At St Willibrord’s, our PSHE and RSE curriculum helps children develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes and vocabulary they need to grow as safe, healthy, respectful and responsible members of our school community and the wider world.
Our curriculum combines two carefully selected programmes:
Kapow Primary RSE & PSHE, which provides our wider PSHE curriculum;
Ten Ten Resources – Life to the Full, which provides our core Relationships and Health Education curriculum within a Catholic context.
The two programmes have been carefully mapped together so that children receive comprehensive curriculum coverage without unnecessary duplication.
Where the two programmes cover similar material, we have deliberately selected the resource that best supports our curriculum intent. In particular, puberty, changing bodies, reproduction and associated sensitive content are taught through Life to the Full.
Our curriculum is rooted in our Catholic understanding of the dignity and worth of every person. Children are encouraged to recognise themselves and others as unique and precious while developing the knowledge and confidence required to build healthy relationships, make informed choices and respond safely to challenge and risk.
Our curriculum develops through several interconnected areas.
Children learn about:
physical and mental health;
emotions and emotional regulation;
healthy eating;
exercise and physical activity;
sleep and rest;
hygiene and dental health;
medicines and harmful substances;
illness and prevention;
puberty and changing bodies;
where and how to seek help.
Children learn about:
families and the people who care for them;
friendship;
kindness and respect;
healthy and unhealthy relationships;
personal boundaries;
privacy;
appropriate and inappropriate contact;
bullying and discrimination;
asking for and giving help;
resolving difficulties safely.
Children learn how to participate safely and responsibly in an increasingly digital world.
Learning develops from simple understanding of safe device use towards:
protecting personal information;
respectful online communication;
reporting concerns;
cyberbullying;
digital footprints;
recognising unreliable or misleading information;
advertising and online influence;
scams and suspicious content;
appropriate sharing;
consent online;
understanding where and how to seek help.
Online safety is reinforced through both PSHE/RSE and Computing so that pupils encounter consistent messages across the curriculum.
Through our wider Kapow PSHE curriculum, children also explore:
communities;
rights and responsibilities;
citizenship;
caring for the environment;
careers and aspirations;
money and financial decision-making;
making a positive contribution to society.
Our PSHE and RSE curriculum is progressive. Important concepts are revisited throughout the school at an increasingly sophisticated level so that children can connect new learning to previous knowledge and experience.
Children begin by developing an understanding of themselves and the people around them.
They learn to:
recognise and talk about feelings;
begin to regulate emotions;
understand that they are unique and valued;
develop positive friendships;
share and cooperate;
understand simple rules and boundaries;
recognise people who can help them;
begin to understand how to stay safe;
develop healthy routines and wellbeing.
Learning takes place through direct teaching, stories, discussion, play and everyday interactions.
Children develop their emotional vocabulary and learn simple strategies for managing feelings.
They explore:
their uniqueness and their bodies;
healthy choices;
feelings and emotional wellbeing;
friendships and special people;
how people should treat one another;
appropriate physical contact and personal safety;
simple online safety;
helping others and caring for their community;
trusted adults and asking for help.
Children develop greater understanding of how everyday choices affect their health and wellbeing.
They learn more about:
healthy bodies and routines;
friendships, kindness and relationships;
personal space and boundaries;
safe and unsafe situations;
online safety and private information;
communities and belonging;
secrets and when they should be shared with a trusted adult;
harmful substances;
how bodies grow and change;
making safe choices in different places.
Children begin to examine relationships, wellbeing and safety in greater depth.
They explore:
the connection between physical and mental health;
a wider range of emotions;
body respect and the beginnings of puberty education;
safe, respectful and inclusive relationships;
bullying and how to respond;
appropriate online communication;
rights and responsibilities;
online sharing and communication;
drugs, alcohol and tobacco;
basic first aid and seeking help;
community and service;
careers and aspirations.
Children develop increasingly secure understanding of healthy choices, relationships and personal safety.
They learn about:
physical and mental wellbeing;
healthy choices;
puberty and changing bodies;
respectful relationships;
stereotypes and bullying;
evaluating information online;
responsible use of money;
safe online communication;
appropriate boundaries;
harmful substances and first aid;
recognising warning signs in unsafe situations;
seeking appropriate help.
Children explore increasingly complex aspects of physical and emotional development.
