PSHE at Bracken Edge
At Bracken Edge, we are committed to ensuring our children are equipped with the social and emotional skills and awareness to develop their strength of character and become confident, resilient, accepting individuals who are prepared for the wider world. Our school values, Belong, Enjoy, Persevere and Succeed, underpin our school ethos and are interweaved throughout our PSHE curriculum and daily practice.
Through PSHE, we aim to develop pupils’ knowledge, understanding and skills to ensure children lead safe, happy and healthy lives both now and in their future. Our curriculum develops confidence, resilience, self-esteem, an ability to identify and manage risk, and an understanding and development of influences and making informed choices.
We follow the “You, me and PSHE” scheme of work from EYFS to Year 6. There are 7 strands within the scheme which lay out age-appropriate topics for the children to cover which have clear links to British Values. We have carefully designed the EYFS PSHE curriculum to align with our whole school curriculum for PSHE by aligning units to the core strands.
We have divided PSHE into 7 different strands:
· Keeping safe and managing risk
· Mental health and emotional wellbeing
· Identity, society and equality
· Relationship and Health Education and Sex education (Year 6 only)
· Drug, alcohol and tobacco education
· Physical health and wellbeing
· Careers, financial capability & economic wellbeing
MindMate
As a school, we are committed to giving our children the best possible start in life by nurturing their social, emotional and mental health. Through delivery of the MindMate curriculum we utilise well proven methods to support our children in developing good relationships, becoming comfortable with their feelings and strategies to cope well with life changes and the more challenging aspects of life that can impact on mental health.
There are six core lessons per year that are taught; one from each of the following themes:
· Feeling good and being me
· Family and friends
· Strong emotions
· Life changes and transitions
· Being the same and being different
· Solving problems/Making things better
Healthy Schools Validation 2025
We are proud to have achieved our external validation for Healthy Schools status. This external validation covered four core areas within school: Personal, Social & Health Education (PSHE), Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Social, Emotional & Mental Health (SEMH)
This is recognition for our commitment to:
· providing high quality, regular and age appropriate PSHE and RSE to improve health and wellbeing outcomes for pupils
· delivering a curriculum that meets the needs of the pupils and school community whilst meeting the statutory guidance.
· embedding a whole school approach to PSHE and the wider curriculum
Our school has demonstrated that we:
· meet the statutory guidance in relation to the curriculum
· use pupil voice to ensure that the curriculum is needs led
· have invested in leadership and training for staff and pupils
· have a clear vision and action for the future
· have reached good or outstanding in each of the strands of the PSHE theme on the School Health Check
Relationships and Health Education & Relationship and Sex Education (Y6 only)
At Bracken Edge our PSHE curriculum is built to meet the needs of the pupils and the school community whilst meeting the statutory guidance for RSE. We provide relevant, effective and responsible Relationship and Health Education to all pupils and Sex Education (Year 6 only) as part of the school’s personal, social, health, economic (PSHE) education curriculum. Our RSE curriculum is delivered at a level appropriate to both the age and development of pupils. RSE is considered a vital subject at Bracken Edge and an opportunity to safeguard our children.
Our RSE curriculum is delivered in a sensitive and respectful manner, and through an age-appropriate and progressive approach. We value the different backgrounds of all pupils in school and, in acknowledging and exploring different views and beliefs, seek to promote respect and understanding. We encourage respect for all religions and cultures and are sensitive to the needs of different groups and adapt our teaching accordingly. Classes may include pupils with different abilities and aptitudes, experiences, religious/cultural backgrounds, gender and sexual identities. We use inclusive language that reflects the diversity of the school community and helps each and every pupil to feel valued and included in the classroom.
Below is a copy of our parent friendly policy for RSE and our full RSE policy.