PSHE and RSHE
Intent
At Mill Lane Primary School, Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Education, including Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE), is a fundamental part of our curriculum and plays a vital role in preparing pupils for life in modern Britain. Our curriculum is designed using the PSHE Association Programme of Study and Curriculum Model, ensuring full coverage of statutory Relationships Education and Health Education alongside the non-statutory, but essential, strands of Economic Wellbeing.
We recognise that effective PSHE and RSHE is vital in promoting and protecting the wellbeing of all children. Our intent is to develop children who are healthy, safe, resilient, respectful and responsible members of society who are inspired to aspire. We recognise there is a clear link between children’s mental and physical well-being and attainment and we work together to have positive mental well-being that impacts a healthy development of behaviour and learning.
Our vision reflects a passionate commitment to the recognition of the uniqueness of individual learners and recognises and supports the diverse nature of the children in our school.
Our PSHE curriculum wholly underpins the school curriculum, creating a whole school culture which provides character building and real-life opportunities for our children in order to develop the qualities and attributes they need to thrive as individuals, family members and members of society.
The curriculum has been designed to overcome any barriers to learning and through cultural capital opportunities, and a detailed and comprehensive programme of workshops, visits and visitors, we ensure that our children receive an enhanced and personalised provision to provide all children with equal opportunity, regardless of background.
We work in partnership with parents/carers and the local community to provide the knowledge, understanding and skills that children need to lead healthy, fulfilling and meaningful lives; both now, and in the future.
Through a carefully sequenced curriculum, pupils acquire the knowledge, skills and attributes needed to make informed decisions, build positive relationships, learn about their rights and responsibilities, manage risk, recognise and regulate emotions, and contribute positively to their communities.
The curriculum reflects the updated 2025 statutory RSHE guidance by strengthening learning around:
- positive and respectful relationships;
- personal safety, consent and boundaries in age-appropriate contexts;
- online safety, digital citizenship and critical evaluation of online content;
- mental health, emotional wellbeing and resilience;
- recognising unhealthy influences, harmful behaviours and stereotypes;
- equality, inclusion, diversity and protected characteristics;
- safeguarding, including knowing how and when to seek trusted support.
Our curriculum recognises that PSHE is both preventative and empowering. It equips children with the confidence to navigate an increasingly complex world while promoting our school values and supporting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
Implementation
PSHE education underpins the whole school curriculum at Mill Lane Primary School. PSHE, including RSHE, is taught as a discrete, planned subject across all year groups through weekly lessons using the PSHE Association Curriculum Model, adapted to meet the needs of our pupils and community. Learning is organised through the three core themes:
- Health and Wellbeing
- Relationships
- Living in the Wider World
Knowledge and skills are carefully sequenced to build progressively from Early Years through to Year 6, allowing pupils to revisit and deepen understanding as they mature.
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) follows an EY curriculum based on the ‘Birth to 5 Matters’ and ‘Development Matters’ documents and is supplemented by the POL ED programme and Lucinda and Godfrey (RSHE).
The key EY curriculum areas for PSHE are:
- Building relationships: Children play co-operatively, taking turns with others. They take account of one another’s ideas about how to organise their activity. They show sensitivity to others’ needs and feelings, and form positive relationships with adults and other children
- Self-regulation: Children are confident to try new activities, and say why they like some activities more than others. They are confident to speak in a familiar group, will talk about their ideas, and will choose the resources they need for their chosen activities. They say when they do or don’t need help.
- Managing self
The PSHE curriculum in Class 8 and Class 9 is personalised for each pupil and considers their ability, speech and language development and social skills to ensure that it is accessible for each child at their own level of development.
At Mill Lane we have five characters that underpin everything that we do. Each one portrays a characteristic that we want to instill in all of our children that we hope give them the greatest opportunity to succeed. We call this LORIC, and our characters are Laura Leadership, Olly Organisation, Raj Resilience, Izzy Initiative and Charlie Communication. which are promoted throughout all lessons to encourage positive learning, behaviour and relationships across school. The LORIC principles underpin all subjects where Leadership, Organisation, Resilience, Initiative and Communication are referred to and promoted throughout lessons as a tool to support children’s learning, independence, co-operation and knowledge building.
As a school, we use the Zones of Regulation program as an empowering instructional tool to build safe, supportive environments that foster learning and well-being for all.
