St Thomas More Primary PSHE Curriculum

At St Thomas More school our vision is for all pupils who attend our school to leave with the knowledge, understanding and emotions to be able to play an active, positive and successful role in today’s diverse society. We want our children to have high aspirations, a belief in themselves and realise that anything is possible if they put their mind to it.

To face an ever–changing world, we believe it is important that our children are aware, to an appropriate level, of different factors which will affect their world and that they learn how to deal with these so that they have good mental health and well-being. We believe that PSHE helps to give pupils the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to lead confident, healthy, independent lives, to become informed, active and responsible citizens. PSHE flows through all our curriculum areas and is embedded through the educational programme called Jigsaw.

Delivery of PSHE is considered across the curriculum and is a fundamental part of the children’s school experience. Within the personal, social and health (PSHE) education curriculum. Some biological aspects of sex education are taught within the science and RSE curriculum. We have incorporated a programme of work called Jigsaw to embody all ages from EYFS to year 6.  These lessons are based around a theme which changes termly. Alongside this, we also teach our children about the society in which they are growing up. These subjects are designed to foster respect for others and educate pupils about how to make healthy relationships. 

By the time our children leave us we aim for our pupils to have opportunities through our curriculum to: 

• Support Bishop Terence’s vision for education.

‘To make Christ known and loved through the provision of excellent Catholic education and schools’ intent on finding Christ in their daily lives and sharing that encounter with others.’ 

• Develop a healthy, safer lifestyle and be able to approach a range of real-life situations and apply their skills and attributes to help navigate themselves through modern life.
• Develop good relationships and to understand and celebrate the differences between people.
• Build resilience to help them cope in difficult situations and prevent the onset of common mental health problems.
• Provide the tools and skills required to achieve a good emotional wellbeing mindset. This will then give our children the experiences and understanding of a positive and emotional healthy state of mind and how to achieve this themselves.
• Develop confidence and responsibility and to make the most of their abilities.
• Promote the development of spiritual, moral, cultural, mental health and physical aspects of pupils.
• Create a safe and trusted environment for children to share their thoughts and feelings openly.
• Create positive attitudes around the subject of mental health and emotional wellbeing by having respect for themselves and others.
• Enable children to acquire the knowledge and skills they need to successfully manage their lives in and out of school – right now as well as in the future.
• Be on their way to becoming healthy, open minded, respectful, socially and morally responsible, active members of society.