Personal, Health, Social and Economic Education (PHSE) at Bolton

Subject Leader: Ruth Elstone 

Monitoring Governor: Kate Allison

Following two, two-year cycles of our Curriculum, the ambition was to make the curriculum more memorable and magical and move away, in foundation subjects, from lessons that were often a PowerPoint followed by an activity to more engaging teaching and learning. Leaders needed to ensure that the curriculum for PHSE/RHSE was coherently planned and sequenced towards cumulatively sufficient knowledge. In this subject, we are dealing with a lot of big stuff: mental health, healthy lifestyles, understanding relationships, discrimination and our responsibilities as citizens. It’s important to appreciate that all this content doesn’t take place in one hour on a Tuesday for example, it is occurring throughout the day and is very much part of the hidden curriculum.

At Bolton, we do want it to have its place on the timetable and many things are so important that they do need to be taught explicitly. What is good, too, is that you can adapt this content for current cohorts and what they particularly need at any one time. It’s important that going forward, curriculum designers and teachers remember to be fluid and flexible, giving students what they need or what’s missing or relevant. Cohorts do have their own characteristics, and this should be considered. For this two-year cycle, we are teaching PHSE largely through high-quality texts from the Mary Myatt Teachers’ Collection. Teachers can use ideas from the unit plans and tailor the teaching and learning to each unique cohort.

In terms of considering coverage, the PHSE ASSOCIATION programme of study has been used (provided in this document) and is recommended by the DfE. It divides PHSE into three strands: Health and Wellbeing, Relationships and Living in the Wider World. Health and Wellbeing is broken down further into Physical Wellbeing; Mental Health; Ourselves - Growing and Changing; Keeping Safe; and Drugs, alcohol and tobacco. Relationships is split into Families and Close Positive Relationships; Friendships; Managing hurtful behaviour and Bullying; Respecting Self and Others. Living in the Wider World is divided into Shared Responsibilities; Communities; Media Literacy and Digital Resilience; Economic Well-being; and Aspirations, Work and Career.

Large parts of the core themes are covered in Relationship Education which is taught discreetly by a subject specialist. A summary of coverage is provided in this document. Furthermore, our Science Curriculum also covers many key themes e.g. drugs, smoking and vaping, animal reproduction, changes in puberty and changes in humans to old age etc. See full coverage below.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-science-programmes-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-science-programmes-of-study

Food Technology and Physical Education cover key themes from PHSE about healthy diets and lifestyles. Our Computing curriculum continuously revisits the important (and ever-changing) themes around online safety.

What was important for us to focus on, in the timetabled time for PHSE (approximately 18 hours) as the subject alternates with Worldviews and Religion, was those areas that don’t get covered in Science, DT, Computing and Relationships. They are the things that can get missed. Some schools don’t allocate time for overt PHSE teaching or give it a place on the timetable.

The areas that need attention are - Relationships, Hurtful Behaviour, Respecting self and others, Economic well-being and Community and Wider world responsibilities. There needs to be consideration for children that may be going through things at home or in school. Fortunately, we do feel that we know our children well and often in the small school setting we do hear about problems or trauma that families might be experiencing. We also remind on our Newsletters to come in and speak to us, if there are things happening at home that may affect your child.

The mental health survey is carried out termly to pick up any children that may be experiencing difficulties and we do reiterate the trusted adult message, that there is always someone here for them whatever the difficulty.

Our assembly programme goes hand-in-hand with the PHSE plan and is very important for revisiting and reinforcing important themes. We also make a commitment to offering a PHSE or citizenship themed homework task weekly in our three classes. This is an important way of informing parents about the more hidden aspects of the curriculum that we are currently working on and to raise the profile of non-academic themes e.g. share with a parent or carer three things that can make someone a good friend.

Parents/ Carers also get to find out about what their children will be learning in PHSE through the Learning Overviews that are sent out termly.

