PSHE Curriculum Overview

INTENT - Our Curriculum Intent

Our PSHE curriculum provides the foundation to our school’s robust and ambitious aims for our pupils’ personal development.  We place the individual child at the heart of our PSHE curriculum and we celebrate the rich diversity of our school community.  We help our pupils to understand and value how they fit into and contribute to our world; and strengthen their understanding of our core Christian values of wisdom, love, forgiveness, faith, hope and service. 

At St Peter’s, it is our aim for our PSHE curriculum to enable our pupils to become the most independent, resilient, confident, healthy, responsible members of society.  Our PSHE curriculum content has a strong emphasis on emotional literacy, building resilience whilst nurturing our pupils’ mental and physical health.  It focuses on building up pupils' ‘sticky knowledge’ by revisiting and expanding on key learning which we know is essential for learning to be embedded.  We value the principles of inclusivity and diversity and we endeavour to break down barriers and challenging stereotypes by developing pupils’ critical thinking skills.

IMPLEMENTATION – How We Will Deliver Our Curriculum

Through ‘Jigsaw’, or chosen scheme of work, we deliver engaging and ambitious PSHE lessons through a spiral, progressive curriculum which complements our approach to revisiting earlier knowledge and skills.  It includes the teaching of British values and the SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social, Cultural) objectives in every lesson.  Likewise, there are structured opportunities in every lesson to practise and enhance the five skills associated with emotional literacy (self-awareness, social skills, empathy, motivation and managing feelings).  Mindfulness is also included in every lesson which aims to increase our children’s  emotional awareness, concentration, focus and self-regulation. 

Our whole school approach to nurturing and developing our pupils’ emotional regulation skills that we develop everyday using our ‘Zones of Regulation’ and our Emotion coaching approach complements our Jigsaw scheme and enhances our PSHE offer. 

Jigsaw  goes beyond the coverage the Health and Well-Being, Relationships and Living in the Wider World learning opportunities, set out in the PSHE Association’s Programme of Study, and comprehensively covers the statutory Health Education and Relationships Education guidance.  In addition to the weekly ‘Jigsaw’ lessons in the Foundation Stage, PSHE is embedded throughout the curriculum. The objectives taught are the Personal, Social and Emotional Development statements from ‘Development Matters in the EYFS’ and the PSED Early Learning Goals.  The whole school follows Jigsaw’s six half-termly themes, with each year group studying the same unit at the same time (at their own level):

Autumn 1: Being Me in My World

Autumn 2: Differences (including anti-bullying)

Spring 1: Dreams and Goals

Spring 2: Healthy Me

Summer 1: Relationships

Summer 2: Changing Me (including Sex Education

IMPACT – How We Will Evaluate Our Curriculum

By the time our children leave St Peter’s, they will be on their way to becoming healthy, open-minded, respectful, spiritual, socially and morally responsible, active members of society who appreciate diversity and difference. They will be able to recognise and apply the British Values of Democracy, Tolerance, Mutual respect, Rule of law and Liberty. Through the PSHE curriculum and our whole school approach to personal development, the children will be able to understand and manage their emotions, and be able to look after their mental health and wellbeing. They will be able to develop positive, healthy relationship with their peers both now and in the future. The children will understand the physical aspects involved in RSE at an age appropriate level, have respect for themselves and others, and develop a positive self-esteem.   The ‘sticky’ key knowledge learning will be assessed throughout every unit taught.