PSHE is at the heart of the curriculum at Stonesfield Primary School. Children in all year groups follow the Oxfordshire Programme of Study on a regular, weekly basis. During these lessons they are given the opportunity to discuss and develop their ‘emotional literacy’: their understanding of themselves, their relationships, their emotions and their health. Through this experience children are helped to express and handle their feelings.
Through Values Education we aim to raise standards by promoting a school ethos that is underpinned by core values that support the development of the whole child as a reflective learner.
We are very aware that Society is faced with enormously complicated problems and that this makes growing up a difficult process. Children are constantly bombarded with negative messages and are repeatedly given the impression through advertising that happiness is obtainable only from a material world. Children are generally encouraged to experience life in a world that is full of noise and activity and to witness the world as a violent and selfish place. Symptoms of stress are seen as children find it difficult to listen attentively and give their schoolwork their full concentration. Social relationships can often suffer, as children do not realise that building meaningful relationships is their responsibility.
At Stonesfield School we believe that the ethos of our school should be built on a foundation of core values such as honesty, respect, happiness, responsibility, tolerance and peace. These will at times be addressed directly through lessons and our assemblies, whilst at others they will permeate the whole curriculum. Either way, they are the basis for the social, intellectual, emotional, spiritual and moral development of the whole child. We encourage pupils to consider these values, thereby developing knowledge, skills and attitudes that enable them to develop as reflective learners and grow to be stable, educated and civil adults.