Early Years: PHSE is a very important subject for our Early Years pupils and is inextricably linked to the aims of the EYFS statutory framework. The children, in Reception, are not taught discreet subjects and we recognise that a large amount of PHSE material is covered throughout the curriculum. Communication and language underpin all areas of learning and development. High-quality conversations and sensitive questioning that invites our Reception children to elaborate are actively promoted. Through a range of appropriate texts that explore a wide range of PHSE themes, children are encouraged to become confident using a rich range of vocabulary and language structures. Through stories and linked activities their personal, social and emotional development is a priority. Living healthy, happy lives will allow them to cognitively develop, along with the importance of building strong and warm supportive relationships with adults and peers. It is our ambition that children, in Reception, can begin to understand their own feelings and the feelings of others. Introducing the zones of self-regulation and equipping children with strategies to deal with their feelings was introduced Autumn 2024.

PHSE content will help them to understand the world around them and that they are part of a community. They will start to recognise similarities and differences between themselves and others and begin to understand the need for good hygiene, sleep and diet for example. Relationships are an important aspect of PHSE and through well-chosen texts they will begin to think about positive attachments and about care and sensitivity to others. Most of our Early Years children, by October half-term, will be joining in with all our assemblies on a range of PHSE themes and they are encouraged to take part in behaviour and attitude workshops half-termly with other Class 1 children.

Early Years children frequently have health checks in their Reception year: height/ weight, teeth, eye-sight, hearing. They can join the after-school club programme which is usually physical exercise e.g. junior fencing, dancing, archery or cricket skills. We usually have a good uptake.

Year 1 and 2

Children will experience a block of PHSE following a Worldviews Unit. It will last around 6 weeks depending on the topic and how much it is felt that the children are getting out of it. All the topics are built on good texts from Mary Myatt’s Teachers’ Collection. In Y1 and 2 there are two books per theme or topic and in KS2 it is usually just one. The thinking around this is that older children can usually go deeper into texts and can stay engaged for longer. Younger students will benefit from spending about 3 sessions on a text. Teachers can decide on this as they are working through the learning.

In YA autumn, the children will participate in a unit of study called ‘Can I name my feelings and Emotions?’ This will work well with the Zones of Regulation and ‘The Colour Monster’ that we are launching autumn 2024. The class teacher will have two texts to work from (Mary Myatt Teachers’ Collection). ‘Blue’ by Bretta Teckentrup is a text about two birds named Blue and Yellow and it asks children to explore the birds’ behaviours and mental health. It builds on early learning goals around thinking of others’ emotions and related  behaviours. Activities could include discussing how Yellow supports Blue, placing themselves on the tree relating to their feelings and writing or acting out messages for Blue. As with all of these units, teachers will encourage the children to draw parallels to their own experiences and to ask questions about why people might be sad or depressed and what we can do to help. When ready, the children can move onto the second text ‘Don’t Worry Little Crab’ by Chris Haughton. This text deals with the theme of anxiety and worry. Little Crab discovers that his life in the rock pool is about to change forever when Very Big Crab tells him that there is a whole ocean out there. Children can notice Little Crab’s behaviours and body language as he navigates the new world. It links to any new experiences that a child might be facing. It deals with resilience and thinking about others’ feelings.  Activities could include having a class worry jar, role-playing being Very Big Crab and how he helps Little Crab, showing what worry can look like and how you might start a conversation with someone about what you are worried about. Once all the worries are in the jar, children could read them out and them give a response in the ‘role’ or ‘character’ of Very Big Crab.

We want to create a climate where children understand that looking after your mental health is just as important as physical health. Giving them the tools for talking about feelings calmly and openly is the aim.

Y1/2 A spring term, the children can move onto looking more closely at friendship in ‘What makes a good Friend?’ Often some individuals can begin to stand out because they are not thriving socially. It’s good to teach some tools around friendship and maintaining friendships as some children do need support and making friends successfully is not a given. ‘Not so Friendly Friend’ by Christina Furnival deals with unhealthy relationships and when there is a need to set boundaries. Basically, it teaches that friendships should be positive and what to do when they are not. It is a chance to demonstrate that ‘putting your foot down’ is kinder to the person who is making too big demands as it makes this clear and might mean that they will change and adapt their behaviours. Activities could include role playing setting boundaries in a kind way, describing different kinds of unkind behaviour, creating posters about what good friendship means, making puppet shows with characters that do or don’t understand boundaries. The second text is called ‘The Invisible’ by Tom Percival which is a very powerful text about loneliness and low self-esteem. It also deals with the impact of poverty and should provoke thought about living in other people’s shoes. It deals with human differences and how we can choose to treat people. Activities could include working on how we could make a difference to Isabel, poetry about loneliness, thinking about other people or groups that may feel isolated or excluded and where people can get help and support. The children could retell different endings for Isabel’s situation. Through poignant texts like these, our children should hopefully get a taste of how challenging some people’s lives are, but understand that as a community if we all care enough there is hope.

