At Knowle, PSHE is seen as a vital part of our curriculum.  We aim to prepare children for life, helping them really know and value who they truly are and understand how they relate to other people in this ever-changing world.

At Knowle, we develop qualities and attributes our children need to thrive as individuals, family members and members of society.  

Our overarching aim is to provide pupils with:

• The relevant knowledge as appropriate to their age.
• Opportunities to enhance their personal knowledge and understanding.
• Opportunities to explore, clarify and if necessary challenge, their own and others’ values, attitudes, beliefs, rights and responsibilities.
• The language, skills and strategies they need in order to live a healthy, safe, fulfilling, responsible and balanced life.

Jigsaw has been implemented as a whole-school approach, complementing the Knowle school ethos and the needs of the community. It provides a structured, balanced, progressive, detailed and comprehensive scheme of learning for all ages of the primary age range.  We use Jigsaw PSHE programme to connect the pieces of Personal, Social and Health Education, emotional literacy, social skills and spiritual development. The Jigsaw scheme is RSE ready and meets all the outcomes of the new statutory RSHE curriculum.

The Jigsaw programme of learning is based on six core themes and a series of sessions are taught on each, for every age group, throughout the academic year:

We also teach children about good mental health through our Jigsaw PSHE scheme. Lessons cover the latest government guidance on teaching about mental health. Confidence in oneself and awareness of self – the backbones of good mental health – are difficult concepts for children to adopt. The practice of mindfulness, where children learn to be in the present moment without judgement, is taught in every weekly Jigsaw lesson and throughout the day to encourage children to help themselves to feel calm through visualisation and through breathing techniques. Mindfulness practice enables them to observe their own thoughts and feelings, regulate them and make conscious decisions about their learning, behaviour and lives. It helps them to remain focused on the present moment and thrive in it.

The Healthy Me Puzzle in the Jigsaw PSHE scheme is where most of the ‘traditional’ health promotion lessons are. From the Eat Well plate and the importance of physical activity for a healthy body (and mind) in the earlier year groups, to the more sophisticated health messages about choice, lifestyle and mental and emotional health promotion in the older year groups, children gain a fully experiential approach to holistic health in Jigsaw – and how it is their responsibility to care for their bodies.

As a school we have an obligation to teach children in Year 1 and above about aspects of RSE and we feel it is important that as a school we are clear about what that entails. The mention of the words, ’Relationships’ and ‘Sex education’ and its vocabulary can create unnecessary anxiety for parents and carers and we want to reassure you that the focus of much RSE in primary school is broader than you might think. The curriculum covers issues such as:

• Recognising feelings and emotions
• Roles of families and friends in caring for each other
• Self-esteem, confidence and valuing ourselves and others
• Differences and similarities between girls and boys and challenging stereotypes
• Making good choices and resisting pressure
• Growing and changing

In parts of the year we cover different aspects of the curriculum and to help you understand this more clearly I have added above a concise overview of content by year group. As far as possible we try to ensure the topics are woven naturally into other aspects of learning, including PSHE and science. 'Relationships' and 'Changing me' are the school wide PSHE themes explored in the Summer term each year.