PSHE and citizenship underpins the whole curriculum at Gloucester House and is woven through all curriculum areas and social parts of our day. This is due to the profile of needs in our pupil population.
It is also taught as a discrete subject and is the centre of some of our topic weeks. It is a central part of circle times and links closely to our behaviour policy, particularly the aspects which focus on reflecting on the link between both thoughts and feelings.
The PHSCE & Citizenship curriculum develops children’s knowledge and understanding of self and others. It develops citizenship, self-worth and how to live a healthy life style. It also provides children with a broad general knowledge of public institutions and services in England, such as police, emergency services and local government services.
For young people with behavioural difficulties, developing appropriate social skills is a significant challenge. Children at the Gloucester House also have low self-esteem and/or poor self-image.
PHSCE links closely to the therapeutic interventions within Gloucester House.
Our PHSCE curriculum also underpins the promotion of British values.
Aims
- To outline content of the PHSE and Citizenship curriculum.
- To clarify and explain importance of PHSCE at Gloucester House.
In P.H.S.E we promote learning by:
- Developing and enhancing self-esteem and positive self-concept through personal skills programmes.
- Developing pupils’ ability to build effective relationships and behave in an appropriate manner.
- Developing knowledge and understanding of what is right and wrong and individuals’ responsibilities in relation to others.
Our Citizenship programme promotes learning by:
- Involving children positively, encouraging them to participate in community life;
- Making links with our community partners;
- Supporting inclusion and promoting positive behaviour, equal opportunities, respect and responsibility;
- Providing a focus for celebrating and publicising school activities;
- Developing understanding of a healthy lifestyle.
- Providing pupils with a broad knowledge of public institutions and services in England.
- Having a School Council and a Community Meeting where children can participate and become involved in decision making process and learn through experience the main aspects of a democracy.
Responsibility
- All staff in Gloucester House are responsible for the ethos in the school and the children’s social, emotional and behavioural development.
- The curriculum coordinator and teachers will develop units of work as appropriate.
- The clinicians and nursing team will implement targeted interventions for groups and individuals as identified
- The class teams and children will set and monitor daily targets to develop the children’s capacities.
- The parents/carers with case coordinators, teachers and children will develop andreview GBO (Goal Based Outcomes) termly.
Planning and continuity
Medium term planning is undertaken in the context of Gloucester House’s overall curriculum plan which reflects the needs of all pupils. The medium term plans ensure that teaching units are coherent and manageable and promote continuity and progression in learning. Units for each year may be linked with other curriculum areas.
Medium term plans identify learning objectives and outcomes for each unit suggesting activities to enable these objectives to be met.
Short term planning is the responsibility of individual teachers who will build on the medium term plans by taking into account the needs of the individual children in the group.
Work is presented in a topic folders and the children’s ‘learning journeys’. The children review topics at the end of units. This will inform and guide any adjustments required to the scheme of work.
Forms of provision – Approaches
P.S.H.E and Citizenship cannot just be confined to a specific timetabled time. A variety of forms of provision should be considered in combination and at different times.
- Discrete curriculum time
- Whole school events and activities
- Individual behaviour plans
- Gloucester House behaviour guidelines
- Class based events and activities
- Mealtimes, playtimes and other social aspects of Gloucester Houses life
- The ethos of Gloucester House
- Therapeutic interventions (specific) and a therapeutic milieu in all aspects of Gloucester House life
- Whole school/class meetings
- Assemblies/school council/community meeting
There are a range of Schemes of Work for PHSCE which cover all aspects of the requirements of the National Curriculum. These are planned in addition to the social aspects of PSHCE that we cover through lunchtime, playtime, circle time, behaviour reflection times, recovery times, the school Council and the Community Meeting.
Off site visits and special day events or topic weeks provide other opportunities for children to plan and work together, and develop and maintain relationships under different circumstances.
There are also opportunities for class circle times and ‘whole unit meetings’ and these can be called as and when staff and children feel they are appropriate. They can be informal and ad hoc or planned for shorter or longer term to tackle specific or general issues. Sometimes these may include members of the clinical team.
