Margaret Wix Primary School
Excellence, Creativity, Individuality!
PSHE
Intent – why are we teaching this?
PSHE and Citizenship are non-statutory subjects under the National Curriculum, with the exception of health and relationships education being statutory in primary schools since September 2020. Despite them being non-statutory, The Department for Education (DfE) has stated: “Personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education is an important and necessary part of all pupils’ education. All schools should teach PSHE, drawing on good practice, and this expectation is outlined in the introduction to the proposed new national curriculum.”
At Margaret Wix we believe that personal, social, health, and economic (PSHE) education is essential in order to support our pupils to become independent, healthy, safe, kind and responsible members of the community. Children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development is at the heart of our vision, values and ethos. It is promoted through a well organised PSHE curriculum as well as a wide range of additional enrichment activities. It is our duty to nurture pupils to be thoughtful, caring and active citizens in school and in wider society but we also aim to prepare our pupils to be confident, happy citizens. We also feel it is necessary to ensure that all pupils know how to keep themselves and others safe.
We believe that our PSHE curriculum and ethos encompasses all of the above and that our learning powers and values are entwined and promoted through our half termly PSHE topics. Margaret Wix strives for pupils to achieve their academic potential and to leave school equipped with skills they will need throughout later life.
Margaret Wix Learning Powers and Values |
Curiosity Respect for others Kindness Resilience Self-belief |
The Margaret Wix community is diverse and we understand the vital need for representation within our teaching. We ensure diversity across the curriculum: careful thought and planning has gone into selecting whose stories we tell and how they are told. Our curriculum has been re-examined and we have endeavoured to reduce the western bias. We strive to ensure that BAME pupils see themselves reflected in our curriculum, all year round. We call our personalised curriculum ‘The Wix Way’. In PSHE, this includes learning about different cultures and comparing these with our own ways of life.
Implementation – how are we teaching this?
At Margaret Wix we have taken the mindful approach advocated through Jigsaw which includes statutory relationships and health education and have adapted this approach to meet the needs of our children. Jigsaw states that, “Jigsaw 3-11 offers a comprehensive Programme for Primary PSHE including statutory Relationships and Health Education, in a spiral, progressive and fully planned scheme of work, giving children relevant learning experiences to help them navigate their world and to develop positive relationships with themselves and others.”
Every class from Nursery to Year 6 receives a PSHE curriculum using the Jigsaw scheme of work. This is underpinned through a whole school approach. Weekly PSHE skills are focussed upon as a whole school and discrete lessons promote these skills. The Jigsaw skill of the week is introduced at the beginning of the week via a whole school assembly with a PSHE theme. Teachers, support staff and children are encouraged to demonstrate this skill and to notice others showing it. Teachers ensure that a discrete PSHE lesson is taught, linking to this skill, using the Jigsaw resources. Every Friday, after considering the pupil voice on who should win, the class teacher selects a pupil as the Jigsaw learner of the week who receives a certificate in celebration assembly for demonstrating this skill.
Parents and carers are integral to our approach. They attend the weekly whole school assembly and witness the Jigsaw winners. Throughout the term, important updates, links and information is shared via our social media feed and parent mail. In addition, parents and carers are invited to feedback their views regarding this area of curriculum as part of Parent/Carer Forum and policies are shared as and when appropriate.
Jigsaw consists of six half-term units of work (Puzzles), each containing six lessons (Pieces) covering each academic year.
