Shipston-on-Stour Primary School
PSHE
PSHE Intent
Through our cohesive whole-school approach, we aim to provide an inclusive, relevant and purposeful curriculum that will enable our children to become confident, independent and responsible members of society and the global community. We immerse children in emotional language equipping them with the skills to deal with a range of situations. We will aid children to build resilience and nurture personal well-being through creative and collaborative lessons.
This year our Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) curriculum is a key focus. Through the use of the Unifrog PSHE scheme we can deliver interactive Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education and early careers guidance. The PSHE lessons help children build daily life skills, covering topics like making friends, managing feelings, staying safe online, and understanding physical and mental health. The careers lessons gently broaden horizons by introducing pupils to diverse jobs—such as zookeepers, shopkeepers, and business owners—while showing them how their school subjects connect to future possibilities.
Zones of Regulation
Alongside the Unifrog PSHE scheme, the children learn about Zones of Regulation. This is a framework that supports children by categorising their emotional states into four distinct, colour-coded zones and equipping them with actionable tools to manage each state. By teaching children to recognise whether they are in the Blue (low alertness), Green (calm/focused), Yellow (heightened alertness), or Red (intense emotions) zone, the program provides a simple vocabulary to express complex feelings. It empowers children to build a personalised coping toolkit tailored to each zone, using active strategies like deep belly breathing or mindful stretching to regain focus when they feel anxious or hyperactive. Children also learn to use sensory resources, such as fidget items to stay grounded or a quiet calm-down corner to process overwhelming feelings. Ultimately, this framework helps children build vital self-awareness and independently choose the right tools to safely navigate daily challenges and return to a balanced state.
Taking Care Protective Behaviours Curriculum
Shipston Primary School is one of over 200 schools in Warwickshire who are incorporating this preventive child safety curriculum as part of their PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) provision across all year groups. It is our twelfth academic year of using the Taking Care materials and it is used widely in other parts of the United Kingdom and also in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA.
Established in 1999 by a variety of agencies in Warwickshire and led by Ann Seal at Warwickshire Local Authority, Protective Behaviours is a safety awareness and resilience building curriculum which helps children and adults to recognise any situation where they feel worried or unsafe, such as feeling stressed, bullied or threatened and explores practical ways to keep safe. Protective Behaviours also looks at identifying support networks for times when we need someone to listen and help.
Protective Behaviours is based on two key messages:
▪ We all have the right to feel safe all of the time
▪ We can talk with someone about anything, even if it feels awful or small.
Protective Behaviours is a practical down to earth approach to personal safety and mental health. It is a process that encourages self-empowerment and brings with it the skills to raise self-esteem and to help avoid being victimised. This is achieved by helping individuals to recognise and trust their intuitive feelings (Early Warning Signs) and to develop strategies for self-protection.
There are separate programmes of learning for all year groups so that lessons are not repeated and more importantly, content is appropriate to the age and maturity of the children.
No Outsiders Themes And Picture Books
This is Our House by Michael Rosen
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