Intent

At Easton Primary School, our PSHE, RSE and PATHS curriculum is designed to prepare pupils for life by developing emotionally literate, resilient, reflective and responsible individuals. We combine the PATHS Programme for Schools with Kapow PSHE and RSE so pupils are explicitly taught social and emotional skills and can apply these when learning about relationships, health, safety, community and citizenship. 

PATHS (Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies) explicitly teaches emotional awareness, self-control, peer relations and interpersonal problem-solving. Kapow PSHE and RSE supports wider learning including health and wellbeing, relationships, online safety, citizenship and growing up. Together, the programmes contribute to eight core competencies: emotional literacy, self-regulation, positive relationships, belonging, responsible decision-making, resilience, independence and citizenship. 

Belonging is a golden thread throughout the curriculum. Pupils are supported to recognise their contribution to the classroom and school community, value difference, include others, seek and offer help, and repair relationships. Social and emotional learning is reinforced in everyday school life, not confined to discrete lessons. 

Our intent is to: 

• Teach pupils to recognise, name and communicate emotions in themselves and others. 

• Develop self-regulation and strategies for managing frustration, stress and difficult situations. 

• Build positive relationships based on kindness, empathy, respect, trust and listening. 

• Help every pupil feel known, safe, valued, included, listened to and respected. 

• Develop responsible decision-making, problem-solving and understanding of consequences. 

• Promote resilience, independence, personal responsibility and confidence in seeking help. 

• Teach age-appropriate content about physical and mental health, relationships, personal safety, online safety, growing up and citizenship. 

• Ensure statutory RSHE and PSHE content is taught in an inclusive and coherent sequence. 

• Embed social and emotional learning through classroom routines, adult modelling and restorative practice. 

• Prepare pupils for transition to the next stage of education and life beyond primary school. 

Implementation 

PSHE and RSE are taught using Kapow PSHE and RSE alongside the PATHS Programme for Schools. PATHS provides explicit, sequenced teaching of emotional and social skills; Kapow provides wider PSHE and RSE learning. The school’s long-term plan is used to sequence learning and may be adapted into cycles to ensure pupils receive the full curriculum before leaving primary school. Specific RSE lessons are planned for the relevant year groups where required. 

The weekly structure is: EYFS—PATHS where appropriate through weekly sessions and daily interactions; Key Stage 1—two PATHS sessions of approximately 15 minutes and one PSHE lesson of approximately 30 minutes; Key Stage 2—one PATHS session of approximately 30 minutes and one PSHE lesson of approximately 30 minutes. Autumn 1 prioritises embedding PATHS values, routines and expectations, with PSHE lesson frequency increasing through the year to support statutory coverage. Delivery is organised around school timetabling and mixed-age class needs. 

PATHS is organised around four conceptual units: emotional understanding; self-control; social problem-solving; and peer relations and self-esteem. Lessons explicitly teach and revisit feelings vocabulary, self-control strategies, problem-solving and positive relationships. These concepts are modelled and practised in everyday classroom life so pupils can transfer learning beyond lessons. 

Classrooms establish consistent PATHS routines and visual prompts, such as classroom rules, Feelings Faces, Control Signals, problem-solving prompts and Fair Play Rules, as appropriate to the programme sequence. Pupil of the Day and complimenting are introduced and revisited in line with PATHS guidance, helping pupils give and receive positive, specific compliments and develop self-esteem. 

Weekly PATHS/PSHE class assemblies revisit the concept being studied, reinforce shared language and explore social problem-solving. Learning is supported through daily positive greetings, emotional check-ins, feelings vocabulary, regulation strategies, adult modelling of valued behaviours, recognition of kindness and perseverance, consistent routines, reflection opportunities and restorative conversations following incidents. 

The universal offer applies to every adult working with pupils. Interactions should be warm, calm, respectful, curious, hopeful, consistent, restorative and professional. Adults seek to know and notice each child, recognise strengths and individual needs, maintain high expectations, encourage perseverance, remain calm during difficulty, teach replacement behaviours and repair relationships while preserving dignity. Positive communication and partnership with families are valued. 

In mixed-age classes, teachers use the school’s long-term plan to ensure learning is appropriate to pupils’ age and stage and that statutory content is covered over time. As pupils in one class may follow different year-group content, teachers adapt vocabulary, scenarios, discussion and support while maintaining a safe and respectful environment. 

Assessment and Impact 

Assessment is formative and focuses on pupils’ ability to understand and apply learning in real-life contexts, rather than relying solely on written outcomes. Teachers use discussion, questioning, observation, pupil reflection and knowledge of pupils’ interactions to consider whether pupils can identify emotions, use strategies, solve problems, make informed choices and develop respectful relationships. 

Impact is evaluated through pupils’ lived experiences and the extent to which social and emotional learning is generalised into everyday behaviour and relationships. Assessment considers whether pupils increasingly regulate themselves, seek help, include others, resolve problems and take responsibility, while recognising that pupils may need different levels of support. 

Impact is seen through: 

• Pupils increasingly recognise, name and communicate their feelings and the feelings of others. 

• Pupils can describe and use strategies to manage emotions and behaviour. 

• Positive relationships, respectful communication, inclusion and a stronger sense of belonging. 

• Pupils increasingly use problem-solving and responsible decision-making strategies. 

• Growing resilience, independence, confidence and willingness to seek help. 

• Pupils can discuss age-appropriate learning about health, relationships, safety, online life and citizenship. 

• Adults consistently model relational practice and reinforce PATHS concepts beyond discrete lessons. 

• Appropriate identification and support for pupils who need additional social and emotional provision. 

Impact is not judged through compliance or behaviour data alone. The school considers whether pupils feel cared for, safe and included, whether relationships are improving and whether pupils are developing emotional understanding and self-regulation. Behaviour patterns and other data are considered alongside pupil, parent and staff voice and direct observation. 

Definitions

At Easton Primary School, as in DfE guidance:

Relationships Education is defined as teaching about the fundamental building blocks and characteristics of positive relationships, with particular reference to respectful friendships, family relationships and relationships with other children and adults, including online.

Health Education is defined as teaching pupils about physical health and mental wellbeing, focusing on recognising the link between the two and being able to make healthy lifestyle choices.

Sex Education is defined as teaching children about how human reproduction occurs, including how a baby is conceived and born. This draws on the knowledge of the human life cycle set out in the National Curriculum for science. 

Right to withdraw from Relationship and Sex Education

The RSE curriculum consists of both statutory and non-statutory elements:

• Parents and carers do have the right to withdraw their child from the non-statutory/non science components of RSE.
• Parents do not have the right to withdraw their child from statutory relationships education, health education or the science curriculum

For more information about this please contact the school office and see the links below.