At Bishop’s Waltham Junior School the health, safety and well-being of every child is our top priority.
Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE)
At Bishop’s Waltham Junior School, we deliver PSHE lessons to allow pupils to embrace the challenges of creating a happy and successful adult life, by equipping them with the knowledge that will enable them to make informed decisions about their wellbeing, health and relationships and to build their self-efficacy. Pupils can also put this knowledge into practice as they develop the capacity to make sound decisions when facing risks, challenges and complex contexts. Everyone faces difficult situations in their lives and our PSHE curriculum can support our pupils to develop resilience, to know how and when to ask for help, and to know where to access support. Working with Bishop’s Waltham Infant School, we have ensured full coverage of the statutory PSHE requirements. Our coverage map can be found here.
At our school we use a programme called 3D PSHE. It is a high quality and age-appropriate teaching resource to develop fully-rounded children who are healthy, sociable and emotionally literate helping them prepare for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life. In addition, to cover the SRE aspects of the PSHE curriculum, we use the Christopher Winter Project. It is a planned and progressive programme, used throughout the school. It covers aspects of relationships, puberty and conception. Our SRE policy can be accessed here.
Together, these resources should enable pupils to cope with the changes at puberty, introduces them to a wider world and enables them to make an active contribution to their communities
We believe that PSHE plays a vital part of primary education and as well as discrete focused lessons, it is also embedded throughout the curriculum. PSHE is integral to the development of children’s values in order for them to become a positive citizen in a forever changing community.
Our full PSHE curriculum overview can be found here. Please note, academic year 2020-2021 looks slightly different to allow catch up of missed SRE lessons.
Promoting Spritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development (SMSC) at BWJS
Bishop’s Waltham Junior school recognises that the personal development of pupils, spiritually, morally, socially and culturally, plays a significant part in their ability to learn and achieve.
At BWJS, the spiritual development of our pupils is shown by their:
- ability to be reflective about their own beliefs, religious or otherwise, that inform their perspective on life and their interest in and respect for different people’s faiths, feelings and values
- sense of enjoyment and fascination in learning about themselves, others and the world around them
- use of imagination and creativity in their learning
- willingness to reflect on their experiences.
At BWJS, the moral development of our pupils is shown by their:
- ability to recognise the difference between right and wrong and to readily apply this understanding in their own lives, recognise legal boundaries and, in so doing, respect the civil and criminal law of England
- understanding of the consequences of their behaviour and actions
- interest in investigating and offering reasoned views about moral and ethical issues and ability to understand and appreciate the viewpoints of others on these issues.
At BWJS, the social development of our pupils is shown by their:
- use of a range of social skills in different contexts, for example working and socialising with other pupils, including those from different religious, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds
- willingness to participate in a variety of communities and social settings, including by volunteering, cooperating well with others and being able to resolve conflicts effectively
- acceptance and engagement with the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs; they develop and demonstrate skills and attitudes that will allow them to participate fully in and contribute positively to life in modern Britain.
At BWJS, the cultural development of our pupils is shown by their:
- understanding and appreciation of the wide range of cultural influences that have shaped their own heritage and those of other
- understanding and appreciation of the range of different cultures within school and further afield as an essential element of their preparation for life in modern Britain
- knowledge of Britain’s democratic parliamentary system and its central role in shaping our history and values, and in continuing to develop Britain
- willingness to participate in and respond positively to artistic, musical, sporting and cultural opportunities
- interest in exploring, improving understanding of and showing respect for different faiths and cultural diversity and the extent to which they understand, accept, respect and celebrate diversity, as shown by their tolerance and attitudes towards different religious, ethnic and socio-economic groups in the local, national and global communities.
Our school values tie in very closely to the definitions above. This reinforces and promotes SMSC throughout our school.
We therefore aim to provide an education that provides pupils with opportunities to explore and develop:
- their own values and beliefs
- spiritual awareness
- high standards of personal behaviour
- a positive caring attitude towards other people
- an understanding of their social and cultural traditions
- an appreciation of the diversity and richness of other cultures.
Safeguarding within the BWJS Curriculum
Great importance is placed on identifying opportunities in the taught curriculum for children to learn about safeguarding. Our broad curriculum gives pupils opportunities to experience life in all its diversity, to acquire knowledge, understanding and skills that significantly impact on personal development, behaviour and welfare and equips every child with the knowledge and skills required for personal safeguarding. Our PSHE curriculum covers a wide range of areas linked to Safeguarding. We are sensitive in our teaching and recognise that some more sensitive subjects need to be taught at an age appropriate level, or at a small group or 1:1 level where a more urgent need arises.
We plan to constantly challenge children to think deeply about safeguarding matters and their own personal physical and mental wellbeing. We value pupils’ questions and give them space for their own thoughts, ideas and concerns. We give them opportunities across the curriculum to explore values, personal rights, responsibilities and equal opportunities that develop moral concepts that impact positively on safeguarding, promote British values and prevent radicalisation and extremism.
There are many opportunities throughout our learning in school to explore safeguarding issues.
Examples of safeguarding opportunities which are planned into our curriculum
- Internet safety – Gooseberry Planet (an online educational platform) is used throughout the school to teach children about how to use the internet safely, there is a particular focus on how to report concerns. At the start of every lesson where the internet is used staff say to children “if you see anything you do not feel comfortable with you must tell an adult”
- Bullying – there are specific topics in Yr 3 & 5 and in addition every year the school participates in Anti-bullying week which includes a range of activities including who to talk to and how to report it
- Drugs, alcohol and tobacco – covered in Yr 5 & 6
- First aid and how to call emergency services – this is a recurring theme throughout all year groups, mental health is also included in this topic and children are told about calling the 111 mental health service
- Water and Fire safety – as all children swim at school water safety is covered regularly and in Yr6 they learn water survival skills and lifesaving skills, the fire brigade visit the school to discuss fire safety
- Road safety – discussed as appropriate on school trips and outings, and Bikeability work with children in Yr 6.
- Relationships and sex education – there are statutory and non-statutory elements to learning about relationships and sex education, topics covered include different types of relationships, different types of touch, respectful relationships, when it is appropriate to share private/personal information in a relationship, and how and where to get support if an online relationship goes wrong
External visitors are invited into school to discuss issues concerning safeguarding, this includes:
- Emergency services – Fire & Rescue Service and PCSO
- School nurse
- NSPCC – talk with each year group and topics are differentiated for lower and upper school
- Bikability
- RNLI
