Preston Primary School in Norwich uses Discovery Education Health and Relationships to teach RSHE. Victoria Braddock explains how the programme helps teachers to confidently deliver the new curriculum while building upon children’s learning.
COMPLETE RSHE
We’ve been using Discovery Education Health and Relationships since September 2020. We wanted a PSHE programme that would help us to meet the statutory requirements consistently across the school. It’s good to find a scheme of work that we can pick and run with. It’s a complete resource so we don’t have to plan lessons from scratch.
PLANNED AND SEQUENCED
I teach a Year 2/3 class, so it’s important for me to have flexible resources. Health and Relationships is ideal because it’s progressive scheme from Years 1 to 6. Children build upon their learning and teachers can track this using a handy Progression Grid. We can quickly see where each lesson fits in and show that our teaching is sequenced, in line with the new Ofsted Framework.
NEW CURRICULUM-READY
This is our first year of teaching the new RSHE Curriculum and the programme has definitely helped. As a scheme of work it’s clear, easy to follow and everything is in one place. From curriculum links and lesson plans to resources and key vocabulary, we’re completely covered. We can start each lesson knowing exactly what our objectives and outcomes are.
TEACHER TIME-SAVER
One of the things we like best about Health and Relationships is that it’s user friendly. The different resources are easy to find and very well organised. As time-poor teachers, it’s great to be able to access what we need quickly, whether a lesson plan or a particular video or activity. We can simply switch on and start teaching. Our TA’s find it really easy to deliver too.
OFFLINE ACTIVITIES
Health and Relationships is a fantastic digital resource and some aspects can even be taught offline. The internet coverage in our area is sometimes a little patchy, so the ability to download and print resources is really important! There are also lots of great classroom activities that the children enjoy. The videos provide a brilliant prompt for offline pupil discussion.
SUPPORTING REMOTE LEARNING
We used Health and Relationships during lockdown and being able to deliver RSHE remotely was a lifesaver. Some of the topics such as Caring and Responsibility were very relevant to the pandemic. The resources helped us to look at the different responsibilities children have in the home and explored the idea of caring for others. The feedback we had from families was very positive.
DIFFERENT FAMILIIES
Last year we also learned about Families and Committed Relationships. We explored the diversity of families and this sparked some important conversations at home. One of our parents told us that the lesson helped their child to talk about a grandparent who had recently died. Another said that it started a conversation about family trees, prompting the child to draw a picture which she shared in school. Each lesson took off in a different direction, which was lovely.
HEALTHY BODIES AND MINDS
Health and Relationships includes lots of videos and photographs and our pupils respond really well to these. Recently we were learning about Healthy Bodies and Healthy Minds and exploring different feelings. It was great to have so many images to draw upon and because the pictures feature real children, they are very engaging. The videos are also child-led which makes a big impact. Pupils can relate to the content so they have a bigger response to it. It’s also good to see such diversity on screen.
RESPECTING DIFFERENCE
Learning to respect difference is one of the key objectives of the new curriculum and Health and Relationships contains some brilliant resources to bring this to life. It reinforces our whole school approach to teaching about diversity. Recently we’ve used the programme alongside teaching about Black History Month and different faiths and cultures. Children notice difference, so it’s important to give them time and space to talk about it. We want to make sure that our teaching reflects the world they live in.
FRIENDSHIPS AND WELLBEING
Health and Relationships covers the topic of friendships very well and we used it to prepare the children to return to school post-lockdown. It was important to revisit what makes a good friend and what happy friendship feels like. Health and Relationships also helps us to support the children’s wellbeing by exploring what it means to stay healthy physically and mentally. Our pupils have been so resilient during the pandemic and we’re very proud of them.
POSITIVE IMPACT
Health and Relationships is a fantastic resource. It’s helped us to feel confident about delivering the new RSHE curriculum and we have complete peace of mind that we’re meeting the objectives. It’s so helpful to have a scheme of work that is fully planned and works for the whole school. And because the learning builds, every lesson we teach makes a positive impact. The way it all fits together is really effective.