Term | PSHE Jigsaw Topics | Skills of the week |
Autumn 1 | Being Me in My World | 1.Help others to feel welcome 2.Try to make our school community a better place 3.Think about everyone’s right to learn 4.Care about other people’s feelings 5.Work well with others 6.Choose to follow the Learning Charter
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Autumn 2 | Celebrating Difference (including anti-bullying) | 1.Accept that everyone is different 2.Include others when working and playing 3.Know how to help if someone is being bullied 4.Try to solve problems 5.Use kind words 6.Know how to give and receive compliments |
Spring 1 | Dreams and Goals | 1.Stay motivated when doing something challenging 2.Keep trying even when it is difficult 3.Work well with a partner or in a group 4.Have a positive attitude 5.Help other to achieve their goals 6.Are working hard to achieve their own dreams and goals |
Spring 2 | Healthy Me | 1.Have made a healthy choice 2.Have eaten a healthy, balanced diet 3.Have been physically active 4.Have tried to keep themselves and other safe 5.Know how to be a good friend and enjoy healthy relationships 6.Know how to keep calm and deal with difficult situations |
Summer 1 | Relationships | 1.Know how to make friends 2.Try to solve friendship problems when they occur 3.Help others to feel part of a group 4.Show respect in how they treat others 5.Know how to help themselves and others when they feel upset or hurt 6.Know and show what makes a good relationship |
Summer 2 | Changing Me (including sex education which is non-statutory) | 1.Understand that everyone is unique and special 2.Can express how they feel when change happens 3.Understand and respect the changes that they see in themselves 4.Understand and respect the changes that they see in others 5.Know who to ask for help if they are worried about change 6.Are looking forward to change |
In addition to the Jigsaw scheme of work, we promote PSHE, SMSC and our vision and values through additional opportunities for children that link with PSHE, the wider community, British values and to nationwide/worldwide celebrations. Examples of these include:
- Hello Yellow Day to promote healthy wellbeing, support the charity Young Minds and to celebrate World Mental Health Day
- Black History Month to celebrate difference and promote aspirations
- NSPCC Speak Out and Stay Safe assemblies to teach children to stay safe
- Anti-bullying Week to raise awareness of bullying and support pupils to prevent it and respond to it safely and appropriately
- Links to the Computing curriculum with online safety https://www.margaretwix.herts.sch.uk/online-safety/
- Pupil Leadership through the Parliament, House Captains and the Charity Committee
- Donations to the local food bank
- Various charity days including BBC Children in Need
- NSPCC Number Day
- Various Trips including Crucial Crew and Residentials
- School Parliament empowered by working with the kitchen staff to have their say regarding healthy eating
- Links between older and younger children during playtimes to increase social interaction and well-being
- Various cross-curricular activities including Gardening Club where the produce can be eaten by the children
- Various visits from religious and community leaders including Bishops, Rabbis and Imams
- Aspirations Day
NSPCC Number Day
The Charity Committee have shared a presentation about the NSPCC and number day that explains what the charity do and how our fundraising will help them. We are enjoying a range of maths activities this week, including maths-art with a local artist, maths challenges and dressing up for digits on number day itself (Friday 4th February). To help us understand the reason for these activities, the Charity Committee recorded a voice over for the presentation attached below, which has been shared with all children. Play it as a slideshow to hear their narration too.
Wearing yellow for World Mental Health Day
Impact – what is the effect on the pupils?
The aim of our PSHE curriculum is to nurture pupils to become independent, healthy, safe, kind and responsible members of the community. We intend them to flourish into thoughtful, caring and active citizens in school and in wider society but we also aim to prepare our pupils to be confident, happy citizens. We endeavour to ensure that all pupils know how to keep themselves and others safe.
The skills and knowledge that pupils have gained through the teaching of PSHE is captured carefully through the use of whole class big books that we call Jigsaw Journals. Each class book records each lesson using photographs of interactive learning, samples of written work, pupil views, a clear learning intention and a brief description of the lesson. These class books are monitored termly to identify the impact of the teaching and to ensure progression across the year groups.
Teachers complete summative assessments every half term for each Jigsaw topic, placing pupils as working towards, working at, or working beyond the PSHE objectives. This tracks pupils’ progress and indicates next steps for individual pupils as well as areas for consolidation.
In addition to this, pupil voice is gained during whole class lessons and evidence of this is recorded in the whole class Jigsaw Journal. This shows a range of learning through verbal discussions and circle times, especially for much younger children.
We collect further examples of how the teaching of PSHE has impacted pupils. We talk to small groups of pupils across the school and gain their views about the subject and some of the knowledge and skills that they have learned.
Learning from our Jigsaw Journals
Relationships, Health and Sex Education
Relationships and health education (including puberty) is statutory. Sex education is non-statutory but at Margaret Wix we believe through consultation with parents/carers this work is an important part of safeguarding children, as knowledge empowers them, helping them to stay safe, learn models of positive relationships, make informed decisions and understand why their bodies will change. This then prepares them for their statutory sex education at secondary school and in our Parent Meeting was supported by all that attended. All parents/carers were also notified through a comprehensive and informative letter what was going to be covered within the RSE curriculum.