in our school are safe, mentally well, ready for learning and able to develop the skills needed to grow into caring, respectful citizens who achieve their full potential. These intentions reflect our school’s three core values of love, respect and resilience as well as encouraging the children to follow our school motto of ‘Let Your Light Shine’. The curriculum also encompasses the Relationships and Sex Education Framework which provides children with age-appropriate knowledge, building life skills over time in a way that prepares pupils to make informed choices about their future relationships.

We take our curriculum planning from Coram Life Education (SCARF) because the topics support social, moral, spiritual (linking to our RE curriculum) and cultural development and provide children with protective teaching on essential safeguarding issues, developing the knowledge of when and how children can ask for help. As a result of this learning they will:

1. Know that mental wellbeing is a normal part of daily life, in the same way as physical health.
2. Learn that there is a normal range of emotions and scale of emotions that all humans experience.
3. Adopt simple self-care techniques, including the importance of rest, time spent with friends and family and the benefits of hobbies and interests.
4. Learn how to recognise, understand and build healthy, respectful relationships and also how to manage conflict.
5.  Know where and how to seek support including whom in school they should speak to if they are worried about their own or someone else’s mental wellbeing.
6. Understand the negative impact that bullying (including cyberbullying) has on mental wellbeing; how to spot it, prevent it and seek help.
7. Understand how to stay safe online.
8. Be given the facts about staying healthy including the negative effects of drugs and alcohol.
9. Know key facts about puberty and the changing adolescent body, including physical and emotional changes.

Whole School Learning

We aim to take a whole school approach to wellbeing through our culture and curriculum. For example:

1. Policies in place to support mental health and wellbeing e.g. attendance management; safeguarding and child protection; and PSHE.
2. An active school council.
3. Parents engaged and supported through our website, social media platforms and home-school updates via Class Dojo.
4. Whole school awareness days/weeks to promote wellbeing including World Mental Health Days.
5. Whole school mental health techniques taught and promoted to pupils. E.g. five ways to wellbeing, take five breathing, emotional regulation, mindfulness/meditation, relaxation and movement exercises such as yoga.
6. PSHE lessons (curriculum outlined below)
7. Pupil Voice Conferences each term for children to give staff their feedback on all school matters, including mental health and wellbeing.
8. Zones of Regulation teaching linked to emotional check-in registers.
9. Emotional Literacy Support Assistance (ELSA).
10. Annual workshops provided by SCARF Life Education bus, either in person or online, related to aspects of the PSHE framework.

Pupils in need of additional support

We are aware of risk factors which may indicate a pupil needs help and we know our children well to recognise changes in their behaviour and personality. We use our Mental Health and Wellbeing Provision pyramid to guide our responses. These may include:

1. One to one and group work with trained school staff.
2. Supporting and working with families.

 Implementation

In our weekly PSHE lessons lasting around 60 minutes, we teach the suggested half-termly units on Coram Life Education (SCARF) built from the non-statutory National Curriculum guidance and the EYFS framework. This is supported by a clear skills and knowledge progression to ensure that these are built on year by year and sequenced appropriately to maximise learning for all children in line with the social and emotional experiences they might have at a particular age. Through the following, we aim to provide a rich and broad experience in the study of PSHE and RSE in every year group. Wellbeing lessons can also happen when they are required; teachers do not wait for the ‘friendship’ lesson to come up if a discussion is required in class that week.

Using the long-term overview taken from SCARF, teachers will present a sequence of lessons using skills and progression which marry up with the learning opportunities outlined by the PSHE Association. Teachers aim to provide a sensitive and nurturing environment suitable for the age group taught whilst building on the previous year’s learning. Pupils are encouraged to share their own ideas and experiences whilst reflecting thoughtfully on those of others. Teachers are aware of the chance that children may disclose safeguarding information during or as a result of a topic discussion.

In Early Years, the programme of Study comes from the EYFS Framework and teaches the following statements.

In Year 1 to 6, each lesson will come under one or more of the statements from the Relationships Education and Health Education programme of Study.

We ensure that every pupil, regardless of SEN(D) or ability, is able to participate in lessons and access the curriculum. The nurturing circle time sessions allow for equality between the children with a chance for every child to be listened to. The children have an agreement of how to respect each other during these sessions and adults support the opinions that pupils offer.

Assessment: Foundation Stage pupils are assessed against the EYFS Early Learning Goals of Personal Social and Emotional Development. Pupils in years 1-6 are regularly monitored and assessed against the criteria in our progression and skills document using an end of unit quiz and if there are children that flag concern they are referred to home school link workers and/or our in-house ELSA team (Emotional Literacy Support Assistance).

Impact

By the time our pupils leave Grove CE Primary in Year 6, we aim for them to;

❖  Understand how to keep themselves physically and mentally healthy.

1.  Have a repertoire of strategies to support their physical and mental health.

1.  Know how to maintain healthy and respectful relationships with family and friends.
2.  Have clear boundaries and respect for others when presenting themselves online.
3.  Be factually knowledgeable about the physical and emotional changes that they and their peers will experience as they enter adolescence.
4. Embody the values of our school so that they may ‘let their light shine’ in the wider community.