Y1/2 summer term YA – Children in the summer will explore ‘How do our Differences make us Better Together?’ and this will be through two texts: ‘Same but Different’ by Molly Porter and ‘A world for You and A World for me’ by Uju Aiska. In the first text the focus is on how different families can be, but how what matters is if they are characterised by love and care. It explores cultural differences but the focus in the unit is what is similar or the same e.g. that they are celebrating a festival and having special food with friends. In other words, it all looks a bit different but essentially it is the same. Sometimes we tend to look for difference before we see commonalities. Children could explore what things they have in common with their classmates and what things or choices might differ from their friends or families e.g. favourite foods or music. Respecting difference is a key theme, and students should be encouraged to see difference as something to celebrate rather than disapprove of. They can discuss why people might be uncomfortable with differences. They could do some artwork that celebrates ‘difference.’ The second text on this theme is ‘A world for You and a World for Me’ and this text celebrates human diversity. It begins with a world where everyone is identical, eats the same and speaks the same language.  It finishes with an understanding that our world is incredible and has 195 countries and thousands of different wonderful cultures. This unit will link superbly with geography and is a reminder to us not only to celebrate diversity but to treasure our world. This text can be taken in different directions but some research on languages and cultures could be valuable and some contrasting artwork or posters around ‘a boring world or a vibrant world’ could be a good theme. It’s a chance to explore personal values and what kind of future world they want.

In Year B in Y1/2, the children go back to talking about and expressing emotions with a unit called ‘Why do I feel sad Sometimes?’ The two texts are ‘Rhinos Don’t Cry’ by Mark Grist and ‘Ruby’s Worry’ by Tom Percival. It’s a chance to understand why we cry and what a normal range of emotions are. It asks us to question if we should be trying not to cry in some situations. Children can explore what crying tells us and others. Activities can include naming emotions, shades of emotions, thinking about times when you have cried and why. As a class, thinking about strategies to help when you are sad or frustrated could be helpful. Also an understanding that we all have different thresholds in relation to expressions of emotions, and what you could do if someone was crying or upset to help them, can be explored. It could be a good opportunity to talk about gender expectations and words like ‘crybaby.’ The second text is ‘Ruby’s Worry’ and this is a good story for further exploring the range of emotions and their intensity for different people. There’s a focus on anxiety. The character Ruby realises that she is not the only one with worries. This can lead well into discussions about fears and worries and what worrying can physically feel like. The unit plan suggests some mindfulness techniques and promotes the belief that all people have worries and anxieties at some point, we just need to know how to deal with them.

In the spring, Y1/2 B will complete a unit called ‘How can we be Wonderfully Different?’ The theme is around hurtful and damaging behaviours and dealing with discrimination. The two texts recommended to deliver this content are ‘My Skin and Your Skin’ by Laura Henry Allain and ‘And Tango Makes Three’ by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson. My Skin and Your Skin deals openly about racism and the impact of racist behaviour. Activities could include completing speech bubbles responding to both perpetrators and victims. Completing some role-play as a bystander could be powerful and prompt students to consider the power that they have to make a difference. Recognising bullying and why people bully, standing up to bullies and getting help will be important themes. The respect message can be reinforced. The unit suggests identifying differences and turning them into complements e.g. Your red hair is beautiful. The second text is all about Roy and Silo, two male penguins (based on a true story) who have a special bond and attempt to hatch a rock, The zookeeper gives them and egg and this results in them raising a chick that was named Tango. It’s a great unit for exploring different kinds of families and what it means to be a family. Children can explore what families do together and how we show love and care. Tango has two daddies and although they are different to some other penguin families, they have a lot in common and Tango is part of a very loving family. An alternative text could be ‘More People to Love Me’ by Mo O’Hara which deals with extended families and comes back to the same message that families come in all shapes and sizes and what characterises them should be love and security.

