PSHE Overview
At Burnside Primary School, Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education is at the heart of our curriculum. We are committed to providing an empowering, inclusive, and age-appropriate PSHE education that prepares every child to navigate an increasingly complex world both on and offline. Our goal is to equip pupils with the knowledge, skills, and resilience they need to make informed choices, care for their physical and mental well-being, and thrive, achieve, and belong in modern Britain.
Our PSHE curriculum directly embodies our school motto:
Be Safe: Pupils learn vital skills in risk management, personal privacy, body consent, and online safety. They learn how to recognise safe relationships, manage emotional well-being, and seek help whenever they need it.
Be Smart: Children gain essential knowledge about physical health, mental well-being, media literacy, and financial decision-making. Through careers education, they learn to challenge stereotypes and raise their personal ambitions.
Be Kind: PSHE fosters deep empathy, kindness, and social responsibility. Pupils learn to value diverse family structures, celebrate differences, and build respectful, healthy friendships based on mutual trust and communication.
At Burnside Primary, we proudly participate in the No Outsiders scheme. Integrated into our PSHE curriculum using age-appropriate picture books, No Outsiders teaches children to recognise, accept, and celebrate diversity in all its forms.
In line with the Equality Act 2010 and British Values, this scheme ensures every child understands that everyone is welcome at Burnside Primary - there are no outsiders here. By discussing diversity, different family structures, and community cohesion in a safe environment, pupils build empathy and learn to challenge discrimination with kindness and respect.
Our PSHE framework is structured around three core, interconnected strands:
Friendships & Families: Children learn the features of healthy, nurturing relationships across various family structures (including single-parent, LGBT+, extended, adoptive, and foster families) without stigma.
Respect & Boundaries: From Early Years, pupils learn about turn-taking, kindness, personal space, and permission-seeking, laying the groundwork for understanding consent and appropriate contact.
Digital Relationships: Pupils explore how to build positive online friendships, manage social media safety, and navigate age restrictions responsibly.
Promoting Good Health: Pupils learn that mental wellbeing is a normal part of daily life, just like physical health. We explore the benefits of regular exercise, nutrition, sleep, and time spent outdoors.
Emotional Literacy: We give pupils the language to identify and articulate a wide range of emotions, reducing the stigma around mental health and teaching self-care techniques and basic first aid.
Digital Resilience: Children explore strategies for balancing screen time, managing online pressures, and recognizing when to take a break from electronic devices.
Community & Shared Responsibility: Pupils explore rights, rules, laws, and the importance of caring for others, living things, and the local environment.
Financial Capability: Children learn practical money management skills, exploring saving, spending priorities, and understanding "value for money."
Careers & Aspirations: In partnership with primary career frameworks, we introduce pupils to diverse workplaces and employers, actively breaking down career stereotypes and inspiring every child to dream big about their future.