Personal Social & Health Education (PSHE)
At St Mary's Primary School, Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education is taught through the Jigsaw Programme, a comprehensive and progressive scheme of learning that supports children’s personal development, emotional wellbeing, relationships, health education and social understanding. Jigsaw provides a consistent, whole-school approach from Reception to Year 6, with all pupils exploring the same overarching theme each half term at an age-appropriate level. The six areas of learning, known as "Puzzles", are: Being Me in My World, Celebrating Difference, Dreams and Goals, Healthy Me, Relationships and Changing Me. These themes build progressively throughout a child's primary education, enabling pupils to develop confidence, resilience, self-awareness and respect for others.
While Jigsaw provides the structure and progression for our PSHE curriculum, we enrich and enhance the programme through our own school values of Confidently Me, Belonging Together and Challenged to Contribute. These values are woven throughout lessons, collective worship, assemblies, enrichment opportunities and daily school life, ensuring that learning is meaningful and reflects our school's unique vision and community. By combining the comprehensive Jigsaw framework with our values-driven approach, we ensure a consistent curriculum across the school while meeting the needs and aspirations of our pupils.
As Jigsaw is a subscription-based resource, the teaching materials and lesson content are not publicly accessible. However, we recognise the importance of working in partnership with parents and carers and are currently developing a secure section of our website where families will be able to access curriculum information, view examples of learning and gain a greater understanding of the themes their children are exploring throughout the year. Please do contact your child's classteacher if there is any aspect of this curriculum that you would like to have access to or discuss.
The Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) elements of the curriculum are delivered through the Relationships and Changing Me units, primarily during the summer term. These lessons are carefully planned to be age-appropriate and support children in understanding healthy relationships, personal safety, growing up, body changes and, for older pupils, aspects of puberty and human reproduction. The content is designed to help children respect themselves and others, develop positive relationships and stay safe.
We understand that parents and carers play a vital role in supporting their children's understanding of these topics. Therefore, before RSE units are taught, we will provide information about the learning that will take place and invite parents and carers to attend information sessions where curriculum content can be shared and discussed. These meetings offer an opportunity for families to ask questions, view resources and understand how the curriculum is delivered, ensuring that home and school work together to support children as they grow and develop