Personal, Social & Health Education (PSHE) and Relationships & Sex Education (RSE)
PSHE Curriculum at Mount Pleasant Lane
INTENT
PSHE is at the heart of all areas of the curriculum so that children develop the knowledge, skills and attributes necessary to function and contribute as healthy and happy members of their community. Children will develop responsible decision-making skills, respect for self and others, regulation of their emotions and critical resilience skills for life’s challenges. They will learn to understand and appreciate relationships with their peers and the wider community as well as developing an understanding of their own body as they grow and develop.
Mental Health and emotional well-being: All Jigsaw lessons include mindfulness sessions, where the children are encouraged to reflect on their own thoughts, learning to ‘be in the present’. Throughout all the units, children are taught to recognise and challenge beliefs about themselves. In identifying these, children will be able to find strategies to deal with beliefs which are unhelpful. Children will be given language and tools to be able to discuss mental health at an age-appropriate level.
Self-awareness: Understanding similarities and differences within and between people is an essential part of developing respect and tolerance within a multi-cultural community. Jigsaw teaches children to look at their small school community and then move out to an increasingly wider world view by the top of Key Stage 2. There are opportunities to celebrate their own talents as well as recognising those of other children.
Relationships: Throughout all aspects of life, successful relationships are the key to happy living. We believe it is important for children to develop, learn about and learn from healthy relationships with other children and also adults both in the real world and online.
Healthy living: Children need to be able to make choices about the best way to treat their body and will therefore be given opportunities to learn about food as well as drug and alcohol education.
IMPLEMENTATION (Jigsaw)
Children from Nursery to Y6 follow the Jigsaw scheme which is divided into 6 topics. All aspects of this curriculum involve the use of oracy skills which allow children to communicate emotional understanding with each other.
Each lesson will follow the same structure:
Connect us | Children learn to engender positive relationships and develop collaborative learning. |
Calm me | Children are taught to calm and quieten their thoughts and emotions to a place of optimum learning capacity, as it is an invaluable life skill which also enhances reflection and spiritual development. |
Open my mind | Teachers hone in on the most important aspects of the learning. |
Teach (Tell me or show me) | Teacher introduce new information, concepts and skills using a range of teaching approaches and activities. |
Apply and practice | Children work in groups to embed their new learning. |
Help me reflect | Pupils will have the opportunity to reflect on their learning throughout the lesson and throughout the week with their teachers. |
Summary | Teachers review the key learning points from the lesson. |
IMPACT
Each year group has a specific set of KPIs to achieve which are directly linked to the Jigsaw curriculum. This forms the explicit monitoring and outcomes for children. Implicitly, by the end of their PSHE journey at MPL, children will have increased their vocabulary to describe emotions, as well as have a better understanding of themselves and others. The children will have strategies to manage their emotions and will be able to take responsibility for themselves and their relationships. PSHE at MPL seeks to teach children to be the best versions of themselves - respectful, resilient and enthusiastic about the journey of learning.
Relationships & Sex Education
INTENT
High quality Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) ensures children and young people are equipped with the knowledge, understanding, skills and confidence to cope with the many pressures and challenges of modern society. Learning about friendships and family in RSE are the building blocks to help children to understand themselves and others. At MPL, RSE is an integral part of the Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE), and is linked to Science. Pupils receive a carefully planned programme on human development, relationships, sexuality and family life within a safe, comfortable atmosphere. The programme is matched to the pupils’ level of maturity with a focus on factual content.
IMPLEMENTATION (Jigsaw)
The content of the RSE curriculum can be thought of as covering three aspects:
Self-awareness: Being aware of changes to the body as we grow up. In KS1, children learn the correct scientific names of the body parts of both genders. In KS2 the focus is on the changes that happen during puberty.
Relationships: Children explore different types of family relationships, as well as understanding the relationships with people who care about them. Healthy friendships and then boyfriends and girlfriends are discussed with a focus on being safe and respectful. This also includes understanding about online relationships.
Reproduction: In KS2, children are given opportunities across the key stage to develop an understanding of how a baby is created, develops and is born.
RSE is taught in the summer term and follows the usual format of a PSHE lesson:
Connect us | Children learn to engender positive relationships and develop collaborative learning. |
Calm me | Children are taught to calm and quieten their thoughts and emotions to a place of optimum learning capacity, as it is an invaluable life skill which also enhances reflection and spiritual development. |
Open my mind | Teachers hone in on the most important aspects of the learning. |
Teach (Tell me or show me) | Teacher introduce new information, concepts and skills using a range of teaching approaches and activities. |
Apply and practice | Children work in groups to embed their new learning. |
Help me reflect | Pupils will have the opportunity to reflect on their learning throughout the lesson and throughout the week with their teachers. |
Summary | Teachers review the key learning points from the lesson. |
Teachers engage with parents before these units begin so that parents are aware of the content and can further support their children in understanding the family morals of relationships and sex. The sessions include the opportunity to ask questions either as individuals privately, or as a whole class. Teachers answer questions which are age-appropriate and also encourage children to discuss their worries and questions with adults at home who they trust.
Children with additional needs may receive additional and/or differentiated sessions which are bespoke to their level of understanding and maturity. Some sessions in UKS2 are taught in separate gender groups. Parents have the right to withdraw their child from one specific part of one lesson in KS2 which is not linked to the science curriculum.
IMPACT
Each year group has a specific set of KPIs to achieve which are directly linked to the two Jigsaw units. This forms the explicit monitoring and outcomes for children. Implicitly, by the end of their RSE journey at MPL, children will have increased their vocabulary to describe emotions, as well as have a better understanding of themselves and others. The children will have strategies to manage their emotions and will be able to take responsibility for themselves and their relationships. RSE at MPL seeks to teach children to be the best versions of themselves - respectful, resilient and enthusiastic about the journey of life.