How do we teach PSHE?
At Aycliffe Village Primary & Nursery School we aim to create a happy, purposeful and supportive environment where children are enabled to become successful learners, develop their full potential and achieve the highest educational standards they can.
We have a passionate commitment to learning and recognition of the uniqueness of individual learners. It is driven by our desire to offer the best possible education for our pupils in partnership with parents, Governors and the local community.
At Aycliffe Village Primary & Nursery School, we teach Personal, Social, Health Education as a whole-school approach to underpin children’s development as people and because we believe that this also supports their learning capacity.
The Jigsaw Programme offers us a comprehensive, carefully thought-through Scheme of Work which brings consistency and progression to our children’s learning in this vital curriculum area.
Our policy for PHSE including Relationship and Sex education can be found here PSHE Policy JIGSAW with a guide for parents which can be found here pshe information guide for families.
The overview of the programme can be seen here .
What do we teach when and who teaches it?
Whole-school approach
Jigsaw covers all areas of PSHE for the primary phase including statutory Relationships and Health Education. The table below gives the learning theme of each of the six Puzzles (units) and these are taught across the school; the learning deepens and broadens every year.
| Term | Puzzle (Unit) | Content |
| Autumn 1: | Being Me in My World | Includes understanding my own identity and how I fit well in the class, school and global community. Jigsaw Charter established. |
| Autumn 2: | Celebrating Difference | Includes anti-bullying (cyber and homophobic bullying included) and understanding |
| Spring 1: | Dreams and Goals | Includes goal-setting, aspirations, who do I want to become and what would I like to do for work and to contribute to society |
| Spring 2: | Healthy Me | Includes drugs and alcohol education, self-esteem and confidence as well as healthy lifestyle choices, sleep, nutrition, rest and exercise |
| Summer 1: | Relationships | Includes understanding friendship, family and other relationships, conflict resolution and communication skills, bereavement and loss |
| Summer 2: | Changing Me | Includes Relationships and Sex Education in the context of coping positively with change |
At Aycliffe Village Primary & Nursery School we allocate 1 lesson (approx. 45mins to 1 hour) to PSHE each week in order to teach the PSHE knowledge and skills in a developmental and age-appropriate way. The lessons are taught by the class teacher or another substantive member of staff.
These explicit lessons are reinforced and enhanced in many ways:
Assemblies and collective worship, praise and reward system, Learning Charter, through relationships child to child, adult to child and adult to adult across the school. We aim to ‘live’ what is learnt and apply it to everyday situations in the school community.
This also supports the “Personal Development”and “Behaviour and Attitude” aspects required under the Ofsted Inspection Framework, as well as significantly contributing to the school’s Safeguarding and Equality Duties, the Government’s British Values agenda and the SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social, Cultural) development opportunities provided for our children.
Jigsaw links to British Values
Within the Jigsaw programme there is comprehensive coverage of Relationship and Sex Education which has been adapted to the needs of our school community more information can be found here Jigsaw links to Relationship and Sex Education
Our PHSE Progression of Skills can be found here.
To enable parents / carers to make an informed decision as to whether they want their child to participate in the ‘sex’ education we offer we have devised an overview which is sent out families during the Summer term before it is delivered in the second part of the Summer term. This overview can be viewed by clicking on this link PHSE Unit Changing Me.
We have also supplemented our PHSE work with the addition of equality themed story books to enhance the topic covered a list of these titles can be found here linked equalities books.
Jigsaw aims to help children know and value who they really are and how they relate to other people in this ever-changing world.
This also supports the “Personal Development” and “Behaviour and Attitude” aspects required under the Ofsted Inspection Framework, as well as significantly contributing to the school’s Safeguarding and Equality Duties, the Government’s British Values agenda and the SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social, Cultural) development opportunities provided for our children.
We can see the impact of the programme through the programme through the behaviours and attitudes of the pupils within school and their relationships with each other.