PHSCE lessons
PHSE and Citizenship lessons are often structured on a carousel model, providing opportunity for independent, paired and group work; ICT activities and a plenary. Children will be offered challenging and rewarding work and work in an environment that fosters social interaction and co-operation.
Circle time
Circle time is used as a model for promoting reflection, speaking and listening including feedback to one another, turn taking, self-esteem and building relationships. It is also a place for self-evaluation and a time to explore or resolve issues at Gloucester House.
Circle times/ group meetings are carried out 4 times a week as a whole school. These include a different focus on different days. Currently:
- Monday – School Council
- Wednesday – a religious or moral theme or celebrating a religious event/festival.
- Thursday – Community Meeting
- Friday is ‘sorry and thank yous’ for the week and work sharing.
All circle times are followed by a minute silence or inward reflection where children can share their thoughts after. These are minuted by the children in our circle time book.
School Council:
All children who attend are part of the meeting. The aim of it is to:
- To have a say in the running of Gloucester House
- To address issues within Gloucester House
- To be able to make decisions
- To link with Whole Team Staff Meeting on a Tuesday.
- To link with issues arising at other times in the life of Gloucester House e.g. circle times.
Children are responsible for contributing to the agenda and fill in suggestion slips weekly, this is then passed onto the PHSCE co-ordinator and addressed in school council.
Community meeting
This is held on a Thursday and it is an opportunity for the whole community to gather together. It is co- chaired by a clinical staff member and child. The aim of the community meeting is to come together to raise concerns or issues that affect us all as a community.
All can contribute to the agenda. The meeting is followed by a debrief session by key staff members.
Schemes of work
Our Schemes of Work cover topics in relation to Citizenship, developing good relationships and respecting others, developing understanding of self and self esteem and developing a healthy life style.
They include contact with the police, school nurse and other health professionals and fire safety (links with the local fire station).
Therapeutic work at Gloucester House
We are a multidisciplinary team made up of a head teacher, teachers, progress support workers, specialist nurses, therapeutic support workers, child psychotherapists, child psychiatrist, a family therapists, speech and language therapist, occupational therapist, art therapist, a consultant social worker and access to educational and/or clinical psychology. We work together to progress the children’s emotional, social and educational development.
We do this by providing a therapeutic environment which involves education, behaviour management, work with parents/carers, therapy and where appropriate, medication.
We offer a range of therapies. We try to be as creative and flexible as possible in matching each child’s needs to our resources:
- Individual Child Psychotherapy
- Family Therapy
- A range of individual and group therapies
- Parent/carer Work
- Parent/carer & Child Work
- Supported use of the nurture space
These provide a vital part of our PSHCE curriculum.
Learning and assessment
Children take an active part in the lessons with teachers having a positive expectation of achievement. Children make good use of the opportunities given to them to consolidate and improve skills. Emphasis is put on developing self-control and self -evaluation.
Time to reflect and communicate opinions and ideas are integral to learning. The procedure for assessment demonstrates progression and identify development for each pupil. Reporting is carried out in line with the Gloucester House’s existing practice. At appropriate times, children are encouraged to self assess. Children are assessed using QCA.
Monitoring and assessment of teaching and learning
The headteacher, deputy headteacher and curriculum coordinator shall be responsible for monitoring and assessment of teaching and learning. This shall take the form of observation and positive feedback to class teachers, progress support workers, work scrutiny and learning walks
Teachers will require a range of skills to provide the breadth of teaching required and individual needs in training shall be identified and met. This could be in the form of in service training, visits by designated advisors and the coordinator to disseminate relevant information to staff.
Monitoring and assessment of teaching and learning shall fall into Gloucester House’s guidelines and be performed in conjunction with School Development Plan.
Equal opportunities
All pupils shall have access to a relevant curriculum that meets their needs whilst providing a breadth of experience. Materials should reflect the multi-cultural society in which we live. All resources used will be free from race and gender stereotypes.
Protected characteristics from the Equality Act
We celebrate diversity and through PHSCE we think about discrimination in all its forms. For the purposes of this policy, discrimination means treating people less favourably than others on the grounds of their age, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, race, ethnic origin, disability, religion or religious beliefs, whether this be direct or indirect by applying a provision, criterion or practice, which disadvantages such persons.