Intent

Excellence

At St Thomas’ Church of England Primary School, we believe that PSHE helps to give pupils the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to lead confident, healthy, independent lives, in order to become informed, active and responsible citizens. Our personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) and Relationships, Health Education programme promotes children's personal, social and economic development, as well as their health and wellbeing. It provides information about keeping healthy and safe, emotionally and physically; encourages our children to understand how all actions have consequences and how they can make informed choices to help themselves, others and the environment.  Our PSHE and RSE curriculum sets the foundations on which our pupils can build upon when striving for excellence. Our myHappymind scheme is an NHS-backed curriculum in primary schools, secondary schools, and nurseries and is focused on building resilience, self-esteem, and happiness in children. It is backed by NHS using preventative strategies firmly rooted in science, research, and the fields of neuroscience and positive psychology.

Experience and life skills

Our broad curriculum allows children opportunities to become independent and responsible members of society. Combined with our Beacons of Light curriculum, our pupils experience life outside of their own locality and develop an understanding of the diverse world in which we live.

Through a combination of weekly lessons, worship, assemblies and theme weeks/ days, our pupils develop an understanding of life in the wider world; how they can become responsible and active citizens and the responsibilities they will face as they move towards adult life. During our My Happy Mind and Christopher Winter’s Relationships lessons, our pupils discuss and explore a wide range of topics from challenges we may face, diversity and personal relationships, allowing pupils time to consider the choices we may face and how to approach them. Pupils will learn about economic well-being; healthy lifestyles and how we have a responsibility to care for our environment. Our Economic money sessions educate pupils to have a sound and sensible attitude towards money, raising their awareness of the importance of financial planning for the future.

Our safeguarding and PSHE curriculum run hand in hand. Key understanding of keeping safe, from responding to an emergency, to e-safety and healthy relationships are taught throughout the curriculum in our My Happy Mind lessons; discrete half termly lessons and short reminders in every session.

Celebrate diversity

Our PSHE curriculum is enabled by technology, making learning fun. We’re also proud that myHappymind is tailored to meet the needs of neuro-diverse children so every child can access our Curriculum. There are also lessons on neurodiversity to enable the whole school community to better understand and embrace diversity.

At St Thomas’, children’s wellbeing, happiness and safety are our first priority; therefore, teaching & learning is sensitive to individual needs and supports children’s self-esteem through inclusivity. Our PSHE Curriculum explicitly teaches the need for a society that celebrates diversity and promotes equality.

The myHappymind curriculum is grounded in scientific research and helps children to:

✓ Feel happier

✓ Know what to do when they feel worried or stressed

✓ Improve their focus and learn more

✓ Achieve more of the goals that they set for themselves

✓ Develop better relationships with friends and families

✓ Feel great about who they are and have positive self-esteem

The Christopher Winter Project scheme lessons have increased focus on families, relationships, safeguarding/keeping children safe and added additional units on respect and equality. We encourage children to develop the skills of listening, empathy, talking about feelings and relationships with families and friends.

Christian values

Our vision statement, ‘Let your Light Shine’, reflects our belief that every child is uniquely created and deeply valued as part of God’s creation. Through our Lighthouse Curriculum, we aim to nurture, support and inspire each pupil so that they can discover their God-given gifts, develop their individuality and flourish in their learning, actions and relationships.

As a Church of England school, our Christian vision and values underpin all areas of the curriculum, including PSHE. Through the teaching of PSHE, pupils are supported in developing an understanding of themselves and others, recognising their own value and the value of every individual. Learning opportunities encourage children to build positive relationships, show empathy and respect, and develop the confidence to make responsible choices that support their wellbeing and the wellbeing of others.

Pupils are encouraged to reflect on their role within the school community and the wider world. Through discussion of local and global issues, children learn about responsibility, justice and compassion. Children learn how their decisions can positively impact others and the wider world, developing the capacity for courageous advocacy. Within PSHE lessons, children are encouraged to listen to different perspectives, work collaboratively and demonstrate kindness and respect, reflecting our commitment to living out our Christian values in everyday life.

Reading and vocabulary

Children are given opportunities to coherently articulate knowledge, skills and understanding by using explicit subject specific vocabulary in appropriate situations. Reading is used throughout our curriculum when appropriate to the unit being taught.

Knowledge rich and academic

Through worships, experiences and weekly teaching, we encourage our children to play a positive role in contributing to the life of the school, considering their own responsibilities, rights and duties as individuals and members of the wider community. In so doing, we help develop their sense of self-worth, courageous advocacy and they learn to appreciate what it means to be a positive member of a community, inspiring them to be the very best version of themselves. We believe our PSHE curriculum lays the foundations that allow our pupils to reach the highest of aspirations, equipped with the knowledge and understanding to do so.

Further documentation and resources are available at parents' request if you would like to know more about the teaching of PSHE/RSE and the teaching material used. 

We are proud to announce that we are a myHappymind Bronze Accredited school!

This means that as a school we consider the mental health and wellbeing of our children as one of our top priorities. We have created a whole school culture that helps build our children's resilience, confidence and self esteem as well as teaching them how to self regulate in those stressful times. 

This Accreditation badge has been awarded thanks to all the effort our staff, children, governors and parents have put in to bring the lessons of myHappymind to life all around our school!

To Learn more about the myHappymind for Schools programme visit their website here - https://myhappymind.org/

myHappymind Modules

Meet Your Brain

Understanding how your brain works and how to ensure we look after it so that we can manage our emotions and be at our best. Growth mindset is a key part of this too.

Celebrate

Understanding your unique Character Strengths and learning to celebrate them. This is a fantastic module for building self-esteem.

Appreciate

Understanding why gratitude matters and how you can develop gratitude as a habit. Gratitude is key to well-being and resilience and we're all about making a lifelong strategy!

Relate

Understanding why positive relationships matter and how to build them. We're focused on the building blocks of good relationships and friendships.

Engage

Understanding how to set meaningful goals that matter and how to stay resilient in times of challenge. This module is all about building self-esteem and resilience too.