PSHE

PSHE at Archibald gives pupils the knowledge, skills and confidence to keep themselves healthy and safe, build positive relationships and play an active part in modern Britain. The curriculum meets the statutory requirements for Relationships Education and Health Education, including the updated guidance from September 2026. It is organised under three themes: Relationships in Autumn 1 and Spring 2, Living in the Wider World in Autumn 2 and Summer 1, and Health and Wellbeing in Spring 1 and Summer 2. Every year group studies the same theme at the same time, and each half term has a key question for each year group, so learning is coherent across the school and revisited throughout the year. Personal safety shows how knowledge builds. Year 1 pupils learn to stay safe near roads and to stay with an adult at stations. Year 3 pupils study road users and railway hazards and take part in pedestrian training. Year 5 pupils plan safe journeys and discuss peer pressure and dares, and Year 6 pupils prepare to travel independently as they move to secondary school.

Teaching draws on the SCARF scheme of work, the Nurturing Programme, Zones of Regulation and PiXL Wellbeing, supported by resources from the PSHE Association and PolEd. Online safety is taught in every year group throughout the year through 2BeSafe – Being Safe in a Digital World, linking PSHE with the computing curriculum. Pupils learn to name and manage their emotions, and the curriculum includes change, loss and bereavement in every year group. Relationships teaching uses carefully chosen picture books that show many kinds of families, and through our JusT (Joining us Together) work pupils in Years 1 to 4 explore the question ‘Who are we?’ while pupils in Years 5 and 6 consider ‘How do we all live together?’. Anti-Bullying Week explores a different focus each year, building from what makes a good friend in Year 1 to bullying related to each of the protected characteristics and cyberbullying in Key Stage 2. British values are taught through history and citizenship, from Emmeline Pankhurst in Year 1 to democracy, Parliament and the suffragettes in Upper Key Stage 2. Learning is enriched by workshops, including first aid, drugs and alcohol education and an Anne Frank workshop, and by character education through the school’s LORIC values. Each lesson has an ‘I can’ statement that teachers use to assess pupils’ understanding. By the end of Year 6, pupils can make safe and informed choices, understand and respect differences, and know where to go for help.