- Home
- Our Curriculum
- Subjects
- PSHE and RSE
PSHE and RSE
If you have any questions regarding our PSHE curriculum please contact Carys Smith - carys.smith@bcsglt.co.uk. If you have any questions regarding the RSE curriculum please contact Michael Smith - michael.smith@bcsglt.co.uk or call on 01296 488331.
Intent
At Bearbrook, personal, social and health economic education (PSHE) enables our children to become healthy, independent, resilient and responsible members of an ever-changing society. This develops the whole child emotionally, intellectually, morally, socially and spiritually. We provide our children with opportunities to learn about rights and responsibilities and preparing them for life and work in the modern world. Through our whole-school approach to PSHE, it is our belief that excelling in these areas will lead to excellence across the curriculum. Our children are encouraged to develop their sense of self-worth by playing a positive role in contributing to school life and the wider world.
The curriculumwill demonstrate appropriate subject knowledge, skills and understanding to fulfil the duties of the PSHE curriculum including, Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education (HE) whereby schools must provide a ‘balanced and broadly-based curriculum which promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils.'
Relationships and Sex Education
We aim to deliver a high-quality Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) curriculum that promotes the well-being, safety, and healthy development of all pupils. RSE has been a statutory part of the PSHE curriculum for primary schools since September 2020. Whilst it is not statutory for primary schools to provide Sex education in PSHE, we teach Sex education in an age-appropriate manner to Year 6 pupils in the summer term.
RSE is taught from Year 1 up to Year 6 and follows the Family Planning Association (FPA) programme of learning ‘Growing Up with Yasmine and Tom’. This program reflects the recent developments in RSE and the Science National Curriculum and has been quality assured by the PSHE Association. The resources in the FPA scheme are age and developmentally appropriate. This interactive, story-based program forms a core part of our RSE curriculum. It provides pupils with animated scenarios that cover topics such as:
- Understanding friendships, emotions, and respect (in early years).
- Learning about body changes, personal boundaries, and consent (in later years).
- Discussing online safety, privacy, and responsible decision-making.
The "Yasmine and Tom" characters help bring these sensitive topics to life, presenting them in a way that is accessible and engaging for primary-aged children. Each lesson is carefully aligned to developmental stages and allows children to explore these issues in a fun and safe environment.
When teaching RSE, we focus on:
- Safeguarding and keeping children safe.
- Teaching children about diverse, healthy and respectful relationships, friendships, and family life.
- Provide age-appropriate information about growing up, body changes, and personal boundaries.
- Foster self-esteem and resilience, encouraging children to make informed choices that protect their physical and emotional health.
- Promote the understanding of consent, privacy, and safety, both online and offline.
- Ensure all pupils understand the importance of mutual respect, tolerance, and empathy within relationships, fostering an inclusive environment that reflects the diversity of our school community.
Bearbrook recognises the essential role of parents and carers in shaping children’s understanding of relationships and sex. We communicate openly with parents about our RSE curriculum, provide opportunities for parental input, and ensure they are informed about what their children are learning. Since Sex education is not statutory for primary schools, parents and carers do have the right to withdraw their child from these lessons.
The statutory guidance can be found in the link below:
For more information about the FPA program ‘Growing Up with Yasmine and Tom’ can be found below:
Implementation
Our PSHE curriculum is shaped to enable all children, regardless of background, ability and additional needs to flourish to become the very best version of themselves they can possibly be.
The PSHE curriculum is based on three core themes which are outlined by the PSHE Association: Relationships, Living in the Wider World, and Health and wellbeing.
Each class records learning in a floor book which moves with them each year to show progressions in learning. Within these topics, children will learn about the importance of building positive relationships with others and how to look after both their bodies and their mental health as they grow older. They will learn about how families can look different and the foundation to a healthy family is love. They will also deepen their understanding of different emotions that they may experience and explore appropriate ways to manage and express these in an appropriate way. As part of Living in the Wider World, pupils will discuss how to recognise and manage potential dangers and risks they might encounter in their online and offline lives, how to save and look after their money, and where to go for help if needed.
PSHE Progression
PSHE Learning Overviews
PHSE Pupil Voice
"PSHE helps me understand how to support my friends better. One of my friends outside of school how additional needs, what I learn in PSHE helps me understand him and be more patient"
Year 6 pupil
"I like learning about online safety, I spend lots of time playing games on the computer so it is good that I know how to keep safe" Year 2 pupil
"You get to do lots of talking in PSHE lessons, I get to tell my classmates about things in my life"
Year 3 pupil
PCSO Visit to the Year 6 children
PCSO (police community support officer) Janine Sinclair and PCSO Andrew White came to visit year 6 on 15th November. They came in to discuss online safety and our digital footprint. The children were shocked to learn about the age restrictions on some of their favourite games and social media sights. They learned about the laws around posting things online, and also looked at some examples of where celebrities had posted things years ago, that has now been dug up and they are having to make apologies for things they posted.
'There's lots in the news and things about famous people, like footballers, having posted bad things online when they were younger and now it's getting them into trouble.' - Year 6 pupil
'I knew there were age restrictions on social media, but it surprised me how many things we shouldn't really be going on. Most stuff said it was okay if our parents had given us permission, but it still made me think about going on some of them.' - Year 6 pupil
Aquafresh Shine Bright Campaign
In November 2023 we were lucky enough to be visited by theAquafresh Toothpaste Team as part of their Shine Bright Campaign. The Shine Bright Campaign aims to help children and families to have the opportunity and access to oral health education – as they want all children to have the opportunity to shine!
Dr. Emily MacDonagh visited our Year 1 and Year 2 children to teach them about the importance of looking after their teeth, as well as the children learning about good oral hygiene by engaging with the Shine Bright educational materials. Aquafresh's aim was to empower families by providing schools and parents/guardians with educational materials for kids to learn healthy habits and insights into their teeth while at school and at home.
The children loved learning about looking after their teeth with the Aquafresh and Dr Emily.
To see view the video of Dr Emily's visit please click on the link below.
Aquafresh Shine Bright Campaign - Visit to Bearbrook from Dr Emily
