RSE and PSHE learning at St John's 

Jigsaw PSHE     What is Jigsaw PSHE?

Jigsaw PSHME is a comprehensive and completely original Scheme of Work for the whole Primary School from Years F1 and 2 through to Year 6. It brings together PSHE Education, emotional literacy, social skills and spiritual development in a comprehensive scheme of learning.

SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural) development opportunities are mapped throughout. All of these pieces of learning are brought together to form a cohesive picture, helping children to know and value who they are and understand how they relate to other people in the world.

British Values

Jigsaw contributes, as a good PSHE programme should, to the British Values agenda very significantly, both through the direct teaching of information and through the experiential learning children will enjoy.

The 5 strands of the British Values agenda have been mapped across every Puzzle and every Piece (lesson).

Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) is a statutory requirement within the Primary School Curriculum. Through this subject area we seek to educate the whole person. The publication of the Church of England’s, ‘Valuing All God’s Children’ and the new statutory guidance set out by the Government have been the basis for consideration around the teaching of this subject area;  alongside, The Equality Act 2010. With reference to these considerations  we have decided to introduce the 'Jigsaw' curriculum into our everyday practice. This ensures we have the coverage and progression for our children as they move through school.  At St John's we value every person, every orientation and every version of a loving relationship and family. We will positively explore the terms used to describe a range of orientations in order to equip our children with a whole range of knowledge to support their understand of the world around them. 

All of our relationships teaching is carried out as part of our holistic education which seeks to form as well as inform young people in preparation for adult life. Health Education is also part of this subject.   

‘Church of England schools have at their heart a belief that all children are loved by God, are individually unique and that the school has a mission to help each pupil to fulfil their potential in all aspects of their personhood: physically, academically, socially, morally and spiritually. Our aim is that all may flourish and have an abundant life. Schools have a duty to try to remove any factor that might represent a hindrance to a child’s fulfilment. We want all pupils to willingly engage in learning in a safe and welcoming environment.’   Valuing All God’s Children

We have worked through the updated statutory guidance, with parent and Governor support, and are happy to include our updated Policy concerning this learning area, which you can find, below.  

‘The core purpose of any Church School is to maximise the learning potential of every pupil within the love of God.’ Valuing All God’s Children

Following the consultation period we feel super supported in  remaining  true to our school view that we will teach children about good physical and mental health, how to stay safe on and offline, and the importance of healthy relationships and that in order for RSE to be fully effective it needs to:

• Be faithful to the Church's vision of human wholeness whilst recognising the contemporary context in which we live today
• Involve parents, as they are primary educators of their child
• Equip young people with the ability to make practical judgments about the right thing to do in particular circumstances
• Explore and promote virtues which are essential to promoting respect and dignity, for all
• Be delivered in an age appropriate way which reflects the development of the child and follows Government statutory guidance
• Be part of the cross-curricular work in both primary and secondary schools
• Be sensitive to the needs of the individual pupil and recognise the mix of pupils with different (sexual) orientations, genders and family backgrounds in each class
• Be taken seriously by governors and teachers as an integrated part of the broad and balanced curriculum that our Church School offers
• Be delivered by competent professionals who understand the Church's teaching.

A Reflection

For each of us, life is like a journey.

Birth is the beginning of this journey,

And death is not the end; but the destination.

It is a journey that takes us

from youth to age,

from innocence to awareness,

from ignorance to knowledge, from foolishness to wisdom,

from weakness to strength and often back again,

from offence to forgiveness, from pain to compassion,

from fear to faith,

from defeat to victory and from victory to defeat,

Until, looking backward or ahead,

we see that victory does not lie at some high point along the way,

but in having made the journey, stage by stage.

(Adapted from an old Hebrew Prayer)