The Story Project is a programme that uses high quality children’s books to teach the ‘PSHE’ (Personal, Social, Health, Economic) curriculum. As a class, children read our carefully-curated collection of diverse stories, talk about the themes and then take part in activities linked to the learning.
PSHE is a topic that supports children to understand themselves and those around them. It helps children develop skills and knowledge to keep themselves safe and lead happy, full lives.
Using books to teach this is a proven way to promote open conversations; children learn through the eyes of the characters in the books. This makes complicated themes easy to understand and helps children understand other people’s viewpoints.
Your child’s school has chosen to use The Story Project to teach the PSHE curriculum. This means that your child will be learning wellbeing skills as well as practicing important literacy skills, and fostering a love of reading.
You can find an overview of the learning in each year group here. Please note, some schools may teach these topics in a different order so speak to your child’s class teacher if you would like more information.
The Story Project believes that children need a range of skills and experiences to develop as rounded, respectful individuals ready for life beyond primary school.
We are purposeful in our decision to include books that show a diverse range of people and cultures. We do this so that children foster empathy and understanding for those who are different from themselves.
Our books are thought-provoking and often look at tricky topics such as discrimination or bullying. They are also celebratory of different people, encouraging children to look beyond labels and at the heart of what it means to live happily in our modern world.
Our curriculum covers all the content in the statutory primary RSHE guidance, set out by the Department for Education. It is compulsory for this statutory guidance to be taught in all primary schools in the country.
In addition, the content of our lessons also goes beyond the usual statutory guidance and covers many of the topics that the national body for PSHE education, the PSHE Association, recommend. For example, some of our lessons talk about the importance of community participation. We include these additional topics because we believe that they are important for children’s wellbeing and character development.
Within the Department for Education’s RSHE guidance is the topic of Sex Education. This is the only part of the RSHE guidance which is not compulsory in primary schools. We include this topic in our curriculum using a book called ‘Making a Baby’ and we recommend that this is taught in Year 6. However, some schools choose not to teach this topic. Please speak to your child’s class teacher if you have any questions about this.
Did you know that reading with children at home has been proven to support not just academic ability but wellbeing and mental health too?
We know that life with children can be very busy and finding time to read together is tricky. So, we have put together this flyer with some tips and tricks for finding easy ways to read at home.
