PSHE

Intent

Our intention is that when children leave Alsager Highfields, they will do so 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. In an ever–changing world, it is important that they 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. RSHE & PSHE education helps pupils maintain their mental and physical health and understand the various factors that influence their wellbeing. They learn how to build strong and supportive relationships, how to keep themselves safe in various situations and how to make thoughtful decisions about money, health and the online world. Pupils may receive mixed messages about these topics from friends, siblings, social media and the wider world. High-quality RSHE & PSHE ensures every child receives clear, accurate and age-appropriate teaching so they can make safe and informed choices as they grow.

At Alsager Highfields we teach PSHE through the Kapow scheme of work; RSHE is taught as one of the units within the PSHE scheme. The scheme is organised into strands and key areas to ensure a broad and balanced curriculum. Key areas group learning into meaningful themes and ensure that all statutory content is covered. The strands weave throughout all units, demonstrating how pupils develop lifelong skills in managing themselves, regulating their emotions, building positive relationships and thinking critically. Together, the strands and key areas help pupils revisit important ideas over time, building their confidence and understanding in a structured way. The curriculum is designed to be both accessible and ambitious, ensuring that all pupils participate fully and achieve their potential. It covers key areas which will support children to make informed choices now and in the future around their health, safety, wellbeing, relationships, and financial matters and will support them in becoming confident individuals and active members of society. 

Learning builds progressively across the key areas of My healthy self, Connecting with others, The online world, Staying safe, Health protection, Citizenship and Growing up, with optional units on First aid in Year 6. Within these key areas, pupils revisit important knowledge and concepts with increasing depth and maturity.

Alongside this, the strands of self-regulation, managing self, building relationships and critical thinking show how pupils’ personal and social skills develop from Reception to Year 6, supporting them to make thoughtful, informed choices and to thrive in school and beyond.

Kapow Primary’s RSHE scheme of work covers the Relationships, Sex and Health Education statutory guidance (updated September 2026), as set out by the Department for Education. The non-statutory sex education is not taught at Alsager Highfields Primary and our policy (updated with consultation, and accessible via the 'Information' tab) makes clear what is and what is not covered. A parent guide provided by Kapow can be accessed here: https://www.kapowprimary.com/rse-pshe-parent-overview/ There is also a useful Parent Page, which provides further gauidance here: https://www.kapowprimary.com/subjects/rse-pshe/curriculum/rse-pshe-parent-information/ 

In addition to discrete lessons, RSHE & PSHE learning is often reinforced through day-to-day school life. Teachers will naturally revisit and apply their learning in response to real-life situations that arise, such as issues on the playground, in the classroom or during discussions, helping pupils to make meaningful links between taught content and real experiences.

Kapow Primary’s RSHE & PSHE scheme has been designed to reflect the diversity of modern society, ensuring all pupils feel respected and represented. Lessons include scenarios featuring a wide range of characters and perspectives, allowing pupils to encounter different cultures, family structures, household situations, neurotypes and economic backgrounds. This approach helps pupils recognise that everyone’s circumstances are different and encourages them to treat others with understanding and respect. Across the scheme, care has been taken to avoid stereotypes and ensure that resources portray people and communities in a respectful and accurate manner. When distancing techniques are used, pupils follow a consistent set of diverse characters who grow older alongside them, helping pupils develop familiarity and empathy as they explore situations together.

In addition to the Kapow Scheme, 'No Outsiders' is used throughout the school to explore and develop our understanding of diversity and projected characteristics. Quality PSHE and RSHE teaching is an important element in ensuring Alsager Highfields to carries out their duty of care with regards to safeguarding. 

Implementation

In Kapow Primary’s RSHE & PSHE curriculum, a unit is a half-term block of learning. There is one unit per half-term throughout the school year, with each unit comprising six lessons, reflecting the typical length of a half-term in the UK. Lessons within a unit are carefully sequenced to build knowledge and understanding over time. Each unit focuses primarily on one of the key areas of learning (or strands in EYFS), helping to ensure clear structure and full coverage of the statutory guidance. While there are natural overlaps between areas, organising learning in this way supports coherence and progression. Each unit from Year 1-6 revolves around a central question that pupils should be able to answer by the end, drawing together what they have learned. Each individual lesson is also framed as a question, helping pupils understand the lesson’s focus. This structure allows them to reflect on how they have met the lesson’s objectives by the end.

Lessons across the RSHE & PSHE scheme follow a consistent structure, which is also used across all Kapow Primary subjects. This is a deliberate design choice to reduce cognitive overload for both pupils and teachers. For pupils, a familiar lesson structure helps them focus on the learning itself, rather than on understanding new routines or expectations. For teachers, consistency supports confidence and efficiency, making planning and delivery more manageable, particularly when teaching sensitive or complex content. In Reception, the lesson structure is adapted to reflect the different ways pupils learn at this stage, with approaches that are appropriate to the EYFS and support early development.

