Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Education

Curriculum Intent

At Laurel Avenue Community Primary School we use Jigsaw - a mindful approach to PSHE.
We hold children at our heart, and our cohesive vision helps children understand and value how they fit into and contribute to the world.
There is a strong emphasis on emotional literacy, building resilience and nurturing mental and physical health. Teachers deliver engaging and relevant PSHE within a whole-school approach. Jigsaw lessons also include mindfulness allowing children to advance their emotional awareness, concentration and focus.
 
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. It also includes all the statutory requirements for Relationships and Health Education, and Sex Education is also included in the Changing Me and Relationships 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 - from Nursery to Year 6.
 
All pupils, disadvantaged amd those with SEND are given full access to the PSHE curriculum. All lessons are delivered in an age- and stage-appropriate way so that they meet pupil’s needs.
Teachers use a range of strategies to enable all pupils to be successful within PSHE lessons.
Additional adult support from teacher or teaching assistant to ensure understanding and address misconceptions.
The summative assessment process offers criteria for children either working  at, beyond or towards  the age-related expectations.

Curriculm Implementation

Our curriculum design is based on evidence from cognitive science; three main principles underpin it:
• Learning is most effective with spaced repetition.
• Interleaving helps pupils to discriminate between topics and aids long-term retention.
• Retrieval of previously learned content within each unit is frequent and regular, which increases both storage and retrieval strength.
 
As a school we map the PSHE Association Programme of Study, within units of work called Puzzles. 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 pupil’s needs.
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 pupil’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; pupils 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 pupils 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. Pupils 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’s great for pupils 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. Pupils 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. 
Each lesson is built upon a Charter which underpins the behaviour and respect that is the basis for each lesson.
 
The lessons then split into 6 parts, all of which should be included in every session to ensure that the learning follows the optimum progression.
Connect us – This is 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. It sets the atmosphere at the beginning of each Jigsaw Piece and can be used again at the end should the teacher feel the atmosphere needs to be lifted after some deep work during the lesson.
Calm me – This section of the Piece helps pupils 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. It is an invaluable life skill which also enhances reflection and spiritual development. This underpins the mindful approach advocated in Jigsaw
Open my mind – The Reticular Activating System of the brain filters the many stimuli entering the pupil’s mind at any given time. It is designed only to allow in that which is significant. Therefore, it is important to engage this system with the most important aspects of learning intended for each Piece (lesson). If we do this well, it will enable pupils 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 Piece (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, pupils 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, pupils are encouraged to reflect on their learning experiences and their progress. By reflecting, pupils 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 (brief pauses within the lesson where the pupils can have a couple of moments to just stop and be to consider whether what they are learning may be particularly meaningful to them).
Closure – Each Piece needs safe closure. This will always include the teacher praising pupils for their effort, positive attitude and achievement, as well as giving one or two sentences to summarise the key learning points for the pupils.

Curriculum Impact

Formative Assessment
There are two clear learning objectives for each lesson (piece) allowing the teacher to be mindful of the assessment elements within that session that can formatively help them pitch and plan subsequent lessons, and activities are included in each lesson to give pupils the opportunity to self-assess using simple pictorial resources designed in a child-friendly, age appropriate manner. It also allows pupils of 6 and over the opportunity to identify areas for self-improvement.
Verbal Feedback – the vast majority of feedback is in conversation with the pupil, allowing misconceptions to be spotted and effectively addressed at an early stage.
 
Summative Assessment
To track each child, we use a ‘Summative Assessment: tracking pupil progress’ sheet.
This sheet has three attainment descriptors for each Puzzle. Teacher use a ‘best-fit’ approach to decide whether the child is working towards, working at or working beyond each Puzzle. This process also flags up children who may need more support with emotional literacy or social skills development. 

Long Term: Curriculum Map

PSHE Content Overview

Connections between Jigsaw and PSHE Association Programme of Study 2020

PSHE Jigsaw Assessment 

To track each child, we use a ‘Summative Assessment: tracking pupil progress’ sheet. Any parent/carer who would like to see this tracking sheet can request via email as material is copywrited by Jigsaw.
Email laurelavenue@durhamlearning.net

Vocabulary Progression

PSHE Policy

Curriculum Drivers

 

 

Relationships and Sex Education (RSE)

DfE Guide for Parents/Carers

RSE in Your Child's Primary School

Jigsaw Information for Parents and Carers

Jigsaw PSHE Content Overview