Healthy Schools school story

Date: March 2014

Developing a Whole School PSED Scheme of Work Project

School name: Ewhurst CE Infant School

We are a one form entry Infant school based in Ewhurst village, Surrey, with 85 pupils currently on role. We provide education for pupils of reception age through to Year 2. Our school encourages active partnership between families, the church and the surrounding community. We have a mixed catchment area, with children attending from Ewhurst village and also surrounding villages. Approximately 20% of children leaving year two move on to schools in the independent sector. We also have a small percentage of children of traveller background. Healthy Schools is a central part of our school ethos and having gained National Healthy Schools Status we have been working towards the ‘enhanced status’.

What needs did we identify?

We identified that as a school we needed to develop a whole school PSED scheme of work that was based upon a needs based spiralling curriculum.

What outcomes did we focus on?

  • Completing a needs based spiralling scheme of work to cover all aspects of PSED
  • Children to have more enjoyment from PSED lessons
  • Cross curricular links to be evident in planning
  • PSED to be more meaningful and relevant to children
  • Improved number of children to report they are using PSED skills and knowledge in real life situations.
  • Teachers to compare questionnaires carried out at the beginning and end of the school year.

What activities/ interventions did we put in place?

Autumn Term:

  • Talk to COBWEBS schools about how they are using SEAL and their PSED curriculum/links with RE
  • Observations of PSED lessons

Spring Term:

  • Interview/questionnaires with focus children
  • To reflect upon the outcomes of the RE INSET
  • Look at year groups MTP and consult with year group teachers
  • Research schemes of work and resources
  • To carry out interviews with focus pupils along the theme of enjoyment of PSED
  • Finalised PSED scheme of work

Summer Term:

  • Report to staff the impact of the new PSED curriculum
  • Report observations made by teachers, lunch time staff and teaching assistants
  • Observations of PSED lessons

What did we achieve, and how did we know?

We have raised the profile of PSED within the school and have developed a needs-based spiralling curriculum to cover all aspects of PSED.

At the beginning of the project we undertook a questionnaire to benchmark children’s enjoyment and engagement within PSED lessons. Monitoring observations were also undertaken by the leader of learning for PSED. At the end of the year we completed another audit through monitoring observations and set of questionnaires. These clearly indicated an increase in engagement and enjoyment within PSED from our children. Twenty percent of children were surveyed in each class and eighty percent reported that they were using PSED strategies to enable them to develop more positive friendships and cope with challenging situations more effectively.

This term we have organised ‘Feeling Good Days’ which the children are helping to plan with their teachers. This also involves partnership with parents and positive relationships at home, as well as within school and through home learning activities. On these two days we have a visiting farm and will also be providing the children with a range of activities and experiences that promote self esteem and self awareness.

We have also reviewed playground equipment and ensured that there is a range of resources to meet all children’s needs. Behaviour in the lunch hall has been reviewed and it was decided to reintroduce the ‘captain’s table’ for Friday lunchtimes. (ie. four children are chosen weekly to eat their lunch with a member of the teaching team).

Staff, parents and children were given the opportunity to attend an internet safety workshop at a local school. As a result of the staff training we identified that there was a need to communicate with our parents about this important issue. A questionnaire was sent out to all parents regarding their children’s use of the internet at home and subsequent safety issues. Staff acknowledged parental feedback and planned a series of lessons to address issues and parental concerns.

What will we do next?

We need to continue to review Healthy Schools yearly and also continue to raise the profile of PSED. We will continue annual ‘Feeling Good Days’ and carry out termly questionnaires with the children and lesson observations.

Staff will continue to build upon the development of resources with a particular focus on finding suitable stories for year two children. Next year PSED sessions could be used more frequently as an opportunity to make observations and links to speaking and listening skills. The staff team have also discussed developing further links between classes and giving children more opportunities to work with pupils from other classes to raise self-esteem and give further understanding of being ‘good’ role models.

Senior leader quote:

As an outstanding school we are constantly reviewing our curriculum to ensure it is a spiralling, challenging and appropriate for the children in our school. Every member of staff, our parents and our pupils value greatly the values and ethos which we have developed at Ewhurst Infants – where developing and improving every single child’s physical, social, health and emotional wellbeing is valued just as highly as academic outcome. It is the heart of our ethos.

Buoyed by achieving two of our Healthy School outcomes our focus is now moving further onto our emotional health and wellbeing priority. Ofsted recently commented on the significance of PSHE at Hazel Lodge and we are reviewing the learning opportunities so pupils build their skills and confidence to seek help and support. We have increased liaison with our local CAMHS service to improve the referral process for our very vulnerable students. We constantly challenge ourselves to find solutions to the challenges students face and to celebrate success.

‘Healthy Schools has continued to be a significant factor in improving outcomes for our young children. It has provided a framework for school development that has enabled us to achieve success not only in terms of Ofsted but, more importantly, in improving and developing the life chances our young children.’ Head teacher

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Ewhurst CofE Infants_School Story_March 2014 March 2014