Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) and Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC)

Our school has adopted Derbyshire’s PSHE scheme ‘PSHE Matters’. 

At Darley Dale Primary School, we believe that Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) is vital in giving pupils the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to lead healthy, confident and independent lives and to become informed, active and responsible members of Modern British society.  We provide our children with opportunities to learn about rights and responsibilities and appreciate what it means to be a member of a diverse society, where they understand and respect our common humanity, diversity and differences so that they can go on to form effective, fulfilling relationships that are an essential part of life and learning. Our children are encouraged to develop their sense of self-worth by playing a positive role in contributing to school life and the wider community. Our intention is that when children leave Darley Dale Primary School, they will have the knowledge, understanding and emotions to be able to play an active, positive and successful role in today’s diverse society.  Our curriculum helps pupils to understand how they are developing personally and socially, and addresses many of the spiritual, moral, social and cultural issues that are part of both growing up and everyday life. 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.

At Darley Dale Primary School, PSHE isn’t simply a ‘taught’ curriculum subject; our curriculum offers a wide range of activities and experiences in which pupils contribute to their school life and community.  Our whole school ethos and ‘I RESPECT’ values are instrumental in supporting the PSHE curriculum for truly effective PSHE to happen.

Safeguarding is an integral key element of PSHE: pupils learn about their own identity, risks, decision-making and how to keep themselves safe.

The PSHE Modules (from PSHE Matters)

The PSHE Modules are constructed around 3 age groups:

Key Stage 1                (Years 1 and 2)

Lower Key Stage 2     (Years 3 and 4)

Upper Key Stage 2     (Years 5 and 6)

Within each group there are 12 learning modules that could be taught in any order over a two-year period.

The 12 modules are:

1.    Drug Education - including how to manage risk and peer influences

2.    Exploring Emotions - including how to recognise and manage feelings and emotions

3.    Being Healthy - including the importance of looking after our mental health

4.    Growing up - including the Sex Education element

5.    Changes - including loss

6.    Bullying Matters - including how to ask for help

7.    Being Me - including identity and community

8.    Differences and Diversity - including challenging stereotypes
9.    Being Responsible - including looking after the environment

10.  Being Safe - particularly featuring cyber, gaming and CSE

11.  Relationships - including what is a healthy relationship

12.  Money Matters - including enterprise

Our Relationships and Sex Education enables our children to learn how to be safe and to understand and develop healthy relationships, both now and in their future lives.  Although our PSHE has RSE curriculums are closely linked and intertwined, please see our Relationship and Sex Education  curriculum area for specific RSE curriculum content.