We know that PSHE education is vital for equipping pupils with the knowledge, skills and attributes to meet life’s challenges and make the most of life’s opportunities.
It’s also a statutory requirement to teach the majority of the subject. But getting your curriculum planning right can sometimes feel like a daunting task, as the pupils in your school will have unique needs.
So how can primary schools craft a curriculum to meet both the statutory requirements and the needs of their pupils and school community?
Below, we outline some of our top tips, and hear from two schools who've successfully used our Programme Builders to plan high-quality, tailored, PSHE education.
Don't miss our upcoming Face-to-face CPD: Planning your PSHE curriculum (primary), which will explore this in more depth, along with how to design high-quality PSHE education lesson plans and integrate assessment effectively.
Getting the balance right
Effective PSHE curriculum planning involves more than just selecting lesson topics; it requires careful consideration of sequencing, progression, and adaptability.
A quality curriculum should:
- be accessible and achievable for teachers to cover
- meet statutory requirements
- take a spiral approach, enabling pupils to build on their knowledge and skills iteratively, year by year
- reflect the lives, realities and challenges pupils face, making learning meaningful and relevant.
Using our Programme Builders
Our Programme Builders provide model frameworks for structuring your PSHE curriculum.
They cover the whole Programme of Study for PSHE education (including statutory RSHE content) and link to quality assured lesson plans. They will help you to:
- meet the statutory requirements while allowing for flexibility
- structure lessons over half-terms to build knowledge and skills progressively
- plan age-appropriate topics for each year group
- ensure you meet key learning objectives while allowing space for content tailored to pupil needs.
As we know, there is no one-size-fits-all PSHE curriculum that will be relevant to every community’s needs.
And with this in mind, our Programme Builders are designed to be adaptable and provide a starting point for schools to develop their own bespoke approach to PSHE education.
Here we provide examples of just two schools — Wellington Primary in Tower Hamlets and Manor Park Primary in Coventry — that have successfully used our Programme Builders to create impactful and context-specific PSHE curricula.
Case studies:
Wellington Primary: Moving beyond a one-size-fits-all curriculum
At Wellington Primary, PSHE was already a regular part of the weekly timetable, with all year groups dedicating Monday afternoons to the subject.
Even so, the existing curriculum (based on a purchased scheme of work) was proving restrictive. Teachers found that some lesson content wasn’t developmentally appropriate or relevant to their pupils’ lives.
School leaders wanted to keep a structured, whole-school approach; they liked the idea of all the year groups working on similar themes at the same time.
Drawing on their experience of developing a bespoke curriculum for other subjects, they used our Thematic Programme Builder to create a programme that aligned with health and social data for the immediate and surrounding area, linking the curriculum more clearly to their pupils' particular needs.
See their long-term overview below:
Joanna Finill, PSHE Lead said:
"I thoroughly enjoyed the process. When I introduced the new curriculum to teachers, it was great to have such clear planning documentation, as well as a strong rationale for our choices."
An Ofsted inspection highlighted that;
"the provision for pupils’ personal development is impressive in its breadth and quality... The school has created a curriculum that is broad, ambitious and inclusive. What is most striking is the meticulous attention to detail that goes into leaders’ curricular thinking. They have created a bespoke curriculum for this specific community, and they are always trying to improve it. Leaders implement their ambitious vision for the pupils with commitment and expertise. They continuously evaluate the impact of what they do and strive for ongoing improvements."
Manor Park Primary: Tackling inconsistency
At Manor Park the curriculum had outgrown many of the resources the school were using, which were of a varying style and quality, making it difficult to ensure consistency.
School leaders sought a well-structured curriculum, demonstrating continuity and progression, relevant to pupils’ needs, and easy for teachers to use.
With the help of the Programme Builders — and through drawing on national and local data sources to ensure that the curriculum matched their context — the school developed a spiral curriculum that followed a thematic approach, with each year group covering similar topics at the same time.
The use of pupil voice, gathered through surveys, helped the school to design a PSHE overview of learning under distinct headings and then divided into three or four learning objectives per topic, as seen here in their long-term overview:
Drawing on examples provided in the Programme Builders, the school then matched PSHE Association quality assured Quality Assured resources to the topics to support planning, while also highlighting to teachers which elements are statutory.
See extracts below from their Year 2 Medium term overview:
Alongside the curriculum restructure, they also developed a revised assessment system directly linked to the learning objectives. This made it easier to track pupil progress.
The school's new approach has led to greater engagement from both teachers and pupils, with staff reporting improved subject knowledge and confidence in delivering PSHE lessons.
Key insights
Both of these curriculum journeys highlight some valuable conclusions:
- A clear curriculum structure provides clarity, but flexibility ensures relevance to pupils’ lives
- Using data to inform planning boosts the impact of the curriculum
- A well-sequenced, spiral curriculum ensures progression and allows for more effective assessment
- The Programme Builders provide a clear starting point for schools to plan their own PSHE curriculum
We would like to thank both schools for sharing their insights and experiences with us. We hope they provide a helpful example as you come to think about developing the PSHE programme for your own school.
Check out our Programme Builders to see which model might work for you.
Next steps: CPD and guidance
Are you interested in developing or restructuring the PSHE education curriculum at your primary or secondary school?
Primary colleagues who need more in-depth support will really value our upcoming Face-to-face CPD: Planning your PSHE curriculum (primary).
This will build your confidence in:
- developing a PSHE curriculum that is engaging and relevant and that maximises your pupils’ learning
- designing high-quality PSHE education lesson plans
- effectively integrating assessment
“we were exposed to so much content, as well as shown how to use and locate relevant resources — this will make a huge difference to my teaching and learning. Suggestions for long-, medium- and short-term curriculum planning were well thought-out, and it is great that the PSHE Association resources are reviewed and updated frequently.”
— Delegate, Spring 2024
“Fun and engaging. Great resources, with a really friendly atmosphere throughout the session which made everyone comfortable to ask and answer questions. Informative, thoughtful activities - I feel really confident going forward as Head of Department.”
— Delegate, Spring 2024