Skip to content ↓

PSHE

At St Mary’s, Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education helps children develop the knowledge, skills and virtues they need to live safe, healthy, happy and responsible lives.

Our curriculum reflects our mission:

Rooted in Love • Faith in Action • Learning for Life

It is rooted in the Catholic belief that every person is created in the image and likeness of God and therefore has unique and equal dignity.

PSHE brings our curriculum golden threads to life:

  • Belonging: children develop healthy relationships, understand their identity and recognise that they are valued members of their family, school, parish and community.
  • Independence and Curiosity: children learn to understand their emotions, make informed decisions, manage risk and seek reliable information and support.
  • Responsibility: children understand that their choices affect themselves and others and learn to participate positively in their community and care for our common home.

Our curriculum includes:

  • Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education;
  • statutory Relationships Education;
  • statutory Health Education;
  • age-appropriate Catholic Relationships and Sex Education;
  • mental health and emotional wellbeing;
  • online safety and digital wellbeing;
  • financial education;
  • safeguarding and personal safety;
  • British values; and
  • active citizenship.

From September 2026, our teaching reflects the Department for Education’s revised Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education statutory guidance.

Our Curriculum Model

We use two complementary programmes:

  • Coram SCARF provides the main framework for our PSHE curriculum.
  • Ten Ten Life to the Full Primary provides our explicitly Catholic Relationships, Health and Sex Education.

We use the main Life to the Full Primary programme. We do not use Life to the Full Plus because Coram SCARF remains our principal resource for the wider PSHE curriculum.

Together, these programmes support a coherent curriculum that meets statutory expectations while remaining faithful to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Resources support teachers’ planning; they do not replace professional judgement. Teachers select and adapt materials according to the needs, ages and developmental stages of the children they teach.

Our Catholic Approach

Relationships, Health and Sex Education forms part of our mission to educate the whole child: spiritually, morally, socially, emotionally and physically.

Catholic teaching places the dignity of the human person at the centre of this learning. Children are taught that they are created, chosen and loved by God and that every other person is deserving of care, compassion and respect.

Our Catholic approach:

  • is faithful to the Church’s understanding of the human person;
  • presents the body and human relationships positively;
  • promotes dignity, love, fidelity, respect and responsibility;
  • recognises parents and carers as the first educators of their children;
  • is appropriate to children’s ages and stages of development;
  • prepares children to make safe and responsible choices;
  • responds sensitively to different experiences, needs and family circumstances;
  • protects children from discrimination, prejudice and harmful stereotypes; and
  • meets our statutory safeguarding and equality duties.

Children learn about Catholic teaching on loving relationships, commitment, marriage and family life while being taught to treat every person and family with dignity and respect.

Our provision is informed by the Catholic Education Service’s guidance for Relationships and Sex Education and its updated model policy framework for Catholic schools.

Curriculum Organisation

Reception follows its own annual EYFS pathway through stories, play, routines, discussion and guided activities.

Years 1, 2 and 3 follow a three-year mixed-age cycle, as do Years 4, 5 and 6. This ensures breadth and prevents unnecessary repetition while allowing children to learn together.

The main SCARF themes are:

  • Autumn 1: Me and My Relationships
  • Autumn 2: Valuing Difference
  • Spring 1: Keeping Safe
  • Spring 2: Rights and Respect
  • Summer 1: Being My Best
  • Summer 2: Ten Ten Life to the Full Catholic RHE and RSE

The rolling cycle organises the themes and contexts children encounter. It does not determine when sensitive content is taught.

Learning about body privacy, safeguarding, puberty, reproduction and transition is always delivered according to the child’s chronological age and developmental stage.

Working in Partnership with Parents

Parents and carers are the first educators of their children. We are committed to working openly and respectfully with families.

We:

  • publish our curriculum overview and progression;
  • consult parents about our Relationships and Sex Education policy;
  • provide information before sensitive content is taught;
  • make teaching materials available for parents to view;
  • respond to questions and concerns;
  • help parents continue conversations at home; and
  • review our provision in response to statutory and diocesan guidance.

Primary Relationships Education and Health Education are statutory. Parents do not have a right to withdraw their child from these areas or from related content within the National Curriculum for Science.

Parents may request withdrawal from any additional sex education taught outside the statutory science curriculum. Any request should be discussed with the Headteacher so that the content, reasons and implications can be considered. Full details are provided in the school’s Relationships and Sex Education Policy.

Assessment

Assessment is an integral part of PSHE, Relationships and Health Education.

Teachers assess what children:

  • know and understand;
  • can explain using appropriate vocabulary;
  • can apply to age-appropriate situations;
  • understand about safety and help-seeking; and
  • can demonstrate through reasoned decision-making.

Assessment may include discussion, scenarios, sorting activities, quizzes, reflection, pupil voice and appropriate written or creative outcomes.

Children are never assessed through personal disclosure. They are not expected to share private family circumstances, experiences or feelings to demonstrate understanding.

The same broad theme may be taught within a mixed-age class, but expectations are matched to each year group.

Knowing That Children Are Succeeding

The impact of our curriculum is evident when children:

  • recognise their own dignity and the dignity of others;
  • develop positive and respectful relationships;
  • use an increasingly precise emotional vocabulary;
  • understand personal boundaries and consent at an age-appropriate level;
  • recognise unsafe situations and know how to seek help;
  • make informed choices about physical and mental health;
  • respond safely and responsibly online;
  • recognise and challenge bullying, prejudice and harmful stereotypes;
  • understand rights, responsibilities and British values;
  • make increasingly informed financial choices;
  • demonstrate resilience and independence;
  • participate positively in school and community life; and
  • understand how faith can be expressed through responsible action.

We want every child to leave St Mary’s with the knowledge, confidence, virtues and protective behaviours needed to flourish in secondary school and beyond.

Supporting PSHE at Home

Families can support children by creating regular opportunities for calm, honest and age-appropriate conversation.

You can help by:

  • encouraging children to name and discuss feelings;
  • modelling respectful disagreement and repair;
  • talking about friendships and boundaries;
  • identifying trusted adults together;
  • discussing what to do if something feels unsafe;
  • agreeing clear expectations for online activity;
  • checking age ratings for games, apps and media;
  • talking about advertising, spending and in-game purchases;
  • encouraging healthy routines for sleep, activity and device use;
  • discussing difference positively;
  • involving children in family and community decisions; and
  • answering questions honestly using age-appropriate language.

Helpful questions include:

  • How did that make you feel?
  • What would a safe and respectful choice look like?
  • Who could help you?
  • Is this information reliable?
  • Is someone trying to influence your decision?
  • How might your choice affect another person?
  • What would you do if this happened online?
  • How can we show dignity and respect?

PSHE and RSE Curriculum Documents

Please use the links below to explore our curriculum in greater detail:

Our curriculum and policy will be reviewed regularly to ensure that they continue to reflect statutory guidance, safeguarding expectations, diocesan guidance and the needs of our children.

  1. St-Marys-PSHE-RSHE-Progression docx
  2. St-Marys-PSHE-RSHE-Three-Year-Overview docx
  3. St_Marys_PSHE_RHE_RSE_Policy_2026 docx