At Manor Leas Infant School we aim for all children to feel confident, happy, safe and to love learning. Our curriculum is designed to enable all children to develop both academically and personally, so they can reach their potential and be well-prepared for their KS2 journey. We aim to equip all children with the knowledge they need to understand the world in which they live and the skills to use and apply that knowledge.

We aspire for all children to become confident individuals, successful learners, effective communicators and responsible citizens, which are the Key Drivers of our curriculum. Our teaching and learning is interwoven with the following Golden Threads which instill and embed the knowledge, skills and values we believe children need in order to succeed in their education and later life: communication, confidence, curiosity, independence, problem solving, resilience and teamwork.

Our PSHCE Intent:

Our Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education (PSHE) Curriculum puts our children on the path to becoming healthy, independent and responsible members of society.  It aims to help our children to understand how they are developing personally and socially, which in turn will support their academic learning.

We provide our children with opportunities to learn about rights and responsibilities so they can appreciate what it means to be a member of the diverse society in which we live. The PSHE Curriculum is designed to equip the children with essential skills for life by developing the whole child – giving them the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to protect and enhance their mental health and wellbeing, through carefully planned and resourced lessons.  Through these lessons, children will learn how to stay safe and healthy, build and maintain successful relationships and become active citizens, responsibly participating in society around them.

As a school we follow The PSHE Association’s Programme of Study which teaches children about rules and feelings, families and friendships, safe relationships, respecting others and themselves, community, money and work, health and well-being, growth and change and keeping safe. Each year group will focus on the same area of learning at the same time, with learning and objectives differentiated for each year group, enabling the whole school to learn about a particular aspect of PSHE together. Our PSHE curriculum is fully aligned with the statutory Relationships Education programme.

The Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum provides the building blocks of PSHE Education.  Through the Early Years curriculum, children are given the opportunity to explore the foundations of this subject.  There are many PSHE links throughout the EYFS curriculum, most notably within Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Understanding the World, Communication and Language and within the Characteristics of Effective Learning.  From these foundations prepared in EYFS, the KS1 curriculum can consolidate and continue to further build on these skills.      

We are aware of the important role that PSHE has in supporting many of the principles of safeguarding and safeguarding is woven throughout the PSHE curriculum. We actively promote and provide opportunities for the children to understand the fundamental British Values (Democracy, The Rule of Law, Individual Liberty and Mutual Respect and Tolerance) which will support them to become fair, tolerant, confident and responsible adults, as well as preparing them for life and work in modern Britain and in the forever challenging and changing world.  We also teach children about the protected characteristics and how everyone should be treated equally, fairly and with respect. Children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development is at the heart of our school ethos.  Our PSHCE curriculum meets not only the Government guidelines, but also the needs of our children, equipping them with a sound understanding of risk and resilience and with the knowledge and skills necessary to make safe and informed decisions.