SPHE Policy

School: SCOIL THOMAIS

1. Introductory Statement and Rationale

Introductory Statement

Scoil Thomáis is a primary school under Catholic Patronage.
It is a co-educational mainstream school with classes from Junior Infants to Sixth Class
As of 30th September 2018, the school had an enrolment of 708 pupils
In October 2018, a working group of teachers revised the school plan for SPHE to reflect current educational thinking, recent initiatives, and updated resources.
This plan is effective from the 2018/19 school year and replaces the previous SPHE plan.
It will be brought to the Board of Management (BOM) for final ratification before being made available to the school community.

Rationale

SPHE is a distinct subject on the school curriculum.
Current approved educational programmes used in Scoil Thomáis include Stay Safe, Bí Folláin, Walk Tall, Webwise, Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE), and the Abi Anti-Bullying Programme.
SPHE is integrated with other subject areas, including Aistear (Infants), Physical Education, Art, Music, Religion, and Geography.
Relationships & Sexuality Education (RSE): Taught to all class levels each year, including sensitive lessons, in the context of the SPHE curriculum.
Stay Safe Programme: Taught as a unit of lessons in Senior Infants, First, Third, and Fifth Classes every year to develop personal safety skills.
Abi Care Programme (Anti-Bullying Initiative): Taught from 1st to 6th Class with monthly themes to raise awareness of bullying and develop empathy.
Road Safety & Cycle Skills: A six-week programme taught to all 5th Class pupils in Term 2, involving class-based and outdoor lessons in collaboration with the Irish Centre for Cycling.
Mighty Mouth Dental Hygiene Programme: Taught in designated classes with assistance from the HSE Dental Nurse.
The updated plan ensures an integrated, co-ordinated whole-school approach from Junior Infants to 6th Class and guides teachers in planning and assessment.

2. Vision and Aims

Vision

The SPHE curriculum supports pupils in developing a framework of values, attitudes, understanding, and skills to inform their decisions and actions.
Pupils are assisted in developing self-worth, self-confidence, and positive relationship skills.
Pupils are taught to be aware of their rights as individuals while accepting responsibility for their actions within the school and wider community.

Aims

The children of Scoil Thomáis will be enabled to achieve the aims of the SPHE curriculum, including:

Promoting the personal development and well-being of the child.
Fostering a sense of care and respect for themselves and others, with an appreciation for the dignity of every human being.
Promoting the health of the child and providing a foundation for healthy living.
Enabling the child to make informed decisions and choices about social, personal, and health dimensions of life, both now and in the future.
Developing a sense of social responsibility, a commitment to active citizenship, and an appreciation of the democratic way of life.
Enabling the child to respect human and cultural diversity and to appreciate the interdependent nature of the world.

Overview of the SPHE Curriculum :

Strands and Strand Units:

The curriculum is organized at four x two year cycles ie

(i) Junior & Senior Infant Class (ii) First &Second Class (iii) Third & Fourth Class, and (iv) Fifth &Sixth Class. Each two year cycle/level consists of three strands or main topic areas:

Myself, Myself and Others, and Myself and the Wider World.

Strand

this strand looks at the

Myself:

· Personal development of the individual child, his/her health and care and respect for oneself.

· Fostering personal responsibility for actions and behavior

· Growth and development of the human body ( including RSE sensitive lessons)

Myself & Others:

· Development of care and respect for other people

· Communicating effectively with others

· Resolving conflicts, empathy, assertiveness

· Co-operating and working collaboratively with others

Myself & the Wider World:

· Undertanding what it means to belong to various communities that pupils live in

· Care for the environment

· Media awareness

· Learning about cultures and traditions

· Respect for the rights and contributions of cultural diversity

Each strand is further subdivided into strand units or sub topics with learning objectives for each unit. Scoil Thomáis will teach aspects of all three major strand each year and strand units will be organized so that pupils will receive a comprehensive programme in SPHE over a two year cycle at their class level.

The following timetable for teaching the strands/strand units reflect this commitment across all class levels.

