RSHE

Intent

Our RSHE curriculum is at the heart of everything we do.  It underpins our school values, culture of safeguarding and the Christian ethos of the school.   We intend that our curriculum will actively engage our young learners, giving them opportunities to consider and clarify their values and beliefs.  Our RSHE curriculum is taught as discrete lessons, as well as being woven into the pupils’ everyday school life, giving them the opportunity to make a positive contribution to our school community and the wider world.  Our curriculum provides children with a broad, balanced and relevant curriculum with a body of factual information to inform their present and future choices. We promote Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Education (SMSC) for all and understand that we have a duty of care to keep our pupils safe.  Themes that are covered by our curriculum taught age appropriately by all year groups are:

• Being me in my world
• Celebrating differences
• Dreams and goals
• Healthy me
• Relationships
• Changing me

We promote the values of RSHE across our whole school community through a wide variety of means such as: staff meetings, whole-school worship, Meet the Teacher evenings, newsletters and through classroom displays.

Here at Jolesfield, we use Jigsaw, the mindful approach to RSHE, as our main teaching and learning programme.  Our curriculum has been shaped by a full consultation with teaching staff, parents, governors and pupils to ensure it also reflects and prepares for the lived experiences of Jolesfield pupils now and in the future. Our curriculum, supported by Jigsaw, holds children at its heart, and its cohesive vision helps children understand and value how they fit into and contribute to the world.

With a strong emphasis on emotional literacy, building resilience and nurturing mental and physical health. Jigsaw lessons also include mindfulness allowing children to advance their emotional awareness, concentration and focus.

Jigsaw is fully compliant with the DfE Statutory Relationships & Health Education Guidance.  Puberty and reproduction is taught in the Changing Me unit and contains explicit work on these aspects. However, Jigsaw is a holistic programme that supports children’s personal development, sense of identity and self-respect throughout, with the Relationships unit offering more specific aspects of statutory Relationships Education.

The whole Jigsaw Programme fulfils all the statutory RSHE requirements. There is a mapping document that teachers can use to ensure that all statutory guidance is being met.  Following government guidelines, and in consultation with our school community, we use our own discretion to adapt and teach statutory units. Furthermore, we adapt  the Jigsaw scheme to meet the needs of our young learners.

Implementation

Jigsaw is a spiral, progressive and fully planned scheme of work that all teachers have access to.  Each unit of work provides six lessons with two learning intentions, one specific to Relationship and Health Education (RHE), highlighted in purple in the planning, and the other designed to develop emotional literacy, highlighted in green, in the planning.

Each lesson is built around a Charter that teachers go through at the beginning of each lesson, is glued into the inside cover of the pupil RSHE books, and displayed in the classroom.

All lessons are split into 6 parts which are essential to optimise progression.  These are:

Connect us: a game or activity that is fun and inclusive and builds on social skills.

Calm me: the aim is to help children gain and awareness of the coming learning using mindfulness and relaxation techniques.

Open my mind: this is aimed at helping children focus on the learning and filtering out external stimuli improving concentration and learning.

Tell me or show me: introduction of new information, concepts and skills.

Let me learn: an opportunity for children to think, discuss, manipulate and  play with new information in order for them to make sense of it.

Help me reflect: an opportunity for children to become aware of their thoughts and feelings to enable them to process what they have learned.

Closure: Teachers have the opportunity to praise children in their learning, answer questions and summarise learning points.

Teachers at Jolesfield tailor these lessons to the needs of their individual children.  Teachers scaffold lessons for individual children, where needed, and support children where necessary.  Greater depth children can be challenged to ensure that they are being given opportunities to enrich their learning.

Reception children explore and develop their sense of responsibility and membership of a community through activities and resources aimed at helping them find solutions to problems and talking about their feelings.  In KS1/2 lessons are taught on a weekly basis.  

Children’s prior knowledge is assessed and lessons are adapted accordingly. Children are encouraged to reflect on their learning and make suggestions for future learning they would find beneficial. The curriculum is further enhanced through the use of the Jigsaw Jems, chimes and listening boxes.

Pupil voice is highly valued at Jolesfield and continues to shape our RSHE curriculum.  Pupils are given many opportunities to share their views and contribute to the wider school community, for example through being: 

• School ambassadors
• Specific classroom responsibilities
• Digital leaders
• Running charity events 
• Completing questionnaires about their learning
• Setting up for assemblies
• Buddy time with year 6 and reception
• Running events at sports day
• Attending and taking part in sporting events 
• After school clubs