Hearts and Minds

At Bollin Primary School, our PSHE framework Hearts and Minds is more than a programme of study - it is a way of life.

Our mission statement and values are the heartbeat of the school and our PSHE framework therefore extends beyond the classroom walls and permeates all that we do and all that we believe in. We believe passionately that in an ever-changing world, Bollin children are equipped with the skills, knowledge and resilience to thrive.

Hearts and Minds is therefore the very fabric of life at school: from the kindness and patience we extend to one another at break-time; respecting viewpoints different from our own and the importance of staying safe.

Hearts and Minds explores a number of key concepts in the context of three core themes:

• Health and Wellbeing
• Relationships
• Living in the Wider World

Identity: their personal qualities, attitudes, skills, attributes and achievements and what influences these; understanding and maintaining boundaries around their personal privacy, including online.

Relationships: including different types and in different settings, including online

Lifestyle: the importance of a healthy (including physically, emotionally and socially), balanced lifestyle

Risk and Safety:  identification and assessment of risk and how to manage it rather than simply the avoidance of risk; Safety (including behaviour and strategies to employ in different settings, including online in an increasingly connected world

Diversity and equality

Rights:  including the notion of universal human rights, responsibilities including fairness and justice and consent in different contexts.

Change (as something to be managed) and resilience (the skills, strategies and ‘inner resources’ we can draw on when faced with challenging change or circumstance)

Power: how it is used and encountered in a variety of contexts including online; how it manifests through behaviours including bullying, persuasion, coercion and how it can be challenged or managed through negotiation and ‘win-win’ outcomes

Career: including enterprise, employability and economic understanding

These important concepts are explored in the classroom through lessons and workshops but also beyond the classroom walls through assemblies, enterprise events, trips and in the day to day life of school: the language choices we make, how we resolve conflict in the playground or overcome disappointment.

Hearts and Minds is Bollin and we don’t necessarily see it as a ‘subject’ rather an ethos that is ingrained in school, promoted and celebrated amongst our staff, governors and wider school community; an ethos that allows us all to flourish and be the best we can be.