PSHE

Designed as a whole-school approach, Jigsaw PSHE / Health and Well-being provides a detailed and comprehensive scheme of learning for ages 3-16 which at St Andrews Benn we use to teach PSHE from the EYFS to Year 6.

Jigsaw is a unique, spiral, progressive and effective scheme of work, aiming to prepare children/young people for life, helping them really know and value who they are and understand how they relate to other people in this ever-changing world.

The PSHE curriculum is split into the six key themes: Being Me In My World, Celebrating Difference, Dreams and Goals, Healthy Me, Relationships , Changing  Me.

These  themes have equal weighting and importance within teaching, and topics are taught on a rolling, spiral basis. Topics are revisited across year groups, and understanding is deepened. This allows for progression and retention of key skills and knowledge, and also the introduction of some concepts at an age-appropriate point. This progression is detailed in the PSHE long term plan.

PSHE education will be provided to all children within our school. Children with SEND will be supported to access health, relationships and sex education through high-quality, teacher-led quality first teaching, following the guidance of the SEND code of practice. Teaching will be differentiated and personalised to suit their individual context.

PSHE education will be taught on a weekly discrete basis, with some content also being taught through other subject areas, and within other contexts, such as assemblies or ‘circle time’. A taught session may look very different in one year group to the next - class teachers have discretion to plan and deliver teaching that suits the individual needs of their class, whilst ensuring that all curriculum content is covered effectively. There is no expectation that children complete formal written recording of teaching, although some form of recording is encouraged. Each class has a class book, a space to capture their learning and understanding around each ‘big question’. These are a vital tool in capturing the implementation of the curriculum, and the learning journey of the children. Additionally, classes may be encouraged to make an artistic response, or complete a more traditional written task. Some lessons may be talk based and have no written outcome at all.

Although PSHE outcomes can be considered very subjective, they can be compared within year-groups, and also across different year groups and phases. Long-term monitoring is also carried out: sample groups of pupils in each year group will be chosen and their thoughts and ideas recorded, books are scrutinised and lesson observations are done to ensure that PSHE is taught well and all themes are covered throughout the year groups.

The impact of a good PSHE education cannot be understated. Quite simply, it forms the preparation for adult life, enabling a child to understand and face the challenges, complexities and questions that arise in a diverse world. Impact can be measured in a variety of ways.

At St Andrews Benn, we recognise and celebrate the importance of the child’s voice, and their individual experience of PSHE education.

Pupil voice, and lessons captured in individual pupil books and  class books, will form the heart of how we measure the impact of our teaching.

The skills that children at St Andrews Benn will develop will include, but are not limited to:

● Following and showing the values of SAB in every day life, in and outside school.

● An understanding of their universal rights, and how these rights can and should be protected

● An understanding of our diverse and complex world, and an empathy and respect for the rights and the differences of all individuals.

● Positive and constructive communication.

● Resilience and self-regulation, and a keen understanding of their own health and wellbeing, especially supporting their mental and emotional development.

● Risk management and balanced decision making, within the context of a changing and challenging world.

These skills are transferable to all other areas of the curriculum, and will help children to understand these areas in new ways.

Additionally, these skills form the basis of a child’s wider development and experience. The ability to recognise and develop good relationships, the reinforcement of positive mental and physical health, understanding how their body will change and grow, the development of respect and tolerance for all, an understanding of society and the role of the individual in a community – these are the skills that will equip our children for life.