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. Schools also have statutory responsibilities to safeguard their pupils (Keeping Children Safe in Education, DfE, 2019) and to uphold the Equality Act (2010).
At Eaton Park Academy, we use The Jigsaw Programme to deliver most of our PSHE lessons. The Jigsaw Programme supports all of these requirements and has children’s wellbeing at its heart.
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 (12 in Scotland). Written by teacher and psychotherapist, Jan Lever MBE (services to education) and 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.
PSHE Leader
As PSHE lead at Eaton Park, my role is to lead, monitor, develop and support
PSHE across the school ensuring that teachers have the subject knowledge, skills and resources to deliver interesting and challenging projects. I monitor the teaching of PSHE through work scans, learning walks and pupil surveys. In addition to this, children are spoken to about their learning with an emphasis on making links between PSHE, life events and choices, and learning from other subjects. The PSHE progression map provides the objectives to be taught in each year band, and this is used to monitor what has been delivered and how the concepts already taught can be built upon.
Within my role, I also ensure that I am equipped to lead the subject effectively and confidently through research and continuous learning. I am determined to lead a PSHE approach, which builds emotional resilience, and prepares every child for the many challenges, opportunities, responsibilities they will experience in later life.
The Curriculum:
Jigsaw 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.
What will Jigsaw teach my child?
The overview below summarises the content in each of Jigsaw’s units of work (Puzzles):
Being Me In My World covers a wide range of topics, including a sense of belonging, welcoming others and being part of a school community, a wider community, and a global community; it also looks at children’s rights and responsibilities, working and socialising with others, and pupil voice.
Celebrating Difference focuses on similarities and differences and teaches about diversity, such as disability, racism, power, friendships, and conflict; children learn to accept everyone’s right to ‘difference’, and most year groups explore the concept of ‘normality’. Anti-bullying, including cyber and homophobic bullying, is an important aspect of this Puzzle.
Dreams and Goals aims to help children think about their hopes and dreams, their goals for success, what their personal strengths are, and how to overcome challenges, using team-work skills and tasks. There is also a focus on enterprise and fundraising. Children learn about experiencing and managing feelings of pride, ambition, disappointment, success; and they get to share their aspirations, the dreams and goals of others in different cultures/countries, and their dreams for their community and the world. It is great for children to have this experience, to think ambitiously, and to have aspirations.
Healthy Me covers two main areas of health: Emotional/mental health (relaxation, being safe, friendships, mental health skills, body image, relationships with food, managing stress) and Physical health (eating a balanced diet, physical activity, rest and relaxation, keeping clean, drugs and alcohol, being safe, first aid). Most of the statutory content for Health Education (DfE) is contained within this Puzzle. Relationships starts with building a respectful relationship with self and covers topics including families, friendships, pets and animals, and love and loss. A vital part of this Puzzle is about safeguarding and keeping children safe; this links to online safety and social networking. Children learn how to deal with conflict, build assertiveness skills, and identify their own strengths and strategies for building self-esteem and resilience. They explore roles and responsibilities in families and friendship groups, and consider stereotypes. .
Changing Me deals with change of many types, from growing from young to old, becoming a teenager, assertiveness, puberty, self-respect and safeguarding. Each year group thinks about looking ahead, moving year groups, or the transition to secondary school, and how to cope positively with such changes. Life cycles and human reproduction are taught in some year groups at this time.
Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) at Eaton Park is taught within this puzzle piece. Jigsaw’s ‘Changing Me’ unit is taught over a period of 6 weeks, usually in the second half of the summer term. Each year group will be taught appropriate to their age and developmental stage, building on the previous years’ learning.
Please note: at no point will a child be taught something that is inappropriate; and if a question from a child arises and the teacher feels it would be inappropriate to answer, (for example, because of its mature or explicit nature), the child will be encouraged to ask his/her parents or carers at home. The question will not be answered to the child or class if it is outside the remit of that year group’s programme.
What else is included? There are numerous additional aspects of the Jigsaw Programme to enhance the learning experience, including the Jigsaw Friends (jigsaw-shaped soft toys used as teaching aids) and Jigsaw Chimes (used to help and encourage calming and mindfulness practice). Every Jigsaw lesson includes mindfulness practice. Mindfulness is being able to observe your own thoughts and feelings as they happen, in the present moment, applying no judgement. Jigsaw teaches children to understand their thoughts and feelings through the Calm Me time exercises (using the Jigsaw Chime). This helps to develop their awareness, and their capacity to be mindful human beings. Learning is thus enhanced as emotions and behaviour are self-regulated.
Early Year Foundation Stage
In the Foundation Stage, PSHE is covered through the PSED strands of the Early Years Framework which is split into three areas: Self Regulation, Managing Self and Building Relationships.
We use Jigsaw PSHE in our nursery and reception classes. The Early Years programme integrates emotional literacy, self-regulation of behaviour, social skills and spiritual development in a session-per-week programme and includes teaching resources including songs and images.
Sessions are structured to include a short input using a variety of learning approaches, appropriate for young pre-schoolers, with a selection of activities which can be accommodated throughout the week to support the learning.
Jigsaw PSHE for Early Years includes mapping to Development Matters and the Early Learning Goals and identifies the Characteristics of Effective Learning for every session.
PSHE within other subjects
Where possible we make cross-curricula links between PSHE and other subjects; this is particularly true and relevant in English, Religious Education, Physical Education, History and Geography, with other content also linking to Maths, Science and Computing.
PSHE learning comes in many different forms: through whole-class teaching, group activities, individual tasks, assemblies, outside speakers, cross-curricula lessons and discrete lessons.
Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and British Values
Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are promoted through all PSHE teaching
Spiritual development: We explore the beliefs and experiences of ourselves and others; discuss the importance of respecting all beliefs and faiths; learn about and discuss our feelings and values and those of others.
Moral development: We learn about and discuss things that are right and wrong; learn about the law and the importance of it; begin to consider our actions and the consequence of them; consider, discuss and debate ethical issues; offer reasoned views.
Social development: We consider all of the groups and communities that we are part of; participate in our local community; learn how to resolve conflict; engage with the British Values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance.
Cultural development: We become aware of cultural influences; learn about the role of Britain’s parliamentary system; understand, accept, respect and celebrate diversity.
Assessment and Recording
PSHE learning is recorded in PSHE class books or whole class floor books: these books contain a range of evidence of the children’s learning, which can include –but is not limited to- photocopies of cross-curricula learning; children’s verbal or written comments; photographic evidence of activities and experiences.
Teachers assess children’s knowledge, understanding and skills in PSHE by making observations and notes of children’s comments during lessons. As part of our assessment for learning process (and in line with our school’s assessment policy), children will receive both verbal and written feedback in order to aid progress in the subject (where appropriate).