Learners benefit from:
- Increased self-awareness and social and emotional skills
- A common language for communication, problem solving, and emotional understanding
- More time spent on learning instead of on behaviour management
- A healthier, more inclusive school climate
PSHE and RSHE teaching is underpinned by evidence-informed practice and creates safe, respectful and inclusive learning environments where children feel confident to ask questions, discuss sensitive issues and develop critical thinking. Lessons promote discussion, reflection, problem-solving and active participation rather than rote learning.
Our curriculum is responsive to local and national safeguarding priorities. Additional teaching is planned where appropriate to address emerging issues such as online safety, media literacy, healthy friendships, misogyny, harmful online influences, vaping awareness, body image and emotional wellbeing, ensuring learning remains relevant to pupils’ lived experiences.
PSHE is enriched through assemblies, themed events, visitors, national awareness campaigns, pupil leadership opportunities, safeguarding initiatives and links with the wider curriculum. Assemblies and additional themed days ensure a broad and balanced PSHE Curriculum which recognises and celebrates all cultures and beliefs. Mill Lane also provides a wealth of opportunity to ensure our pupils are able to develop their cultural capital through extracurricular activities, after school clubs, holiday clubs and educational visits.
Strong partnerships with parents and carers support consistency between home and school, with consultation taking place regarding RSHE provision in line with statutory requirements. Our RSHE curriculum was developed in conjunction with our parents/carers to ensure it’s content and delivery is not only based on statutory guidance but is personalised to reflect the cultural beliefs and practices within our school community.
Teachers assess learning formatively through discussion, questioning, reflection and retrieval activities, using assessment to identify misconceptions and inform future planning. At Mill Lane Primary School, we guided by the PSHE Associations assessment criteria. Using the outcome statements children will be assessed as working towards, working at or working beyond within each unit. Teachers will then use the statements to assess, plan and review future learning.
The PSHE and Mental Health and Well-Being Subject Leaders ensure the curriculum is being implemented effectively through monitoring (book looks, pupil voice, staff voice, lesson observations and learning walks) to ensure that teachers have expert knowledge of the subject and are able to deliver high quality, effective teaching to enable pupils to understand key concepts and transfer them into their school and wider lives.
Impact
At Mill Lane we have created a welcoming and accepting culture where each child is valued for their individuality and contribution. Our children learn that we are all different but we are all equal. All children, regardless of starting point, now know more, remember more and can apply their knowledge and skills to be able to do more.
Children are empowered with accurate and relevant knowledge about their physical and mental health and how to manage them, and UKS2 children have the knowledge and information needed to understand their changing bodies as they approach puberty. An environment of open conversation has been created where children feel confident and able to ask questions and have them answered by teachers with the expert knowledge to do so in an age appropriate, culturally sensitive and accurate manner.
Opportunities created in formal PSHE sessions, assemblies and cultural capital activities have provided an environment where all children, regardless of background or ability make progress and have turned their knowledge into personal understanding, have challenged their own and others’ values, attitudes and beliefs and know how to live healthy, safe, fulfilling, responsible and balanced lives.
Children are able to understand and explain the LORIC principles and how they help them with learning and decision making throughout their wider lives. The LORIC principles have created a culture of independence throughout school where children can think for themselves and work collaboratively to achieve success.
By the time pupils leave our school, they will have developed the knowledge, understanding and personal attributes needed to lead healthy, safe and fulfilling lives.
Pupils will:
- demonstrate respectful, caring and inclusive relationships;
- understand how to maintain positive physical and mental health;
- recognise and manage risks both offline and online;
- know how to seek help for themselves or others when needed;
- make informed decisions and understand the consequences of their choices;
- show resilience, independence and confidence in unfamiliar situations;
- understand diversity, equality and the importance of treating everyone with dignity and respect;
- be prepared for the opportunities, responsibilities and challenges of secondary education and adult life.
The impact of our curriculum is evident through pupils’ confidence, vocabulary, behaviour, attitudes and decision-making. Children become increasingly responsible citizens who contribute positively to school life and the wider community, embodying our school values and demonstrating the knowledge and personal qualities needed to thrive in an ever-changing world.
A high importance is placed on questioning and discussion in PSHE and RSHE sessions, allowing pupils to verbalise their learning and understanding. These self-assessments and discussions allow teachers to recognise progress and attainment and plan for further learning. Evidence of pupils’ learning can also be recorded in whole-class ‘floor books’, which pupils contribute to with pictures, photos, reflections or annotations of work or on Evidence Me.