Strand	Strand Units (Year 1 & Year 2 )
Myself	Self-Identity Taking Care of my Body Growing and Changing (includes RSE) Safety and Protection ( includes Stay Safe) Making Decisions
Myself and Others	Myself and My Family My Friends and Other Peeople Relating to Others
Myself and the Wider World	Developing Citizenship Media Education

Contexts for SPHE:

SPHE will be taught in Scoil Thomais in the following contexts:

Positive School Climate and Atmosphere
- positive communication and affirmation
- acknowledgement of individual needs
- creation of a health-promoting and safe environment
- developing democratic processes
- enhancing self-esteem of all the school community
- fostering respect for diversity and cultures
- inclusive and respectful language

Discrete time for SPHE
SPHE is allocated ½ hour per week in each class timetable. However teachers may decide to allocate 60mins per fortnight to allow for indepth exploration of a strand unit if necessary.

Integration with other subject areas and Linkage within SPHE
Teachers will implement a thematic approach to SPHE by integrating it with other subject areas such as Aistear (Infants) Language, Geography, History, Religion, Visual Arts, Physical Education, etc. Themes/Projects such as Friendship Week ???? will also be explored.

Approaches and Methodologies:

The approaches and methodologies used in the teaching and learning of SPHE are crucial to the effectiveness of the programme. Active learning is the principle learning and teaching approach recommended for SPHE, therefore teachers will teach SPHE using a variety of leaning strategies which include:

drama activities including circle time and think pair share etc
co-operative games
use of pictures, photographs and visual images
written activities and worksheets
use of media ie video, film etc
IWB & ICT and assessment of children’s work

Assessment:

Assessment is a central part of the learning and teaching process in SPHE.

Assessment of and Assessment for Learning provides information on the pupil’s progress and on the effectiveness of the curricular programmes and the teaching methods.

The following assessment practices will be used for SPHE:

Teacher Observation: ability of pupils to cooperate and work in groups/work independently, participation and interest of the pupil in a varity of activities, tparticular interests and attitudes displayed by a child, level of social and personal responsibility displayed by the pupil, the pupil’s awareness of the difficulty of others, his/her willingness t help, ability to verbalise on social and emotional matters.
Teacher-Designed Tasks and Tests: formal tasks both written and oral to determine progress in specific areas of SPHE as identified by the
Portfolios of Pupil’s Work : Each pupil from 1st – 6th will keep a special YELLOW CARE COPY as part of their ABi Programme and this will be used to assess progress in These copies are retained for each pupil as they progress through the each class level. At the end of 6th Class pupils then have this copy as a record of their SPHE learning at various class levels.

Children with Additional Needs:

Teachers will adapt and modify activities and methodologies in SPHE to support the participation of pupils with special needs. SETeachers will supplement the SPHE programme of work of the class teachers where necessary ie social stories etc. The school liaises with trained relevant professionals/ agencies when dealing with sensitive issues that may arise for pupils such as bereavement or loss or family issues etc.

Equality of Participation and Access:

Scoil Thomais recognises and values diversity, and believes all pupils should have equality of opportuity and participation in all aspects of teaching and learning in SPHE.

Policies and Programmes that support SPHE:

Policies directly relevant to SPHE

Programmes that support SPHE

· Child Protection & Safeguarding

· Anti-Bullying Policy and Procedures

· Relationships and Sexuality Education

· Substance Use

· Code of Behaviour

· Stay Safe Policy

· Health and Safety Policy

· Healthy Eating Policy

· Acceptable Usage Policy etc

Anti Bullying/Care Programme ( Abi)

taught in all classes 1st – 6th

Stay Safe Programme

( taught each year in Snf, 1st, 3rd, 5th Classes)

Walk Tall ( taught as part of SPHE) Food Dudes Healthy Eating Programme Green Flag Environmental Awareness Social Justice Education Programmes Well Being in Primary Schools –

Wellness on Wheels Initiative from September 2018

Homework:

SPHE homework will reflect the active learning approach and will reinforce learning already taught during class. Stay Safe- weekly worksheets are sent home when the programme is being taught and parents are asked to read and discuss the lessons with their children.

