Intent

At Thomas Jones we have decided to amalgamate our Relationships, Health and PSHE curriculum under the umbrella topic ‘Personal Development’. These subjects are designed to equip children with the knowledge to make informed decisions about their own wellbeing, health and relationships as well as preparing them for a successful adult life.

For Year 5 and Year 6 pupils, Sex Education is also taught by their class teacher and the school nurse. The Relationships and Health Education parts of the curriculum follow the statutory guidance: Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education, Department for Education 2020. Through our Personal Development Curriculum however, we ensure that we integrate, but do not limit our curriculum to this statutory content. All statutory elements have been influenced by consultation with staff, governors, pupils and families. Our Sex Education curriculum follows the above guidance but remains non-statutory and is taught separately by the school nurse in Years 5 and 6. Parents and carers have the option to withdraw their child from these lessons.

Our Personal Development curriculum is designed to develop key concepts, skills and attributes. Although the specific content of the curriculum will evolve as the world changes, these concepts are timeless. It is not enough to simply teach pupils about the issues covered within the core themes. It is vital that pupils have the opportunity to explore their attitudes, values and beliefs about these issues and to develop the skills, language and strategies necessary to manage such issues should they encounter them.

For our community, we have a sustained focus on healthy diet, dental care, peer pressure, physical and mental wellbeing and economic security as local data highlights these are specific areas of need. Data to support this has been drawn from a range of sources: Analyse School Performance (ASP – including the Inspection Data Summary Report IDSR), local authority data (Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNA)) and Public Health England, Child and Maternal Health data sets (CHIMAT).

 

  • The school’s deprivation indicator is 0.35 compared with 0.21 nationally (ASP data).
  • When employing IDACI deciles, 53% of the school community is drawn from the 10% most deprived wards nationally (LA 2019 data).
  • Children under 20 living in poverty is 20.1% compared with 16.6% nationally (JSNA).
  • Prevalence of obesity in Year 6 pupils is 6% compared with 20.2% nationally (CHIMAT)
  • The percentage of children with one or more decayed, missing or filled teeth is 26.6% compared with 23.3% nationally.7 (CHIMAT).
  • Hospital admissions for mental health conditions- 2018/19- 87.2 in relation to 72.5 regionally and 88.3 nationally (CHIMAT).
  • Hospital admissions for mental health conditions- 2018/19 were 87.2 compared with 72.5 regionally and 88.3 nationally (CHIMAT).

 

At Thomas Jones, our Personal Development education addresses both pupils’ current experiences and preparation for their future. We have therefore provided a ‘spiral curriculum’ meaning that the specific learning builds for pupils as they move through the school, gradually expanding and deepening their knowledge, skills and attributes with prior learning revisited, reinforced and extended throughout the school. This is grounded in the established evidence base for effective practice in PSHE education.