Educating our pupils on personal, social, emotional and relationships issues, are a cornerstone for helping our pupils to grow into happy, confident, healthy adults. We want our pupils to develop skills to manage their own emotions and be able to communicate feelings in an appropriate way. This includes managing the changes that might come as we grow and change towards adolescence and adulthood. We aim for our pupils to not only develop self-respect and self-control but also respect for other people especially those that represent a different culture or belief system to their own. They should develop an understanding of different types of relationships and what makes a healthy, happy relationship. This should include knowing how to manage conflicts within relationships and how to seek help to resolve disputes. Pupils will be encouraged to question and make choices including when things are difficult.
In this quickly changing world, we want our pupils to understand risks that they may face including online risks and how to seek help and manage risks. Many of our pupils are socially vulnerable and we want to equip them with the skills to keep themselves safe in their own community and make informed choices.
Implementation of PSER happens within classrooms directly delivered by teachers in targeted sessions but also in the playgrounds and corridors of Mayfield School and in many cases can be linked directly to a pupil’s EHCP outcomes.
Our whole school PSHE covers 6 key areas self-awareness, self-care, support and safety, Relationships; managing feelings, Relationships; changing and growing, Healthy Lifestyles and The World I live in. All key stages and curriculum pathways take part in these skill area lessons with the PSHE curriculum supplemented further by interventions such as Attention Autism, Intensive Interaction, and Zones of Regulation.
Pupils are encouraged to understand different cultures and beliefs through our celebrations calendar. They will have experiences of different festivals such as Christmas and Holi alongside personal celebrations such as birthdays and achievement assemblies. We are lucky to welcome regular visitors from Tanzania and have good links with other local schools. Our core texts are designed to reflect the diversity that pupils may encounter in society and allow them to explore questions and difference.
At Mayfield we are committed to giving a personal approach to developing emotional literacy. We have a number of individual programmes running for pupils to further develop their skills in PSER and support emotional wellbeing. Pupils can work with one of our Emotional literacy support assistants (ELSAs) who plan individualised and targeted sessions which aim to improve a pupil’s emotional development. Our pupils also have access to a play therapist, who is a specialist in coping with bereavement and loss and can support children to understand their emotions around these issues. We have a well-established Thrive programme, which can be implemented with individuals or small groups to work towards improving social and emotional development.
The impact of the PSER curriculum block has a direct effect on a pupil’s preparation for adulthood. Pupils will have respect for themselves and be confident in themselves and the choices and decisions
they make. They will be able to manage their own emotions and mental or physical wellbeing, developing self-regulation skills and communication skills to be able to let other people know how they are feeling. Pupils will have respect for other people including those with different cultures or beliefs. They will have an understanding of where they fit into society and how to play an active role in their communities.