PSHE
WE HAVE ACHIEVED THE LIVERPOOL HEALTH & WELLBEING GOLD AWARD!
The Liverpool Health and Wellbeing Award helps impact on the lives of children across Liverpool, by supporting schools to improve the health and wellbeing of their whole school community. This award provides an opportunity to celebrate current whole school good practice, whilst identifying areas for improvement that will make a difference and demonstrate impact.
The GOLD award covers four main areas:
- Emotional wellbeing and mental health
- Food and nutrition
- PE and Physical Activity
- Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE)
- Working with parents and the wider community
- Staff wellbeing
Here is our report from the assessor:
Leadership and management
Your encouraging and inclusive curriculum is woven like a golden thread throughout everything you do at Blueberry Park. If I could describe your school in one word, it would be “community”. Your commitment to the emotional health and wellbeing of all stakeholders is unambiguous. The empathy and support you demonstrate for your whole school community is tremendous, and you clearly know the needs and challenges of both the wider community and individual children and families well. Another word that came up repeatedly was ‘nurture,’ and this is applied particularly to your pupils, but to all members of your wider community including your staff team.
Staff team and ethos
Staff feel valued and work as a whole school team to support pupils, the wider community and each other. Staff benefit from your flexible and appreciative approach, and investment has been made in Smart Clinic and INSET to support staff to be proactive with their own wellbeing. Listening to staff voice is central to your culture, enabling them to develop and thrive. Staff wellbeing is on the agenda of all SLT and governors' meetings. Staff appraisal includes a wellbeing discussion, and the close supportive networks which exist are invaluable. Your representative governor also identified the importance of supporting headteacher wellbeing and ensuring that all staff are supported.
Pupils
Pupils have a great knowledge and understanding of health and wellbeing. They know who to go to should they feel worried or anxious and were able to talk about, and identify, trusted adults. They speak well about diversity including different families and are positive about school being a welcoming and inclusive place, and speak warmly about how their teachers support them to make progress and to be healthier. They say that school helps them to be safe, healthy and strong through the curriculum including PSHE, PE and DT lessons. There are also a wide-range of extra-curricular activities and opportunities which are tailored to attract high uptake and meet a wide range of mental and physical needs.
Lunchtimes and playtimes are seen as opportunities for children to continue to learn and develop their health and wellbeing. Some children require further input e.g. mindfulness, calm start and other initiatives, and staff are alert to these needs.
Y3 have been identified as requiring some additional support and this has been put in place. Your Pastoral Care Lead is tremendously proactive in meeting the needs of all pupils and looking across indicators to ensure that children and families are able to fully access the provision available to them.
You work closely with a range of organisations who you have chosen specifically because of the needs of your pupils e.g. the Anthony Walker Foundation, Priority Youth, The Peace Foundation, Merseyside Police, the RAISE team, YPAS and others.
Children’s voice is listened to through a range of pupil voice opportunities, and independence, responsibility and good citizenship are all prioritised to support pupils to thrive now and in the future.
Parents and the Wider Community
The school population has changed overtime, and with it the parent demographic. More recently, parents have been more engaged, and this is testament to the priority given to parental voice by the school. In light of a traumatic incident in the community, extra support was provided for parents and the wider community, and they were reassured by this.
Parents are asked what their community needs, and their replies are listened to and valued. There is a weekly newsletter which includes key health and wellbeing messages, a monthly online parents newsletter, and communications via text and email. There is also a Thursday morning informal meeting for families.
Parents whose children attended the school were effusive in their praise, and indeed one ex-pupil continues to return to participate in Priority Youth on a Thursday. I understand that he is not the only one to do so.
Environment
The environment supports learning throughout. There are many displays both in classrooms and corridors promoting emotional health and wellbeing. The books and other resources represent our diverse community and your sensory room has been developed in response to pupil voice.
Next steps
Continue to embed and develop the Hearts Programme which is already underway and beginning to have an impact
Parent RSE/PSHE in-school meeting
Working with AWF to understand the importance of inclusion and language around race and racism
Work with parents and staff to increase understanding of the potential impact of accessing age-inappropriate online content
Ensure that all stake-holders are clear about how their voice has been listened to and acted upon.
Once again, I would like to thank everyone on behalf of School improvement Liverpool for the school’s strong commitment towards improving the health and wellbeing of your whole school community. I would also like to wish you and your school every success on the next stage of its journey.
What makes a good PSHE student at Blueberry Park?
A passion for dialogue and an openness to listen to new ideas, concepts and to each other. A willingness to share thoughts and to learn from others, with an ability to emphasise. An openness and honesty within themselves and with others. An ability to consider society and what’s best for the whole, rather than the self. A creative and critical thinker who has an understanding of what it means to be good citizens of the world. They will be able to build upon their resilience, self confidence and self esteem.
About PSHE
PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education) is a statutory in all schools. This will include Health education (covering both physical and mental health) and Relationships and Sex education (RSE). Through the study of PSHE, pupils will celebrate and welcome differences within our school community and beyond.
PSHE is taught in a way through which pupils develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to manage their lives, now and in the future. Pupils have the opportunity to shape the learning journey as they are encouraged to raise questions and make decisions. These skills and attributes help pupils to stay healthy, safe and prepare them for life and their future.
Progression of skills
End of year expectations
Policies
Pupil voice
Links to PSHE resources, games and activities
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/pants-underwear-rule/
https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/bullying-abuse-safety/types-bullying/
Liverpool Health and Wellbeing Silver Award
In December 2020, we won the Liverpool Health and Wellbeing Silver Award. We had a small focus group target with staff and a whole school target linked to improving health and wellbeing in their school.
