Intent: Why are we teaching this?

PSHE is embedded in daily life at Poverest as well as being taught weekly through our engaging and inclusive Kapow PSHE lessons and Picture News assembilies. The broad and balanced PSHE curriculum enables pupils to develop knowledge and skills they need to flourish in the wider curriculum and in life as a whole. PSHE helps pupils to understand their own personal values, and how, as individuals, they fit into and contribute to the world. PSHE develops emotional literacy, builds resilience and supports mental and physical wellbeing, in turn supporting emotional awareness, active learning and concentration. ”Weaving through the heart of our creative PSHE teaching, is a commitment to enhancing and promoting our school ethos to ‘learn together, grow together and succeed together’’.

Implementation: How is this being taught?

To ensure a depth and accuracy of learning which builds upon prior learning, all classes undertake weekly PSHE lessons which follow Kapow, a fully planned and spiralling/progressive PSHE scheme. It includes SMSC and British Values throughout the 6 themes. There are 6 lessons per theme and every lesson has two Learning Intentions, one specific to Relationships and Health Education (PSHE) (in purple) and the other designed to develop emotional literacy and social skills (in green). Lessons are underpinned by the Jigsaw behaviour charter, which reinforces respect for each other – taking turns, being kind and positive and respecting confidentiality.

Assessment in Kapow is both formative and summative. The summative assessment process offers criteria for children either working at, beyond or towards the age-related expectations. Greater depth children can be challenged to ensure that they are being given the opportunities to enrich their learning further. The “Class Teacher” page at the start of every puzzle supports teachers to feel more confident in their own subject knowledge, which in turn allows them to extend the learning of the children. As well as online CPD through Kapow, the PSHE Subject lead also delivers staff training at least twice a year. 

As Kapow PSHE is a whole-school approach, rather than simply a lesson-a-week Scheme of Work for PSHE, there are numerous layers built in that engender a sense of belonging and community, and that value every individual. To ensure that it doesn’t become repetitive we also use ‘Picture News’ to discuss ‘What is in the News?’ as part of our weekly assemblies which helps to embed SMSC and British Values in day-to-day life at Poverest. 

Impact: What is the effect?

The impact of our PSHE teaching is evident in school life as whole – in pupils’ good behaviour, their attitudes to learning and their respect, care and understanding for and of, each other.

By the time children leave our school they will: 

• have a good understanding of how to stay safe, healthy and develop good relationships. 

• be respectful, socially and morally responsible, active members of society appreciating difference and diversity

• have a strong self-awareness (including self-esteem) interlinked with compassion of others. 

• be able to approach a range of real life situations and apply their skills whilst looking after their own mental health and well-being.

How will we know? 

Through discussions with pupils, monitoring pupil’s skills and knowledge over time through teacher assessments, learning walks, work scrutiny and discussions with staff we can be confident that the Impact of PSHE matches the Intent and we can evidence this.