We would like to share with you The Duston School Primary Phase approach to teaching Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE).

What is PSHE Education?

PSHE Education (Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education) is a planned programme of learning through which children and young people acquire the knowledge, understanding and skills they need to successfully manage their lives – now and in the future. As part of a whole-school approach, PSHE Education develops the qualities and attributes pupils need to thrive as individuals, family members and members of society.

What do schools have to teach in PSHE Education?

According to the National Curriculum, every school needs to have a broad and balanced curriculum that:

• promotes the spiritual, moral, social, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school;
• prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life;
• promotes British values.

From September 2020, primary schools in England also need to teach Relationships and Health Education as compulsory subjects and the Department for Education strongly recommends this should also include age-appropriate Sex Education. Parents can opt for their children to withdraw from the sex education element of the programme by completing the form which is included in our PSHE Policy on our website.

Schools also have statutory responsibilities to safeguard their pupils (Keeping Children Safe in Education, DfE) and to uphold the Equality Act (2010).

The Jigsaw Programme supports all.

What is Jigsaw, the mindful approach to PSHE, and how does it work?

Jigsaw is a whole-school approach and embodies a positive philosophy and creative teaching and learning activities to nurture children’s development as compassionate and well-rounded human beings as well as building their capacity to learn.

Jigsaw is a comprehensive and completely original PSHE Education programme (lesson plans and teaching resources) for the whole primary school from ages 3-11. Written by teachers and grounded in sound psychology, it also includes all the statutory requirements for Relationships and Health Education, and Sex Education is also included in the Changing Me Puzzle (unit).

Jigsaw has two main aims for all children:

• To build their capacity for learning
• To equip them for life

Jigsaw brings together PSHE Education, compulsory Relationships and Health Education, emotional literacy, mindfulness, social skills and spiritual development. It is designed as a whole school approach, with all year groups working on the same theme (Puzzle) at the same time at their own level. There are six Puzzles (half-term units of work) and each year group is taught one lesson per week. All lessons are delivered in an age- and stage-appropriate way so that they meet children’s needs.

Each Puzzle starts with an introductory class assembly, generating a focus for adults and children alike.

Parent Access to the Jigsaw Programme

You will find further information about the Jigsaw Programme attached. including curriculum overviews. However, if you would like to see additional information to that shared, the Jigsaw Programme has a feature called Parent Access which allows parents and carers to view the standard lesson plans for their child's year group on a Puzzle-by-Puzzle basis. To access this feature, you can request a custom code from your child’s class teacher which will give you access to further information for that term’s learning. If you have children in more than one class, you would need to request codes for each child’s class.

If you would like further information on any aspect of PSHE, please do not hesitate in contacting your child’s teacher