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RSHE

Health and Happiness for all- PHSE at Windmill

At Windmill we equip children to make healthy choices and build positive relationships both on and offline. We encourage participation in school and the wider community as we know how important the need to belong is and at Windmill everyone belongs. We teach children about the link between being physically active and having good mental health and promote activities such as the daily mile, aerobic dance and other forms of regular exercise. In addition we recognise the importance of time for relaxation and reflection which each class practice on a daily basis.

We put wellbeing at the centre of all we do and encourage children to take on responsibilities. Some of these include taking part in our pupil lead councils which give children a voice, working within our community to support charities and as part of a team in sports, whilst performing in plays and concerts. Children may be House Captains or Playground Leaders. We build character traits which allow children to succeed, develop their growth mind set so that they persist and achieve their goals. Our values curriculum provides a moral compass.  We provide opportunities for children to articulate how they are feeling and teach them the language to talk about their bodies, health and emotions.

Children will have a support network here, they will be nurtured and encouraged. They will be taught how to recognise when and where to get help if needed, maybe from our nurture team in the Hive, a friendly TA or class teacher. They will learn that it is common for people to experience mental ill health and be confident that problems can be resolved.C:\Users\jaspden\Desktop\we all belong here pic.JPG

Through teaching children how their brain and body works we give them the power and confidence to make the right decisions leading to healthy, happy lives.

 

Implementation

As with other subjects at Windmill PHSE is taught in a cross curricular way and will be integrated into our exciting termly topics. Objectives have been planned into different year groups to ensure progression of skills and age appropriate coverage. 

PHSE teaching will be directly linked to PE, Science, ICT, (staying safe online) and Values. It will be enriched by Health week and visitors such as nutritionists, the Relax kids team, the NSPCC, and Junior Citizen programmes such as IMPS. 

We aim to live out the theory by promoting healthy lunches, doing regular exercise and creating spaces for quiet reflection during the day. We promote tolerance of others and actively teach children to recognise and act against bullying of any kind.

The teaching of Key facts about puberty and the changing adolescent body will be supported by the school nurse. Parents will be informed about the content of those sessions well before they take place. Children will be given the opportunity to ask questions in a safe supportive environment set up by the teacher. Each class will have a box into which questions can be posted anonymously and answered without embarrassment. Confidentiality will be respected and questions handled with sensitivity.

Snapshots of PHSE at Windmill.

In Reception classes the children explore PHSE through taking turns when playing a game and sharing toys.

In Y1 children talk about families and people who care for them whilst reading The Little Red Hen and discussing the importance of caring for each other and sharing the house work. 

Children run the daily mile in Y2 and talk about its importance. “Having a good pace keeps you fit and gives you fresh air”

Y3 have been using P4C to stimulate discussions on topics such as growth mind set, empathy, friendship and individuality through the use of film clips such as Frog and Toad sharing cookies and creative tasks such as creating a sculpture of oneself. 

Mindfulness is practiced in Y4 using resources on Go Noodle.

Y5 children made a book called Panicasaurus as a result of a unit of work teaching children tools to manage their emotions which was evidenced in topic books of work on the qualities of a friend. 

Y6 children talk about weekly yoga and quiet reflection, “It makes me feel peaceful” They talk about how much they had enjoyed their wellbeing day, the culmination of some work around relaxation. Activities included hand massage, dancing, art and cricket.

 

 

By the end of primary school children will be expected to have met these outcomes

Relationships

• know that stable, caring relationships, which may be of different types, are at the heart of happy families and are important for children’s security as they grow up 

• know how to recognise if family relationships are making them feel unhappy or unsafe and how to seek help or advice from others if needed

• know how important friendships are in making us feel happy and secure and how people choose and make friends

• understand the importance of self-respect and how this links to their own happiness

Physical health and mental wellbeing 

• know that mental wellbeing is a normal part of daily life, in the same way as physical health             know that there is a normal range of emotions (e.g. happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, nervousness) and scale of emotions that all humans experience in relation to different experiences and situations. 

• know how to recognise and talk about their emotions, including having a varied vocabulary of words to use when talking about their own and others’ feelings 

• know how to judge whether what they are feeling and how they are behaving is appropriate and proportionate. 

• understand the benefits of physical exercise, time outdoors, community participation, voluntary and service-based activity on mental wellbeing and happiness. 

• know about simple self-care techniques, including the importance of rest, time spent with friends and family and the benefits of hobbies and interests

• know that isolation and loneliness can affect children and that it is very important for children to discuss their feelings with an adult and seek support 

• know that bullying (including cyberbullying) has a negative and often lasting impact on mental wellbeing.

• know where and how to seek support (including recognising the triggers for seeking support), including whom in school they should speak to if they are worried about their own or someone else’s mental wellbeing or ability to control their emotions (including issues arising online). 

Internet safety and harms

• know about the benefits of rationing time spent online, the risks of excessive time spent on electronic devices and the impact of positive and negative content online on their own and others’ mental and physical wellbeing 

• know that the internet can also be a negative place where online abuse, trolling, bullying and harassment can take place, which can have a negative impact on mental health

Changing adolescent body

• know key facts about puberty and the changing adolescent body, particularly from age 9 through to age 11, including physical and emotional changes.

Impact

By the time they leave Windmill children should have developed in confidence. They should feel self-worth and respect themselves and others. We hope that they have taken part in the wider life of school and enjoyed being part of our community.

They should have built healthy friendships, be able to work as part of a team and be resilient and confident to find support if things aren’t going as planned.

They should have developed tolerance and understanding of others and their different situations. They should know how to be healthy, physically and mentally and understand the clear link between the two. They should be able to use the internet safely and be aware of its potential dangers.

They should leave Windmill on the right path for a healthy and happy future.