Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE)

At SS. Mary and John’s, we recognise the crucial importance of providing a comprehensive, coherent offer for PSHE education in today’s society. We provide a broad and balanced curriculum that equips our students with the vocabulary, knowledge, understanding and skills they need to lead happy, healthy, and safe lives as responsible members of society. We teach the content of our curriculum using the broad themes of relationships, the wider world, health and wellbeing and keeping and staying healthy.

Our PSHE curriculum enables students to develop positive self-esteem, resilience, and wellbeing by promoting the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance for all. We aim to prepare our students for life and work by equipping them with the key skills they need to manage risk, deal with change, and make informed decisions. We offer a cohesive whole-school approach, through which children are taught relevant content appropriate to their age, stage and level of understanding. Children are supported and encouraged to understand how they are developing personally and socially, and to explore many of the moral, social and cultural issues that are part of growing up.

We provide our curriculum through a Catholic lens, encouraging children to recognise the connections with PSHE education and Catholic teaching. Throughout our curriculum and during lessons, we reference the ‘golden thread’ of Catholic Social Teaching, supporting children to understand how these principles can help them to live purposeful, fulfilled lives. We believe that in doing so, we can truly achieve our mission of supporting the children to strive for excellence in their lives, whilst maintaining Catholic values and discipleship at the forefront of how they conduct themselves.

PSHE is taught in class each week. In addition, the children participate in weekly Key Stage assemblies, focusing on the development of knowledge in aspects of the PSHE curriculum, Catholic Social Teaching and/ or British Values. Alongside what is taught in discreet PSHE education lessons, we also interweave and highlight to the children numerous opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills across the curriculum in subjects such as Religious Education, P.E., English, Mathematics, Science, Art, History and Geography. We also encourage our children to take part in a range of practical roles and activities that promote active citizenship. These include School Council, Liturgy Leaders, Play Leaders, Gardening Club and Reading Champions. Pupils are involved in whole school fundraising and with local community and national charitable events. Children have opportunities to meet and work with members of the community, such as health workers, firefighters, police officers, librarians, sports coaches, secondary school teachers, artists, authors, representatives from the local church and representatives from various organisations. We participate in, and promote National events such as Anti-Bullying Week, Children’s Mental Health Week, Vocations Day, Road Safety Week, Safer Internet Day and Walk to School Week.

Relationship & Health Education (RHE)

Relationship & Health Education (RHE) education within SS Mary & John is based on the teachings of the Catholic Church. As a child progresses through school, a firm and sure basis of family life and health education reflects their stage of development. The school recognises all parents as the primary educators of their children and seeks to support them in their role in this area. Relationships within the family are explored as are the changes, both physically and emotionally, which the children will experience themselves. In Upper Key Stage 2, we also explore the formation of family units and the sustaining of marriage and commitment, as well as some discussion on the Catholic teaching on morality within sexual relationships.

SS Mary & John’s uses the scheme ‘Life to the Full’ as the basis for this work and many aspects are dealt with sensitively in Religion, PSHE and Science lessons. Parents are informed fully of the appropriate programme of work before their child embarks upon it. The school fully recognises that all children develop in varying ways and at different rates and that parents are best placed to decide their child’s readiness for such work. At this point, you may withdraw your child from the work covered and the school respects and supports this decision.