In the Summer in Y1/2 Year B, the theme is ‘How do our Wants and Needs Change as we Grow?’ Through the two texts ‘Wishmoley and the Little Piece of the Sky’ by Julia Hubery and ‘The Longer the wait, the Bigger the Hug’ by Eoin McLaughlin, pupils will think about how close personal relationships change over time. In the first text, it explores the characters growing from young to old. There is a focus on three different stages (in their lives) for Wishmoley and baby. Children can explore how their relationship changes over time and how both of their needs and wants change. Children can consider how they might change as they get older and if they will still be the same. It’s a great unit for exploring aspirations and what happens to us throughout our lives. ‘The Longer the wait, the bigger the Hug’ examines how important close personal relationships are. Children can think about how they choose friends and who they have special bonds with. They will need to grapple with how love hurts and having close relationships brings both happiness and sadness. Children can take a ball of string and roll it to another person, saying something kind, and eventually the whole class will be connected with ‘Kindness String.’  The unit should emphasise that everyone deserves our respect but that some people will be closer to us than others, and how we can maintain and nuture those important bonds.

In Year 3 and 4, (A) autumn term, children will participate in a unit called ‘What Makes Me, Me?’ based around the book ‘Tad’ by Benji Davis. Children will explore their strengths and skills and what is unique about them. Through exploring the feelings of the character, they will discuss self-esteem and how unhelpful making comparisons with others can be. How siblings and parents can influence us can be explored. We tend to focus on what we can’t do rather than what we can do. Children are encouraged to think about personal goals and long and short-term aspirations. They will also be encouraged to look at the strengths that they see in their classmates and share them.

In the spring term, they will move onto ‘How can I make a difference?’ The key text is ‘Here we Are’ by Oliver Jeffers. This text has a focus on the community and the contributions people make. It’s done rather like a guide to living on planet Earth for a new arrival. The book looks at personal values and asks the readers to think about their planet and what they can contribute. There’s a chance to look through a lens at some of the people in the illustrations and think about the author’s message. This unit should lead to children wanting to campaign and come up with their own ideas about the planet.

In the Summer, YA, the Y3/4 group will explore ‘How can I Manage Conflict?’ The key text is ‘One Little Word’ by Joseph Coelho will explore how all relationships have their ups and downs. The unit will provide strategies for dealing with arguments and how to minimise conflict and bad-feeling. This study will help children to acknowledge harmful behaviours and understand what a genuine apology is and how difficult sincere apologies can be.

In Y3 /4 in YB, the autumn will start with a unit called ‘Why am I feeling Bottled Up?’ and is based around a text called ‘Bottled Up’ by Tom and Jo Brassington. This story explores feelings of loneliness and isolation and encourages children to think about mental health. This unit reinforces that if we can name and talk about emotions then we can understand them and deal with them better. It introduces children to the idea of our classroom being an emotionally honest space, a place where we can talk about our thoughts and feelings in a safe way without fear or worry. As with all the PHSE topics, there is a premise that we respect each other and value everyone. An activity could be that the children can make their own book of emotions as a mental health resource.

In YB, spring, Y3/4 will in ‘What holds people Back and What moves them Forward?’ and the key text is ‘Dogs Don’t Do Ballet’ by Anna Kemp. The dog doesn’t behave like other dogs, he likes moonlight and music and dancing. This will take us into being true to yourself, following your own dreams and how stereotypes are unhelpful. A key message will be respect and being courteous to others despite differences. It is also about how we treat others and children can think about when they’ve felt under pressure to act in a certain way.

Summer, YB, in Y3/4 the children will complete a Twinkl unit called ‘Why does Money matter?’ They will cover the basics about Where money comes from, Ways to pay, Borrowing money, Spending decisions, Advertising and Keeping Track. The economic aspect of PHSE is very important and generally children don’t seem to know much about this at all. This is developed further in Y5/6, two years later.

In Y5/6 Year A, autumn term, the children will build on the Y3/4 unit ‘What makes me, me?’ and it is called ‘How do I know what I am Worth?’ The text is a beautiful book called ‘The Bear and the Piano’ by David Litchfield. It is a great unit for exploring close relationships and what makes us unique. It encourages us to appreciate the talents and strengths of others and the importance of family. The children can be guided in giving genuine affirmations and emotional support or encouragement.

