At Thwaites School, Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE) is central to our commitment to developing confident, responsible and reflective pupils. It helps children understand themselves, build positive relationships, stay safe, make informed choices and participate thoughtfully in their community and the wider world.

Our curriculum incorporates statutory Relationships Education and Health Education, alongside wider PSHE and age-appropriate sex education. It is based on Kapow Primary and has been carefully adapted for our pupils, mixed-age classes and school context.

PSHE is taught weekly throughout the year. Although pupils learn in two main classes, teaching is organised for Years 1 and 2, Years 3 and 4, and Years 5 and 6. Pupils may be separated further by year group or taught in smaller groups where this is appropriate to the age, developmental stage or sensitive nature of the learning.

Nursery children develop relevant knowledge and skills separately through the EYFS curriculum. They learn about their feelings, relationships, health, safety, routines and the needs of themselves and others through age-appropriate teaching, play and everyday experiences.

Curriculum Organisation

Our PSHE curriculum is taught through carefully sequenced two-year rolling programmes for:

• Years 1 and 2;
• Years 3 and 4; and
• Years 5 and 6.

This structure ensures that pupils experience the full breadth of the curriculum while avoiding unnecessary repetition. Units are taught in a deliberate order so that pupils’ knowledge and understanding deepen as they mature.

The curriculum includes learning about:

• families, friendships and respectful relationships;
• physical health and mental wellbeing;
• recognising and managing emotions;
• personal boundaries, privacy and consent;
• staying safe at home, in the community and online;
• seeking help and identifying trusted adults;
• healthy lifestyles, food, exercise and sleep;
• medicines, drugs, alcohol, tobacco and vaping;
• basic first aid;
• puberty, menstruation and the changing adolescent body;
• citizenship, rights and responsibilities;
• economic wellbeing and money; and
• preparing for change and the transition to secondary school.

Lessons use discussion, stories, scenarios, reflection and practical activities. Pupils learn and practise vocabulary that helps them express their feelings, explain their thinking, recognise unsafe situations and ask for help.

Relationships Education

Relationships Education is statutory for all primary-aged pupils. It teaches children the knowledge and skills needed to develop safe, healthy and respectful relationships.

Pupils learn about families, friendships, kindness, honesty, respect and appropriate boundaries. They consider the characteristics of healthy relationships, how to respond to difficulties and how to recognise behaviour that may be unsafe or inappropriate.

Children learn that families can take different forms and that all pupils and families should be treated with dignity and respect. Teaching is age appropriate, factual and consistent with the school’s responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010.

Relationships Education also supports safeguarding. Pupils learn about personal privacy, permission seeking, appropriate and inappropriate contact, online relationships and the importance of speaking to a trusted adult when they feel worried or unsafe.

Health Education

Health Education is statutory and helps pupils develop an age-appropriate understanding of their physical and mental health.

Pupils learn about emotional wellbeing, healthy lifestyles, physical activity, food, sleep, personal hygiene, medicines and substances that may be harmful. They are taught strategies for managing emotions, responding to challenges and seeking help when needed.

Teaching also includes puberty and menstruation. Pupils learn about physical and emotional changes using clear, factual and age-appropriate language. This learning helps children understand their changing bodies and prepares them for adolescence.

Sex Education

Thwaites School provides age-appropriate sex education in Years 5 and 6 to support pupils’ preparation for adolescence and secondary education.

We teach the full Kapow Primary PSHE and RSE curriculum. Additional sex education includes age-appropriate learning about human conception, pregnancy, birth and the different ways in which people may become parents and carers.

Teaching is factual, sensitive and carefully matched to pupils’ age and developmental stage. Pupils may be taught separately by year group where appropriate.

Parents and carers will be informed before any additional sex education is taught. The communication will identify the relevant learning, explain which content is non-statutory and make clear where the parental right to request withdrawal applies. Curriculum materials will be available for parents and carers to view on request.

Inclusion and Safeguarding

Our curriculum is designed to be accessible to every pupil. Teachers adapt language, resources, examples and activities according to pupils’ ages, developmental stages and individual needs.

Support may include visual resources, modelling, repetition, structured discussion, carefully chosen groupings and additional adult support. Pupils with SEND are supported to develop an appropriate understanding of relationships, personal boundaries, consent, safe and unsafe situations and how to seek help.

Sensitive subjects are taught within a calm, respectful and supportive environment. Teachers establish clear expectations for discussion and do not require pupils to disclose personal experiences, beliefs or family circumstances.

Pupils are encouraged to ask appropriate questions. Teachers respond factually and sensitively, taking account of pupils’ ages and needs. If a pupil says something that raises a safeguarding concern, staff follow the school’s Child Protection Policy and Procedures.

Assessment

Assessment in PSHE focuses on what pupils know, understand and can apply. It does not assess their personal beliefs, emotions, experiences or family circumstances.

Teachers assess learning continually through observation, questioning, discussion and pupils’ responses to scenarios and activities. This helps teachers identify misconceptions, adapt teaching and provide appropriate support.

At the end of lessons, pupils reflect on their learning and use the school’s POG system to consider their progress against the learning objective and success criteria:

• Pink – Developing: “I am starting to learn this, but I still need help.”
• Orange – Secure: “I can do this on my own most of the time.”
• Green – Advanced: “I can do this confidently and could help someone else.”

At the end of each unit, teachers complete a class assessment summary based on the knowledge and skills taught. Assessment is informed by teachers’ professional judgement and does not rely upon tests, numerical scores or excessive data collection.

Previous learning is revisited through discussions, scenarios and deliberate links between units. This helps pupils retain important knowledge and apply it when encountering new situations.

Curriculum Impact

By the end of Year 6, we aim for pupils to:

• understand the characteristics of healthy and respectful relationships;
• recognise and manage a range of emotions;
• make informed choices about their health and wellbeing;
• understand personal boundaries, privacy and consent;
• know how to keep themselves and others safe, including online;
• recognise unsafe or inappropriate behaviour and report concerns;
• know how and where to seek help;
• demonstrate respect and empathy towards others;
• understand their rights and responsibilities;
• approach change and challenges with increasing resilience; and
• feel prepared for secondary education and the next stage of their lives.

We want pupils to leave Thwaites School as thoughtful, respectful and resilient individuals who understand that their voice, actions and choices matter.

Parental Right to Request Withdrawal

Parents and carers cannot withdraw their child from statutory Relationships Education, Health Education or relevant content taught through the National Curriculum for Science. This includes statutory teaching about puberty and menstruation.

Parents and carers have the right to request that their child is withdrawn from some or all of the additional sex education provided by the school.

Any parent or carer considering withdrawal should contact the headteacher. The headteacher will offer an opportunity to discuss the curriculum, identify the lessons to which withdrawal applies and answer any questions. In a primary school, a request to withdraw a pupil from additional sex education will be granted.

Where a pupil is withdrawn, the school will provide appropriate and purposeful alternative education.

For further information, to view curriculum materials or to discuss withdrawal, please contact the school:

Telephone: 01229 772554
Email: admin@thwaites.cumbria.sch.uk

Our Relationships, Sex and Health Education Policy is available below. Paper copies are available free of charge from the school office.