Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE)
What is PSHE education and why is it important?
“Personal, Social, Health, Economic education is a planned programme of learning through which children and young people acquire the knowledge, understanding and skills they need to manage their lives. As part of a whole school approach, PSHE develops the qualities and attributes pupils need to thrive as individuals, family members and members of society”. (The PSHE Association)
In Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, we follow the Programme of Study suggested by the PSHE Association issued in September 2014.
During Key Stage 1 and 2, children build on the skills, attitudes, values, knowledge and understanding that they started to gain in the Early Years/Foundation Stage.
There are 3 core themes to the PSHE curriculum:
The programme of study for KS1 and KS2 sets out what children will be taught:
Health and Wellbeing:
1. What is meant by a healthy lifestyle
2. How to maintain physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing
3. How to manage risks to physical and emotional health and wellbeing
4. Ways to keep physically and emotionally safe
5. About managing change , such as puberty, transition, loss
6. How to make informed choices about health and wellbeing and to recognise sources of help with this
7. How to respond to an emergency
8. To identify different influences on health and wellbeing
Relationships:
1. How to develop and maintain a variety of healthy relationships, within a range of social/cultural contexts
2. How to recognise and manage emotions within a range of relationships
3. How to recognise risky or negative relationships, including all forms of bullying and abuse
4. How to respond to risky or negative relationships and ask for help
5. How to respect equality and diversity in relationships
Living in the Wider World: Economic wellbeing and being a responsible citizen:
1. About respect for self and others and the importance of responsible behaviours and actions
2. About the rights and responsibilities as members of families, other groups and ultimately as citizens
3. About different groups and communities
4. To respect equality and to be a productive member of a diverse community
5. About the importance of respecting and protecting the environment
6. About where money comes from, keeping it safe and the importance of managing it effectively
7. How money plays an important part in people’s lives
8. A basic understanding of enterprise
These areas are broken down into more detail and can be read by following the link below to the programme of study for PSHE.
LINK - POS PSHE association
In addition to the programme of study suggested by the PSHE Association, the school draws on other programmes such as Be the Best You Can Be to teach the qualities, skills, values, attributes we believe it is essential to develop in our children. This approach allows us to meet our responsibility under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states, “Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full.” (Article 29).
Virginia School is continuing along the journey of being a Rights Respecting School, we are mapping children’s rights onto our curriculum framework, as well as developing a deeper understanding of the values and qualities children need to develop in order to enjoy their rights and become active global citizens.
LINKS - Rights Respecting School Award
Finally, in order to develop the global perspective in our curriculum; the school is part of the Global Learning Programme, which develops aspects of citizenship. You can find more information by following the link below.
LINK – Global Learning Programme.
Please see the document below which shows how all the elements of these are covered in each year group.
“Personal, Social, Health, Economic education is a planned programme of learning through which children and young people acquire the knowledge, understanding and skills they need to manage their lives. As part of a whole school approach, PSHE develops the qualities and attributes pupils need to thrive as individuals, family members and members of society”. (The PSHE Association)
In Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, we follow the Programme of Study suggested by the PSHE Association issued in September 2014.
During Key Stage 1 and 2, children build on the skills, attitudes, values, knowledge and understanding that they started to gain in the Early Years/Foundation Stage.
There are 3 core themes to the PSHE curriculum:
- Health and Wellbeing
- Relationships
- Living in the Wider World
The programme of study for KS1 and KS2 sets out what children will be taught:
Health and Wellbeing:
1. What is meant by a healthy lifestyle
2. How to maintain physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing
3. How to manage risks to physical and emotional health and wellbeing
4. Ways to keep physically and emotionally safe
5. About managing change , such as puberty, transition, loss
6. How to make informed choices about health and wellbeing and to recognise sources of help with this
7. How to respond to an emergency
8. To identify different influences on health and wellbeing
Relationships:
1. How to develop and maintain a variety of healthy relationships, within a range of social/cultural contexts
2. How to recognise and manage emotions within a range of relationships
3. How to recognise risky or negative relationships, including all forms of bullying and abuse
4. How to respond to risky or negative relationships and ask for help
5. How to respect equality and diversity in relationships
Living in the Wider World: Economic wellbeing and being a responsible citizen:
1. About respect for self and others and the importance of responsible behaviours and actions
2. About the rights and responsibilities as members of families, other groups and ultimately as citizens
3. About different groups and communities
4. To respect equality and to be a productive member of a diverse community
5. About the importance of respecting and protecting the environment
6. About where money comes from, keeping it safe and the importance of managing it effectively
7. How money plays an important part in people’s lives
8. A basic understanding of enterprise
These areas are broken down into more detail and can be read by following the link below to the programme of study for PSHE.
LINK - POS PSHE association
In addition to the programme of study suggested by the PSHE Association, the school draws on other programmes such as Be the Best You Can Be to teach the qualities, skills, values, attributes we believe it is essential to develop in our children. This approach allows us to meet our responsibility under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states, “Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full.” (Article 29).
Virginia School is continuing along the journey of being a Rights Respecting School, we are mapping children’s rights onto our curriculum framework, as well as developing a deeper understanding of the values and qualities children need to develop in order to enjoy their rights and become active global citizens.
LINKS - Rights Respecting School Award
Finally, in order to develop the global perspective in our curriculum; the school is part of the Global Learning Programme, which develops aspects of citizenship. You can find more information by following the link below.
LINK – Global Learning Programme.
Please see the document below which shows how all the elements of these are covered in each year group.

virginia_phseg_whole_school_grid_2015_2016.pdf |