Our Vision
At Harlow Green Community Primary School we endeavour to create a caring, creative and happy environment. Each child is encouraged to reach their full potential and their achievements and successes are celebrated and rewarded. All of our children benefit from a rich and diverse curriculum that has spiritual, moral, social and cultural learning at its core. We believe it is imperative that the skills our children develop whilst in school help them to prepare for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of everyday life.
Our Personal, Social and Health Education is interwoven through all areas of our curriculum, in addition to focusing on Health and Wellbeing, Relationships and Living in the Wider World. Our vision is to give children the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to become fully-rounded children who are healthy, confident, sociable and emotionally literate. We aim to prepare children for life in Modern Britain today. It also helps children to develop and apply skills and attitudes to allow them to become full and active citizens in our wider global community.
As a UNICEF Rights Respecting school, we ensure that children gain an understanding of both their rights and responsibilities as a child. We help to develop children’s acceptance of difference and diversity and provide them with a strong moral compass.
School Curriculum
To fulfil all of the aspects within this subject we follow the 3D PSHE Dimensions Primary Programme. The long term curriculum plan can be see below:
Relationships & Health Education
It is a statutory requirement for all primary schools to have a Relationships and Health Education Policy ready for September 2020. We have now finalised our policy and agreed it with the governing body which is available on policies page.
We know that this aspect of education can be sensitive for many reasons. However, although as adults we may have our own hang-ups, it is essential that children develop their knowledge and understanding so that they can form the skills and attributes which will allow them to form safe and positive relationships as they grow.
The aims of Relationships and Health education (RHE) at our school are to:
- Provide a framework in which sensitive discussions can take place.
- Prepare pupils for puberty and give them an understanding of sexual development and the importance of health and hygiene.
- Help pupils develop feelings of self-respect, confidence and empathy.
- Create a positive culture around issues of sexuality and relationships.
- Teach pupils the correct vocabulary to describe themselves and their bodies.
All year groups will have aspects of relationship teaching which is focused on friendship, caring for others, being respectful and love. As children progress through primary, they will learn more about their bodies: what each part is and how it functions. Through this programme, children will be involved in sessions which will:
- Introduce correct terminology for body parts.
- Provide opportunities to share ‘slang’ names for body parts so that this can be corrected.
- Discuss relationships and love in many forms found in modern families (e.g. across genders).
Although parents/carers do not have the right to withdraw their children from relationships education they do have the right to withdraw their children from components of sex education.
To support parents to make this decision we will provide curriculum information annually for each year group so that it is clear what the programme consists of. We will also provide information before any programmes are delivered by school nurses.
Any parent who wishes to discuss the programme/policy or share any concerns they have, can contact school to meet with an appropriate member of staff.
By clicking on the link below you can see the annual programme from Nursery through to Year 6:
Relationships and Health Education_Full Programme Overview
The national statutory guidance can be found by clicking on the link below:
Statutory Guidance for Relationships, Health and Sex Education
UNICEF Rights Respecting School Award
At Harlow Green Community Primary School, we have achieved the Level 1 UNICEF Rights Respecting school award which sets out the human rights of every person under the age of 18. The award ‘supports schools to embed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in their practice’.
The Convention is a very important document because it recognises that all children and young people have the right to be treated with dignity and fairness, to be protected, to develop to their full potential and to participate. It also lays out what countries must do to ensure that all children and young people can enjoy their rights, regardless of whom they are, or where they are from.
As a staff we are committed to promoting the rights of every child and putting them at the heart of everything we do. Giving the children the necessary information so that they understand their own rights and also respect the rights of others around them has empowered our children and enabled them to realise their potential and strive to become active global citizens.
To find out more information about the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child and for a full list of the 42 children’s rights please visit the UNICEF RRS website by clicking on the Unicef image above.