A range of teaching and learning activities are used and are based on good practice in teaching RSHE/PSHE education to ensure that all children can access learning and make progress. The scheme supports a smooth transition from EYFS into KS1 by building on how young children learn in Reception. EYFS lessons use open prompts, stories and guided conversation to help pupils name feelings, talk about their experiences and begin to understand how others might feel. Teachers observe pupils’ responses to assess understanding, noticing whether pupils can recognise emotions, explain their thinking or relate situations to their own lives. This approach reflects the EYFS characteristics of effective learning, which emphasise active engagement, exploration and early critical thinking. As pupils move into KS1, the scheme introduces more structured discussion, reflection and simple decision-making, helping pupils draw on these early habits of learning while gradually adapting to more formal approaches.

In key stage 1 and 2, there is an introductory lesson at the start of each year group which provides the opportunity for children and teachers to negotiate ground rules for the lessons. These introductory lessons can then be referred to throughout the year to help create a safe environment. All lessons include ideas for differentiation to stretch the most able learners and give additional support to those who need it. Many lessons, stories, scenarios, and video clips provide the opportunity for children to engage in real life and current topics in a safe and structured way. Role-play activities are also included to help children play out scenarios that they may find themselves in.

There are meaningful opportunities for cross-curricular learning, in particular with Computing for online safety and Science for growing, nutrition, teeth, diet and lifestyle. The scheme provides consistent messages throughout the age ranges including how and where to access help. The role of parents and carers is recognised, and guidance is provided to assist schools on how to work with them and include them in their children’s learning.

Wider Curriculum  

• We believe that focusing on developing a 'Growth Mindset' in our children will help them to build resilience, independence and confidence; embrace challenge; foster a love of learning; and increase their level of happiness. We do this through the language we use in class, praising children for their efforts, and using language to encourage children to change their way of thinking. This supports both our school and PSHE aims and values, and we focus on Growth Mindsets in all aspects of school life.

• PSHE, including SMSC and BV, is an integral part of the whole school curriculum, and is therefore often taught within another subject area. Our 'healthy body, healthy minds' whole school strategy carefully links equality and diversity, RSE, safeguarding, anti-bullying, mental well-being, British Values and PSHE.

• Visitors such as emergency services and the school nurse complement our PSHE curriculum to offer additional learning.          

• We encourage our pupils to develop their sense of self-worth by playing a positive role in contributing to school life and the wider community. We challenge all of our pupils to look for opportunities to show the school values of faith, hope and love.                         

• Assemblies are linked to PSHE, British Values and SMSC and cover any additional sessions that would benefit the whole school.                                                        

• PSHE, BV and SMSC displays throughout school reinforce the PSHE curriculum enabling children to make links.

Impact

Each lesson within Kapow Primary’s scheme features assessment guidance, helping teachers to identify whether pupils have met, exceeded, or failed to meet the desired learning intentions for that lesson.

Each unit of lessons comes with an Assessment quiz and Knowledge catcher. The quiz contains 10 questions, nine of which are multiple-choice and can be used either at the end of the unit or at both the start and the end to help measure progress and identify any gaps in learning. The Knowledge catchers list some of the lesson titles in mind-map or table format and can be used at the start of a unit to see what the children already know and to inform planning, and then pupils can revisit the same version of the Knowledge catcher at the end of the unit to add what else they now know, further demonstrating their progression in learning.

Kapow Primary’s RSHE & PSHE scheme is built around a spiral curriculum model. The key areas of the curriculum are revisited regularly, ensuring that pupils return to important themes such as relationships, health, safety, online life and growing up throughout their primary education.

By revisiting these key areas over time, pupils build on prior learning in a way that reflects their increasing maturity, understanding and lived experience. This supports secure knowledge development and helps pupils apply learning to real-life situations as they arise.

• Revisiting key concepts – core ideas such as boundaries, friendships, wellbeing and seeking help are explored across multiple key areas and year groups, with learning framed in age-appropriate contexts.
• Increasing depth and sensitivity – concepts are introduced simply and then developed in more detail, allowing pupils to explore more complex or sensitive aspects as they grow older.
• Supporting retention – regular revisiting of key areas and concepts reinforces key messages and vocabulary, helping learning to stick over time.
• Developing skills over time – pupils practise and refine skills linked to the strands of self-regulation, managing self, building relationships and critical thinking. These are revisited across different key areas and contexts, supporting pupils to apply their learning consistently and confidently.

In RSHE & PSHE, pupil outcomes go beyond pupils being able to recall key knowledge or demonstrate specific skills in the classroom. The curriculum is designed to support pupils’ confidence, wellbeing and the way they interact with others in everyday situations.

These aspects of learning develop gradually over time and can be harder to measure. When taught consistently as part of a well-sequenced curriculum, schools may notice changes in pupils’ attitudes, choices and behaviour across school life.

Once taught the full scheme, children will have met the objectives set out within the Relationships, Sex and Health Education statutory guidance and can utilise their learning within their daily lives, from dealing with friendship issues to resilience to making healthy choices and knowing where and how to get help when needed.

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