They learn about:
physical and mental wellbeing as they grow;
puberty and body changes;
body image;
emotions and changing feelings;
menstruation;
healthy relationships;
social and peer pressure;
online influence and persuasion;
advertising and scams;
community participation and citizenship;
cyberbullying;
different forms of abuse and personal safety;
financial understanding and responsible choices.
Age-appropriate teaching about human reproduction is delivered through our Life to the Full programme within the wider context of dignity, relationships, responsibility and the human life cycle.
Children consolidate and extend their learning in preparation for secondary school.
They explore:
how present choices can affect future health;
physical and emotional changes during puberty;
body image and emotional wellbeing;
relationships, boundaries and respect;
reproduction and the human life cycle;
peer pressure and independent decision-making;
prejudice, discrimination and stereotypes;
online influence and harmful content;
cyberbullying and online relationships;
rights and responsibilities;
recognising abuse and unsafe situations;
drugs and other risks;
knowing when, where and how to seek help.
By the end of Year 6, children should have increasingly secure knowledge and vocabulary to recognise healthy and unhealthy situations, make informed decisions, protect themselves and others and seek support when needed.
Life to the Full is our core Relationships and Health Education programme.
Its three modules develop children's understanding of:
Children learn about their uniqueness, dignity, bodies, physical and emotional health and the changes involved in growing up.
Children explore relationships, friendship, family, online relationships, personal boundaries and ways of keeping themselves and others safe.
Children consider their place within communities and develop an understanding of responsibility, service and care for others through a Catholic understanding of the human person.
The current programme also includes Classroom Shorts and updated teaching materials addressing specific aspects of the statutory curriculum, including health, hygiene, dental health, healthy eating, exercise, sleep, vaccination and immunisation, online life and seeking help.
Online safety is an important element of our curriculum and is taught progressively from EYFS to Year 6.
Children learn to:
recognise when something online makes them uncomfortable;
keep personal information private;
behave respectfully online;
recognise unreliable information;
understand how online content can influence them;
recognise cyberbullying and other online harms;
understand digital footprints;
identify scams and suspicious content;
understand appropriate online sharing and consent;
use reporting and blocking tools;
know how and where to seek help.
These messages are reinforced through Computing, safeguarding education and wider school life.
Our PSHE and RSE curriculum is ambitious for all pupils.
Teaching is adapted carefully so that pupils with different communication, learning and developmental needs can access the same important concepts.
Adaptations may include:
visual support;
pre-teaching of vocabulary;
carefully structured discussion;
social stories or scenarios;
additional processing time;
adapted recording;
individual or small-group follow-up where appropriate;
opportunities to respond orally or through alternative means.
Sensitive content is taught with careful consideration of pupils' age, development, individual circumstances and SEND.
Adaptation does not mean removing important safeguarding knowledge. All pupils need to develop appropriate understanding of their bodies, relationships, boundaries, safety and how to seek help.
PSHE and RSE are taught within a safe and respectful classroom environment.
Teachers establish appropriate ground rules and use correct, age-appropriate vocabulary.
Children are encouraged to ask questions, but teachers consider carefully whether questions are best answered:
with the whole class;
individually;
with parents or carers involved;
through further pastoral or safeguarding support.
Where a discussion raises a safeguarding concern, normal safeguarding procedures are followed.
Assessment in PSHE and RSE focuses on what pupils know, understand and can apply rather than on pupils' personal circumstances, experiences or beliefs.
Teachers use:
discussion and questioning;
pupil reflections;
workbooks;
scenarios and problem solving;
assessment activities;
pupil voice;
observation of pupils' understanding and use of vocabulary.
Assessment helps teachers identify misconceptions, revisit important knowledge and determine whether pupils understand how to apply their learning to situations involving health, relationships and safety.
We recognise that parents and carers are the first educators of their children and that effective Relationships and Health Education works best when school and home work together.
Information about our curriculum and sensitive content is shared transparently with families.
Relationships Education and Health Education are statutory in primary schools.
Some aspects of sex education go beyond the statutory primary Science curriculum. Where the school teaches such content, this is explained through the school's RSE policy and parent consultation arrangements, including the statutory parental right of withdrawal where this applies.
Our year-group curriculum plans show how Kapow PSHE and Ten Ten's Life to the Full programme are combined and sequenced through the school.
Curriculum by Year Group – Click here
PSHE and RSE Policy – Click here