In the spring term, Year A, Y5/6 will participate in a unit called ‘Why I Choose Respect?’ and study the text ‘The Only Way is Badger’ by Stella Jones. It builds onto previous work about differences and explores the character of badger. Badger goes through life being very disrespectful and thinks his way is right and he doesn’t listen to others well. Children can engage in activities such as creating a ‘respect - o - meter’ and think about what they see in school and in their community. It leads on to exploring bigger problems around how people treat others – racism, sexism, bullying and any other form of discrimination. The children can think about why people like Badger behave like they do and what we can do to help them.

In the summer, YA, Y5/6 will complete a topic called ‘How can I help our Beautiful World.’ This unit is based on Mark Sperring’s book ‘If I were the World.’ The theme is to marvel at our amazing planet and to consider how we can look after it for future generations. This will be a great unit for finding out about local recycling and coming up with our own solutions in school to help and respect the planet. Children could be inspired to do their own presentations in assembly. The topic builds onto the spring topic in Y3/4 A (How can I make a difference?).

In YB, Y5/6’s autumn unit is called ‘What Happens when things Go Wrong?’ and focuses on mental health. It links to ‘Bottled Up’ and the work on naming emotions in Y1/2.  There are two texts that can be used, ‘The Colour Thief’ by Andrew and Polly Peters and ‘Child of Galaxies’ by Blake Nuto.  The first text explores a family’s story of depression and gives tools for handling difficult times and recognising poor mental health. Narrated from a child’s perspective, a boy is impacted by his father’s depression. Children can explore their own feelings and design leaflets to inform people about depression. Children can find out about strategies that can be employed when you are feeling blue or low. They will remember the honest space and know that sharing their feelings is good and a way to move forward. In ‘Child of Galaxies’ children will have the opportunity to reframe negative thoughts, manage setbacks and moods.

In the spring term, YB the unit is called ‘Discrimination is always wrong.’ The text to launch the discussions and the learning is ‘The Smeds and the Smoos’ by Julia Donaldson. The key themes are disrespect, inclusion and racism. Children will build on their previous learning on respecting difference and consider different types of ‘difference.’ In this unit children will be expected to be sensitive to others and dig deeper into stereotypes – sex – gender - race - disability - religion – sexual orientation and so on. We can also explore how we might normalise non-consensual behaviours or inadvertently encourage or support prejudice. Grandfather Smed is disrespectful, and pupils can consider if they think he is racist. We can have a look at ourselves once we have analysed the behaviour of the Smeds and Smoos. This unit will help to embed earlier key messages around respect and inclusion and allow us to consider how damaging discriminatory behaviour is.

Summer term YB, our Y5/6 will cover ‘Why do we Need to understand Finance?’ The children will complete the upper Key Stage Two unit from Twinkl PlanIt. They will cover Budgeting, Saving, being Critical Consumers, Ethical spending choices and Emotional wellbeing around money e.g. gambling and its impact. This builds onto the work done in the summer term two years earlier and will be informative and useful in developing their understanding of money.

Rather like in Reception, in Y6, children usually have health checks such as height and weight measurements. This is part of The National Child Measurement Programme by the NHS.

Outcomes:

The PHSE scheme of work provides schools with an effective curriculum for wellbeing that impacts on the children. Children are enabled to develop the vocabulary and confidence needed to clearly articulate their thoughts and feelings in a climate of openness, trust, and respect, and know when and how they can seek the support of others. They apply their understanding of society to their everyday interactions, from the classroom to the wider community of which they are a part.

The PHSE scheme of work supports the active development of a school culture that prioritises physical and mental health and wellbeing, providing children with skills to evaluate and understand their own wellbeing needs, practise self-care and contribute positively to the wellbeing of those around them.

Our successful PHSE education has a positive impact on the whole child, including their academic development and progress, by helping to mitigate any social and emotional barriers to learning and building confidence and self-esteem. Evidence suggests that high-quality PHSE education also helps disadvantaged and vulnerable children achieve by raising aspirations and empowering them with skills to overcome barriers they face. The PHSE and Citizenship scheme of work positively impacts on wellbeing, safeguarding and SMSC outcomes. This ensures that all our children can develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to succeed at school and in the wider world.

Please see our PHSE at Bolton document below for more information, including our policy, progression of skills and long term plans.