PSHE

PSHE is a crucial learning movement in the development of our children: socially, emotionally, mentally and physically. At Portway Primary School, we believe our children should be as prepared for their own futures as possible and we will provide them with the strategies and knowledge that they need to do that.Ā  As a school, we follow the guidance in Newham’s model RSHE Policy, regarding which parents were consulted.

We acknowledge and understand that there are many factors in life which are challenging and in response to that, our curriculum allows the children to explore:

  • their own emotions and supports the understanding that we all have different experiences and different responses
  • their own learning and grows levels of independence overtime
  • thierĀ choices which keep them safe in real life and online
  • the diversity of their community and celebrate the opportunities which come from this
  • the relationships they will experience with the people they meet and interact with
  • the human body and the changes that it goes through

Our PSHE unit coverageĀ provides detailed information as to how we teach all elements of the curriculum across all year groups at our school.

How is PSHE taught at Portway?

The PSHE curriculum is designed to help pupils form a Relationship, Sex and Health Mental model within their long-term memories.

Schema theory states that all knowledge is organised into units. A mental model is, therefore, a conceptual system for understanding knowledge.Ā 

Our PSHE Mental model is a way of organising PSHE substantive and disciplinary knowledge in a meaningful way; it is an appreciation of how facts are connected and the ways in which they are connected.Ā  It is distinct from information, which is just isolated facts that have no organisational basis or links.

Big Ideas help form the basis of the mental model. Big Ideas are key concepts that underpin the subject. There are four Big Ideas in PSHE:

  • Myself (To know and feel confident in discussing emotions. To establish a way of learning which is most suitable and developing independence in learning)
  • My Surroundings (To know how to stay safe and make positive choices. To understand the impact a community has on an individual. To identify positive and negative relationships and discuss what makes them so. )
  • My Society (To prepare myself to build healthy financial habits to support my economic future) Ā 
  • Sex (To recognise the changes the human body goes through as it grows)

Each Big Idea has knowledge strands which help to strengthen the mental model. Learning knowledge in each of the strands allows pupils to express and demonstrate their understanding of the Big Idea,Ā which gradually develops as pupils return to them over and over again.