OUR SPARKEN HILL ACADEMY PSHE CURRICULUM

AIMS

At Sparken Hill Academy, personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education is an embedded part of our broad and balanced curriculum. We strive to build spiritual, moral, social and cultural resilience by teaching contextual curriculum content of issues they are likely to experience within the local community. We also promote and celebrate the diversity of our community and individuals, helping them to aspire and achieve and fulfil their true potential. 

British Values are promoted through the overarching aims and objectives of PSHE by supporting our children to become healthy and responsible members of society, as well as preparing them for life and work in modern Britain.

INTENT -  What are we trying to achieve?

At Sparken Hill Academy, the intent for our PSHE Curriculum is to deliver a curriculum which is accessible to all, and that will maximise the outcomes for every child, so that they know more, remember more and understand more.  PSHE is embedded in all that we do to enable our children to become independent, responsible, healthy and confident members of society. 

We have built this curriculum with a view to looking at the "Whole Child" to ensure all areas of growth are promoted such as their personal and social development and subsequent enhancement of social, mental and physical development.  Ultimately, children will be able to handle the moral, social and cultural issues that are an inevitable part of growing up. 

As part of a collaborative cross curriculum delivery for PSHE, children are able to learn how to keep themselves safe physically and emotionally, resulting in them acquiring new skills and knowledge. We provide our children with opportunities to learn about rights and responsibilities and what it means to be a member of a diverse society. Our children are encouraged to develop their sense of self-worth by playing a positive role in contributing to their school life and wider community.

IMPLEMENTATION - How is the curriculum delivered?

At Sparken Hill Academy, our PSHE programme of learning and wider curriculum will enable children to meet the End of Key Stage Statements outlined in the Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education Guidance 2019.

Our PSHE programme is an integral part of our whole school PSHE education provision and is designed to meet the unique needs of pupils and all lessons are devised with our specific community in mind.  The curriculum is planned utilising the PSHE Association Question Based Model of planning, enhanced by "Lifewise" resources , external agency input (eg PCSO Knife Crime, Freed Beeches - Body Image, NSPCC - Speak out Stay Safe and Equation - GREAT project for Healthy Relationships) and a plethora of PSHE Ass. accredited lesson plans such as Yasmine and Tom (Family Planning Association). Children will have enhanced knowledge and understanding through these quality links with our multi-cultural community. 

Our ever evolving provision of PSHE promotes opportunities to link British Values and Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural (SMSC) responsibilities. Along with our broad and balanced curriculum, there are overlaps with other subjects, for example Computing (E-safety), Science (recycling), PE (leading healthy active lives). 

We adapt to the current local/national and global events by incorporating specific activities and lessons that are delivered in an age appropriate way across the school. This includes covering key campaigns throughout each year such as Anti-Bullying Week, Black History Month, International Women's Day and Mental Health Week. 

IMPACT- What difference is the curriculum making?

At Sparken Hill Academy, our PSHE curriculum and wider provision will ensure that children will be equipped to support their decision making in regards to their wellbeing, health and relationships.

Children will start their journey with us treating each other with kindness and respect. Our embedded whole school vision to nurture children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development supports them to foster good relationships between all in line with the protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. Our curriculum allows children to build upon their understanding of British Values in an age appropriate way, in order for them to become positive citizens in a forever changing community and ultimately preparing them for life and work in modern Britain.

By the end of each key stage, children will have had the opportunities to meet the end of key stage statements in line with the statutory guidance outlined in the Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education.

Ultimately, our overarching aims and objectives in supporting our children to become healthy and responsible members of society, enables pupils to develop the ability to collaborate, build upon their emotional security, improve concentration due to a focus on their wellbeing as well as ensuring children are self-reliant with an understanding of self-care and nutrition. We aim for children to end their journey moving onto the next stage of their education with self-confidence and a high sense of self-worth.

Our Curriculum Resources

We are members of the PSHE Association and utilise their accredited resources to ensure a complete, thorough choice of lesson plans that promote life skills and vital core knowledge pupils require before they leave Primary School. 

When planning our PSHE/RSE curriculum we are acutely aware of the importance of contextual relevance in the research process. It is vital we understand how our local community lives and what they may face on a day to day basis. We can then provide appropriate content to ensure our children are armed with the knowledge and awareness of potential risks, dangers and necessary skills to be valued members of society. Multi agency working is a daily occurrence within Sparken Hill and we welcome and embrace agencies such as the local PCSO to deliver knife crime lessons etc, the NSPCC to deliver the Speak out, Stay Safe lessons, Equation to deliver the GREAT (Good relationships are equal and trusting) Programme to our Year 6's and Freed Beeches to promote positive body image and confidence building to name only a few.

We are excited to be undertaking The Rainbow Flag Award to assess our inclusive ethos of the LGBTQ+ Community. LGBTQ+ inclusive education is about ensuring that this community is not set aside from others and is instead, continually woven into our lessons (not just PSHE!) to enable every child, irrespective of their gender, sexuality or identity to feel part of something and able to reach their full potential with all the help and support they need.  Learning about different kinds of families and inspirational people who change history from a young age helps create inclusive environments so everyone feels they belong and can aspire to great things.

We will be reviewing and evidencing our LGBTQ+ resources and cross-curricular coverage over the coming year to achieve our Rainbow Flag Award and we welcome your thoughts and opinions on this . We encourage you to contact Karen (Senior Family Support Worker) on 07540 686381 or Deb (Safeguarding Officer) on 07753 311569 for a chat about anything within this area of the curriculum you may like to discuss further.