PSHE & Citizenship

"Be like a tree. Stay grounded. Connect with your roots. Turn over a new leaf. Bend before you break. Enjoy your unique natural beauty. Keep growing." Joanne Raptis

Topics we discussed and developed over our Mental Health Week:-

* Human beings change and grow– we do it all the time and in many different ways.

* Physical growth is easy to see as we grow from babies to children, teenagers to adults. But growing emotionally is also an important part of our development.

* Things that upset us when we were younger may no longer overwhelm us as we grow and learn to cope with life’s ups and downs.

* Challenges and set-backs can help us to grow and adapt. Trying new things can help us to move beyond our comfort zone into a new realm of possibility and potential.

* Emotional growth is often a gradual process that happens over time, and sometimes we might feel a bit ‘stuck’. At these times we are reminded of how much we need others in our lives to help us to keep growing.

* We need our parents and carers, our teachers, our friends and others to support us to grow, especially when things get tough.

* We often need others to help us to believe in ourselves, to keep going, and to try doing things a bit differently. Even when we have experienced really difficult challenges in our lives, with the right support, we can continue to grow and flourish.

(Ideas taken from Children's Mental Health Week - Teacher tips for the theme 'Growing Together')

The theme of Anti-Bulling Week this year is One Kind Word. Throughout the week, our children focused on what the term 'Bulling' means (Several Times On Purpose.) What they should do if they witness unkind behaviour, or experience it themselves. Team building activities encouraged the need to stamp out negative behaviour and to develop kindness towards each other. Our assembly video taught us how one word or act of kindness towards another, quickly spreads throughout the school and beyond into our wider community.

This week we learnt all about how many children around the world have difficulties such as cleft palates when they are born. We held a non-uniform fundraising day to raise money for the important work SmileTrain do in helping to restore the lips and palates of children, hopefully giving them a happier/healthier life.

Our PSHE and Citizenship Curriculum

Our teaching at St Edward’s is driven by the desire for every child to fulfil their potential as a child of God and to establish their place and role within both the local and world-wide community. The delivery of PSHE (Personal Social and Health Education) alongside the broader remit of Citizenship and an awareness of their place in society, is woven into all of our teaching and learning experiences. The lessons are not taught in isolation. Our intention is for the broader themes to be woven into all of the work we do as a Catholic school. In this way, the children are encouraged to become responsible and respectful citizens with a conscience to better our God-given world.

At St Edward’s, all children from Reception to Year 6 have dedicated curriculum time on PSHE and Citizenship. Their experiences vary from:

· The examination of character virtues in relation to topics such as Caring for Others, Helpfulness, Co-operation, Stress, Exercise and Peer Pressure.

· Studying current affairs both locally, nationally and internationally such as environmental concerns, areas of conflict.

· Community involvement with charity work, Junior PCSO work and the School Council

· Whole school focus activities eg: Mental Health Awareness Day, Anti-Bullying Week, Black History Fortnight, Parliament Week, Internet Safety Week and Healthy Eating Week.

· Outside visitors to school eg: charity workers, various occupations (Vocations Week)

· Outdoor days which are used to incorporate the virtues explored in PSHE and Citizenship eg: leadership, problem solving skills, collaboration and resilience.

· Displays in all of the classrooms celebrate our teaching of the topics and the children’s work.

PSHE and Citizenship are not taught in isolation. The lessons we teach and opportunities we offer are designed to inspire the children to take issues on board, develop leadership qualities and make a positive difference to our ever-changing modern world.

Every year World Down Syndrome Day is celebrated on March 21st. This year, the global theme was "Leave No-one Behind." The whole school was also invited to wear odd socks to raise awareness of day. As part of celebrating this day a group of children, who have someone in their family with Down's syndrome or have Down's syndrome themselves, led a whole school assembly to raise awareness and understanding. They explained to the whole school that every single person with Down's syndrome should have the same opportunities as everyone else, in every area of life. It was a wonderful assembly and the whole school was proud of the children's effort and eloquence in raising awareness for Down's syndrome.