At St Margaret’s C of E Primary School, PSHE is at the heart of school life and nurtures our children to grow into caring, responsible members of our our school and wider community as well as confident, independent and healthy individuals.
Through our whole school approach to PSHE, we believe that it is our emphasis on personal development which will enable our children to flourish and achieve excellence across all areas of the curriculum and in all aspects of their lives; developing intellectually, socially, spiritually and morally.
Lessons are delivered on a weekly basis following a spiral curriculum and progressive scheme of work; 'Kapow' which teaches age appropriate content with a strong emphasis on emotional literacy, building resilience and promoting positive mentally and physically healthy lifestyles. Protected characteristics are intergrated through the PSHE curriculum and taught in an age-appropriate way. Global awareness is taught through additional resources such as Newsround and Picture News which promote British Values and protected characteristics in meaningful contexts linked to current affairs in a child-friendly way. Strong cross-curricular links enable children to apply their learning widely at an age appropriate level. We celebrate diversity and broaden children's understanding of the world around them, equipping them with the knowledge, skills and understanding to make a positive contribution to society. Our PSHE lessons open doors to discussion and offer a safe space for children to talk and reflect with their peers. This is enhanced by our twelve core Christian values and weekly ethos statements which underpin our collective worship at St Margaret's. Our PROUD reward system recognises these values and our school rules;
Ready, respectful, safe in our daily practice. Our whole school approach to PSHE is a key driver in our school vision:
F flourish
A achieve
B believe
“Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” Daniel 12:3
We have a whole school approach to embedding our Proud Values and FAB vision at St Margaret's. Every class has a learning line which is used in all lessons across the curriculum as well as to promote growth mindset and skills for personal development. Using emotional registers and 'Zones of Regulation', children are taught the language to be able to share their feelings and discuss ways to manage their emotions. Theme days are planned throughout the year to raise awareness of differences such as ADHD and Dyslexia awareness weeks. Black History month inspires work through texts from different cultures and we celebrate diversity in lots of ways throughout the year through focused work throughout school. We have a partnership with a school in Mattuga, Uganda and we look forward to ambassadors visiting to tell us about the progress being made from our sponsorship and to hear about the children's experiences at school compared to our own. Our strong Inclusion team offer additional nurture support for many of our children to ensure everyone in school succeeds and feels safe and valued. Teachers plan for outside agencies to visit school and teach us about safety such as the emergency services and Cycle training. School trips are a valuable part of our curriculum and enhance children's learning beyond the classroom. We have strong links with the church and our school is central within our community. Much of our work with local businesses, charities and other members of our Horsforth community promotes personal development to help children grow into responsible and caring citizens. Some examples of this is captured in these photos of our displays around school as well as in our class year group sections of this webpage.
PSHE Around SchoolThrough our PSHE curriculum, children at St Margaret's will be encouraged to grow into respectful and resilient young people who are able to lead happy, successful lives.
We teach Mindmate sessions alongside our Kapow scheme of work. Mindmate lessons are focused on mental health and wellbeing.
At the start of our PSHE lessons, we ensure that we take the time to create an environment of mutual respect. May of the topics we discuss may be sensitive issues for children in the class and we always ensure children understand individuals' have right to have their own opinions and beliefs which may differ to others.