RSE & PSHE

Our RSE & PSHE curriculum is designed to help pupils develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to lead confident, healthy and fulfilling lives. The intention is for pupils to understand themselves and others, form positive relationships and make informed choices that support their wellbeing and the wellbeing of those around them.
The scheme encourages pupils to think with empathy, integrity and self-awareness, recognising how their actions and attitudes contribute to their communities. It supports them in developing respect for diversity, managing change and understanding their rights and responsibilities as citizens.
Our curriculum is designed to build a strong foundation for safeguarding, preparing pupils to navigate an increasingly complex world with confidence and care. Lessons promote emotional literacy, resilience and a sense of personal agency, helping pupils to approach life’s challenges with maturity and compassion.
The curriculum is designed to be both accessible and ambitious for mixed age classes, ensuring all learners’ full participation and potential achievement.

Key areas

RSE & PSHE is guided by the DfE’s statutory guidance for Relationships Education and Health Education (2019) and informed by key non-statutory frameworks, including the PSHE Association Programme of Study and the DfE’s non-statutory Citizenship curriculum.

Kapow Primary’s RSE & PSHE curriculum is structured around five key areas:

Family and relationships

  • Learning how to form respectful relationships with others, deal with conflict and bullying and the importance of challenging stereotypes.

Health and wellbeing

  • Learning strategies for looking after mental and physical health, including: healthy eating, relaxation techniques, sun safety, immunisation facts and the benefits of sleep.

Safety and the changing body

  • Learning about administering first aid, safety around medicines, online safety, road safety and the changes which occur during puberty.

Citizenship

  • Learning about human rights and the rights of children, democracy, diversity and community and protecting the environment.

Economic wellbeing

  • Learning how to make decisions concerning spending, budgeting and saving money and exploring different career choices.

Identity (Year 6)

  • Examining what makes people who they and learning about body image.

These key areas are revisited through each year group, ensuring clear progression, coherence and balance. In Year 6, pupils also explore an additional key area, Identity, to support their transition to secondary school.

Personal development in RSE & PSHE

SMSC

The scheme supports Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) development by encouraging pupils to:

  • Explore different perspectives.
  • Reflect on ethical issues.
  • Collaborate with others.
  • Appreciate cultural diversity through subject-specific content.

British values

Lessons promote British values (democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance) by incorporating activities that encourage debate, respect for differing opinions and an understanding of societal structures.

Cultural capital

Our RSE & PSHE curriculum enriches pupils’ cultural capital by connecting personal development with wider social and ethical understanding.

Through discussion of rights, responsibilities and global citizenship, pupils gain the awareness and skills to contribute thoughtfully to their communities and make responsible, informed choices throughout their lives.

Spiral Curriculum

Our RSE & PSHE scheme incorporates a spiral curriculum model, ensuring that pupils revisit and develop their understanding of key themes and concepts as they progress.

This approach allows them to make meaningful connections, reinforce their learning and achieve mastery over time.

  • Revisiting key concepts – pupils encounter the same ideas multiple times throughout their education, with each revisit adding more complexity.
  • Progressive depth – concepts are not just repeated but expanded upon, helping pupils to make connections and develop a richer understanding over time.
  • Knowledge retention – regular exposure to key ideas strengthens memory and prevents knowledge from being forgotten.
  • Skill development – pupils refine and apply their skills in different contexts, improving their ability to think critically and solve problems.
  • Adaptive learning – by building on prior knowledge, the curriculum meets pupils at their current level and supports all learners, including those who need extra reinforcement and those who are ready for greater challenges.

 Assessment

Formative

Our lessons include ongoing assessment opportunities, such as questioning, retrieval practice and interactive activities. These enable teachers to assess understanding in real time and adapt their teaching accordingly.

These enable teachers to assess understanding in real time and adapt their teaching accordingly.

Summative

Each unit provides an Assessment quiz and Knowledge catcher, which allow teachers to measure pupils’ understanding at key points.These tools help gauge how well pupils have retained key knowledge and skills over time.

These tools help gauge how well pupils have retained key knowledge and skills over time.

Please find useful links below

RSE & PSHE – Long term plan
RSE & PSHE - Long term plan
RSE & PSHE – Progression of Skills and Knowledge
RSE & PSHE - Progression of Skills and Knowledge

Subscribe today and stay up to date

    +
    Join the community