SMSC and PSHE
What is SMSC?
SMSC stands for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. All schools in England must show how well their pupils develop in SMSC.
Spiritual
Explore beliefs and experience; respect faiths, feelings and values; enjoy learning about oneself, others and the surrounding world; use imagination and creativity; reflect.
Moral
Recognise right and wrong; respect the law; understand consequences; investigate moral and ethical issues; offer reasoned views.
Social
Use a range of social skills; participate in the local community; appreciate diverse viewpoints; participate, volunteer and cooperate; resolve conflict; engage with the ‘British Values’ of democracy, the rule of law, liberty, respect and tolerance.
Cultural
Appreciate cultural influences; appreciate the role of Britain's parliamentary system; participate in culture opportunities; understand, accept, respect and celebrate diversity.
But what are 'British values'?
According to Ofsted, 'fundamental British values' are:
- democracy
- the rule of law
- individual liberty
- mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith.
At Belgrave our whole curriculum develops our children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The PSHE curriculum is a particularly important aspect of our SMSC development.
Aims and Objectives of PSHE at Belgrave
Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) enables children to become healthy, independent and responsible members of society. We encourage our pupils to play a positive role in contributing to the life of the school and the wider community. In doing so, we help develop their sense of self-worth. We teach them how society is organised and governed. We ensure that they experience the process of democracy in school through the School Council, Eco Committee and Sports Council. We teach them about rights and responsibilities. The children learn to appreciate what it can mean to be a positive member of multicultural society.
We believe an effective PSHE curriculum has an impact on the provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
The aims of Personal, Social and Health Education are to enable the children to:
- know and understand what constitutes a healthy lifestyle
- be aware of safety issues
- understand what makes for good relationships with others
- have respect for others
- be independent and responsible members of the school community
- be positive and active members of a democratic society
- develop self-confidence and self-esteem, and make informed choices regarding personal and social issues
- develop good relationships with other members of the school and the wider community.
- be prepared for, and have an appreciation of life in modern Britain
Teaching and Learning Style
The staff at Belgrave Primary use a range of teaching and learning styles. We place an emphasis on active learning by involving the children in discussions, investigations and problem-solving activities. We encourage the children to take part in a range of practical activities that promote active Citizenship, e.g. charity fundraising, roles in our PTA events. We organise classes in such a way that pupils are able to participate in discussion to resolve conflicts and set agreed classroom rules of behaviour. We offer children the opportunity to hear visiting speakers, such as health workers and police whom we invite into the school to talk about their role in creating a positive and supportive local community. We have strong links with our school liaising officer, local police officers and our school nurse.
We enhance our PSHE curriculum by including performances, talks and workshops which are led by external experts such as ‘Childline’ or ‘Gripping Yarns’. The focus of these sessions have included Anti-bullying, Cyber Bullying and Keeping Safe. All performances are planned to fit in with our
PSHE curriculum or wider curriculum. School staff always attend and support workshops led by visitors. Content of workshops will be discussed prior to the workshop or performance to ensure it is age appropriate and meets the needs of our children. Parents will be informed of external visitors, workshops or performance.
PSHE Curriculum Planning
We implement the SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) programme for teaching PSHE across the School. We believe that this progressive scheme meets the needs of our children and has excellent coverage. It has a strong emphasis on relationships. The resources include small group activities which can be run alongside whole class teaching. This is often used to meet the needs of children who require additional support or guidance with Social and Emotional Learning or Mental Health. Subjects not covered by this programme, such as Sex Education and Relationships(Christopher Winter Project) and Drugs Education, are taught alongside this as reflected in our scheme of work.
PSHE is often introduced through other subjects. There is, for example, an overlap between the programmes of study of Religious Education and PSHE.
We also develop PSHE through activities and whole-school events, e.g. the school council representatives from each class meet regularly to discuss school matters. We offer residential visits to Year 3 through to Year 6 children where there is a particular focus on developing pupils’ self-esteem and giving them opportunities to develop leadership and co-operative skills, through team-building activities.
Our whole school Acts of Worship regularly encompass our whole school SEAL themes and teachers follow an annual cycle. These are displayed on the staff noticeboard
Foundation Stage
We teach PSHE to children of Foundation age as an integral part of the topic work covered during the year. For the Foundation children, we relate the PSHE aspects of the children’s work to the objectives set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (EYFS). Our teaching in PSHE matches the aim of developing a child’s personal, emotional and social development as set out in the EYFS.
