In PSHE we learn how to be happy, healthy and safe with ourselves and other people.

The teaching of PSHE in Stranton Primary School fits in with our rationale and aims for our whole school curriculum:

They include ensuring that the curriculum:

• Has the needs of the children at the heart of everything we do
• Is based on a strong foundation of oracy
• Meets the needs of our local community
• Is full of exciting, enriching and enjoyable learning experiences
• Provides opportunities for our children, staff and parents to all learn together.
• Positively improves academic outcomes
• Prepares our children to become positive role models in and effective contributors to Society
• Gives our pupils the chance to become the very best versions of themselves.

Or in short, a curriculum which provides only the very best education, opportunities and experiences for all of our pupils.

Vision for PSHE

The aim of PSHE teaching, here at Stranton Primary School is to develop the knowledge, skills and attributes required to enable our children to make informed decisions about their wellbeing, health and relationships and to build their self-efficacy in order to embrace the challenges of creating a happy and successful adult life. We believe that in PSHE we learn about Personal and Social Development, Health Education, Emotional Literacy, and Spiritual Development.

As a school we aim to:

• Develop the children’s skills (e.g. resilience, risk management, problem solving, team work and critical thinking) necessary to make sound decisions when facing risks, challenges and complex contexts.
• Ensure that our children know how and when to ask for help, and know where to access support.
• Deliver high quality, age-appropriate teaching to prepare our children for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life and use their knowledge
• Promote the spiritual, moral, social, cultural, mental and physical development in school and in the wider community.
• Deliver lessons that provide contexts for children to embed new knowledge so that it can be used confidently in real life situations.

Statutory Relationship and Health Education

“The Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education (England) Regulations 2019, made under sections 34 and 35 of the Children and Social Work Act 2017, make Relationships Education compulsory for all pupils receiving primary education…They also make Health Education compulsory in all schools except independent schools. Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE) continues to be compulsory in independent schools.”

DfE Guidance p.8

“Today’s children and young people are growing up in an increasingly complex world and living their lives seamlessly on and offline. This presents many positive and exciting opportunities, but also challenges and risks. In this environment, children and young people need to know how to be safe and healthy, and how to manage their academic, personal and social lives in a positive way.”

“This is why we have made Relationships Education compulsory in all primary schools in England…as well as making Health Education compulsory in all state-funded schools.”

“In primary schools, we want the subjects to put in place the key building blocks of healthy, respectful relationships, focusing on family and friendships, in all contexts, including online. This will sit alongside the essential understanding of how to be healthy.”

“These subjects represent a huge opportunity to help our children and young people develop. The knowledge and attributes gained will support their own, and others’ wellbeing and attainment and help young people to become successful and happy adults who make a meaningful contribution to society.”

Secretary of State Foreword   DfE Guidance 2019 p.4-5

“Schools are free to determine how to deliver the content set out in the DfE guidance 2019 in the context of a broad and balanced curriculum. Effective teaching in these subjects will ensure that core knowledge is broken down into units of manageable size and communicated clearly to pupils, in a carefully sequenced way, within a planned programme of lessons.”

DfE Guidance p.8

“All schools must have in place a written policy for Relationships Education and RSE.”

DfE Guidance p.11

Here, at Stranton Primary School we value PSHE as one way to support children’s development as human beings, to enable them to understand and respect who they are, to empower them with a voice and to equip them for life and learning.

We include the statutory Relationships and Health Education within our whole-school PSHE Programme.

To ensure progression and a spiral curriculum, we use Jigsaw, the mindful approach to PSHE, as our chosen teaching and learning programme and tailor it to your children’s needs. The mapping document: Jigsaw 3-11 and statutory Relationships and Health Education, shows exactly how Jigsaw and therefore our school, meets the statutory Relationships and Health Education requirements.

This programmes complimentary update policy ensures we are always using the most up to date teaching materials and that our teachers are well-supported.

Teaching of PSHE

PSHE is taught as a discrete session using ‘Jigsaw’ – a mindful approach to PSHE bringing together Personal, Social and Health Education, emotional literacy, social skills and spiritual development in a comprehensive scheme of learning. Jigsaw is designed as a whole school approach, with all year groups working on the same theme at the same time.  Objectives are progressive and sequential, starting with building positive self-image, a sense of identify and a healthy relationship with self, which will in turn help children grow healthy relationships with others.

The school uses a variety of teaching and learning approaches in PSHE lessons, including:

• Establishing a safe, open and positive learning environment based on trusting relationships between all members of the class, adults and children alike.
• Using a class ‘Jigsaw Charter’ to establish and agree on ‘ground rules’ for each PSHE lesson.
• Using the ‘Jigsaw Circle’ – bringing children and adults together to feel equal, included and valued so that they can share ideas, thoughts and feelings.

Lessons are completely child-focused and structured in a way that reflects the learning process:

• Connect us – a game or activity designed to be fun and inclusive and to build and maximise social skills. ‘Connect us’ engenders positive relationships and enhances collaborative learning.
• Calm me - This helps children gain awareness of the activity in their minds, relaxing them and quietening their thoughts and emotions to a place of optimum learning capacity. This will also engender a peaceful atmosphere within the classroom. This underpins the mindful approach advocated in Jigsaw.
• Open my mind - Help the brain to focus on specific learning intentions. If we do this well, it will enable children to filter out activity around them not significant to this learning intention, thereby improving concentration and learning.
• Tell me or show me - This section of the lesson is used to introduce new information, concepts and skills, using a range of teaching approaches and activities.
• Let me learn - Following Piaget’s learning model, after receiving new information/concepts, children need to manipulate, use, and play with that new information in order for it to make sense to them and for them to ‘accommodate’ it into their existing learning.
• Help me reflect -Throughout Jigsaw, children are encouraged to reflect on their learning experiences and their progress. By reflecting, children can process and evaluate what they have learnt, which enables them to consolidate and apply their learning. They are also asked to stop and become aware of their thoughts and feelings in any given moment in Pause Points thus developing their mindfulness.
• Closure - Each Piece needs safe closure. This will always include the teacher praising the children for their effort, positive attitude and achievement, as well as giving one or two sentences to summarise the key learning points for the children.

We recognise the fact that we have children of differing ability in all our classes, and so we provide suitable learning opportunities for all children by matching the challenge of the task to the ability of the child. We achieve this through a range of strategies, which are differentiated by task, expected outcome and/or support from peers or adults.

Recording and Assessment of PSHE

In order to assess the children’s knowledge in PSHE, staff will measure children’s work against the assessment framework – ensuring all pupils have the opportunity to develop the appropriate skills and knowledge expected of them; whilst providing feedback which will enable each child to develop their skills further. At the end of each Jigsaw unit, children will complete a ‘Knowledge Shower’. This knowledge may be presented using pictures, words and sentences and is an opportunity for children to reflect on their own learning. In line with our school’s curriculum rationale of providing hands-on oracy-based learning; children are not expected to record in their book every lesson; however, there may be instances where children will benefit from recording their ideas, thoughts and learning, which will be done in their own individual book. At the end of the year, evidence from knowledge showers and performance in class across the year is used to assess the attainment of each child.

Monitoring of PSHE

Monitoring takes place regularly through sampling children’s work, lesson observations and importantly talking to the children – ensuring they enjoy each subject and can recall key knowledge of what they have been taught.

PSHE Curriculum Overview

PSHE Objectives by Year Group