PSHE and Relationships Education
Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education
At Oake, Bradford and Nynehead CE (VC) Primary School, PSHE helps children develop the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to understand themselves, build positive relationships, stay safe and take an active part in the wider world.
It supports our vision, “Let your light shine,” by helping children make informed choices, value others and grow into responsible members of their community.
Intent
Our PSHE curriculum develops learning across Health and Wellbeing, Relationships and Living in the Wider World.
Children learn about physical and mental health, friendships and families, emotions, personal safety, online life, money, community, responsibility and growing and changing.
Relationships and Health Education are taught in line with current statutory guidance. Children learn to recognise healthy relationships, understand personal boundaries, respect differences and know how to seek help if they are worried or unsafe.
We want pupils to develop resilience, self-esteem and an understanding of their rights and responsibilities. They learn that people, families and communities may be different and that everyone should be treated with dignity and respect.
Our Christian values are reflected through kindness, inclusion, responsibility and care for others.
As Healthy, Safe and Responsible Citizens...
Children will develop the knowledge and skills to:
recognise and manage a range of emotions;
understand ways to support their physical and mental wellbeing;
build and maintain healthy friendships and relationships;
recognise respectful and inappropriate behaviour;
understand personal boundaries, privacy and consent in an age-appropriate way;
know how to keep themselves safe, including online;
recognise when something does not feel right and identify trusted adults who can help;
understand that families and communities can be different;
make informed choices about health, wellbeing and safety;
understand money and develop awareness of needs, wants and choices;
contribute positively to their school and wider community.
Implementation
PSHE is taught through a planned and progressive curriculum, using SCARF to support learning across the school.
A spiral approach allows children to revisit important themes at an age-appropriate level, building knowledge and understanding as they move through the school.
Lessons include discussion, stories, scenarios, reflection and practical activities. Children are encouraged to express their views, listen to others and use appropriate vocabulary when discussing sensitive or personal topics.
Relationships and Health Education are integrated within PSHE and reflect the statutory guidance in force from September 2026. Teaching includes healthy relationships, physical and mental wellbeing, online safety, personal boundaries and how to seek support.
Our wider provision, including approaches such as Zones of Regulation, supports children in recognising emotions and developing strategies to manage them.
Safeguarding is reinforced throughout PSHE. Teaching is consistent with Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026, helping children recognise unsafe situations, understand that abuse or harmful behaviour is never acceptable and know how to speak to a trusted adult.
Learning is adapted where necessary so that all pupils, including those with SEND, can access teaching appropriately and safely.
Parents and carers are kept informed about Relationships and Health Education, and the school follows statutory requirements regarding parental consultation and the limited right of withdrawal from any non-statutory sex education taught outside the science curriculum. Relationships Education itself is compulsory in primary school.
Teachers use discussion, questioning and pupils’ responses to check understanding and identify where learning needs to be revisited or developed further.
Impact
By the time children leave Oake, Bradford and Nynehead, they will have developed the knowledge and confidence to make increasingly informed decisions about their health, relationships and safety.
They will be able to recognise respectful relationships, communicate appropriately, manage emotions and identify when they or someone else may need help.
Children will understand how to stay safer both offline and online and will know who they can turn to if they have a concern.
They will leave us with growing independence, resilience and respect for others, prepared for the next stage of their education and for life in modern Britain.