Teaching Resources:

PDST have developed a resource list, available on the SPHE page at www.pdst.ie. See APPENDIX

SPHE

Programmes and Teaching Resources

Pupil Text/Resources

Teacher Resources

Audio / Visual

Posters etc

Media & ICT

Well Being Books Dental Pack

RSA Pack Stay Safe Programme

RSE programme Cycle Safety Ireland

RSE Manuals Walk Tall Stay Safe

Be Safe & Bi Follain Webwise ( revised) ABI Programme Making the Links

Mindfulness for Children CD

Go Noodle resources

Various posters on relavant SPHE topics across all class levels

Relevant websites

and Apps etc

Outside Speakers/Educational Talks:

Outside speakers and educational talk such as; Dental Nurse, Accord(RSE 6th), Digital Safety Workshops Barnardos, Zeko, Inet Safety and First Aid Training (6th) will be arranged for classes as appropriate to reinforce aspects of SPHE. In all cases where an outside speaker/s is invited to address pupils the class teacher must remain in the classroom (as per Circular 22/2010) c/f Child Safeguarding and Protection Policy 2018

Individual Teachers’ Planning and Reporting

This SPHE Whole School Plan and the DES Curriculum documents will inform and guide teachers in their long and short term planning for SPHE. Each teacher records SPHE objectives and content in the Cuntas Míosúil. Teacher designed assessments and observation and feedback from pupils and parents will inform progress when evaluating and reviewing teaching and learning in SPHE.

Professional Development for Staff:

The BOM are comitted to supporting the contininious professional development for all teachers and other school staff to support the effective implementation of the SPHE curriculum. Opportunities for training and upskilling will provided as necessary to support teaching and learning for SPHE as follows:

Child Protection Procedures updated 2017 ( & Children First 2015 ) online and F to F
Training as relevant for Stay Safe, Substance Misuse /Walk Tall
Training for teaching Relationships and Sexuality Education /R.S.E.
Training for DLP/DDLP tand BOM
Training for teaching of other aspects of SPHE ie Wellbeing etc

Teachers are encouraged to attend SPHE related courses as relevant during term time and as summer courses and are expected to share their learning with colleagues as appropriate.

Parental Involvement:

The ongoing involvement of parents is an integral part to effectively implementing SPHE as a shared responsibilty for parents and teachers. This SPHE plan and the SPHE programme of lessons for all class levels are available for parents to inform them of the programme for SPHE and RSE. Each year parents are invited to attend an Information meeting in advance of the teaching of the Stay Safe ( February) and RSE lessons (May). As the need arises talks/presentation on other aspects of SPHE relevant to parents may be arranged ie Anti Bullying/Digital Safety etc. Parents also are notified of SPHE initiatives etc through the school newsletter, the school website and by email communication as relevant.

Links with the Community

Scoil Thomáis liaises with the local community to support teaching and learning in SPHE. The school links with local and national agencies to support the delivery of SPHE at all class levels and regularly invites representatives of professions ie Garda, Nurse, Fireman etc to speak with the pupils.

Success Criteria

The success of this plan will be evaluated through the following;

Implementation of the objectives of the SPHE Curriculum – Teacher Planning and Assessment
Availability and relevance of the Teaching Resurces to support the teaching of SPHE
Participation of pupils and involvement of parents in the various SPHE programmes ie Stay Safe
Teacher Observation of Behaviour/Attitudes and Learning
Postive School Climate and Athmosphere
Effective Communication between all partners in the School

Implementation – Roles and Responsibilities:

BOM has over all responsibility for the implementation of all aspects of the SPHE
Principal and Deputy Principal oversee the teaching and learning of SPHE and support staff in implementing the programme and in accessing professional development as relavant.
Teachers: must teach and implement the SPHE curriculum as outlined and must adhere to current Child Protection policies and procedures.
Pupils: should co-operate and participate in SPHE lessons and assigments as
Parents should inform themselves of the SPHE school plan and support children’s learning in SPHE. Timeframe – This Whole School Plan for SPHE will be implemented from 2018/2019 school year Review -This plan will be updated as necessary to comply with curricular and legislative developments.

Ratification and Communication

The Board of Management of Scoil Thomáis ratified this plan at its meeting on 13th November 2018