Intent

Through our PSHE curriculum at Walton Oak, children will become equipped with the skills and understanding to become responsible citizens in an ever-changing world. They will develop an understanding of themselves, both mentally, spiritually and physically and how this impacts on the relationships they form with others. They will learn to tackle compassionately the moral, social and cultural issues that are part of growing up. 

Our PSHE curriculum will enable pupils to develop their emotional literacy and social skills, being aware of their own thoughts and feelings as they happen and developing strategies to help manage them. Mindfulness is embedded into our curriculum and through this we aim to provide our children with a vital tool for life, regulating their emotions, building emotional resilience whilst enhancing their ability to focus and concentrate, both of which will help to optimise learning.

Through the teaching of PSHE we will promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. We aim to ensure that pupils leave Year 6 with the skills required to successfully live in today’s world and be equipped as they move into their next phase of education.

 

Implementation

At Walton Oak School we allocate 40 minutes to PSHE each week in order to teach the PSHE knowledge and skills in a developmental and age-appropriate way. These explicit lessons are reinforced and enhanced in many ways: assemblies and collective worship, praise and reward system, through relationships child to child, adult to child and adult to adult across the school. We aim to ‘live’ what is learnt and apply it to everyday situations in the school community. Class teachers deliver the weekly lessons to their own classes.

Within PSHE, the school marking policy is followed and there is no formal assessment. Much of the lesson is discussion or practical activity based and works towards developing skills which can be observed in practice throughout the school day. Each class has their own PSHE book in which they can showcase learning done for each unit through photos, children’s comments, printed slides and examples of learning produced by the children in their PSHE lessons. 

At Walton Oak we use the Jigsaw scheme of work to support the teaching of PSHE. The Jigsaw scheme of work is designed as a whole school approach, with all year groups working on the same theme at the same time. 

Jigsaw is organised into 6 puzzles (units), with each puzzle having 6 pieces (lessons). There is flexibility in planning and lessons are adapted to the needs of the pupils in the year group or class.

The 6 Jigsaw puzzles are:

Autumn 1: Being Me in My World

Autumn 2: Celebrating Difference 

Spring 1: Dreams and Goals

Spring 2: Healthy Me

Summer 1: Relationships

Summer 2: Changing Me (including Sex Education in years 5 and 6)

Long term planning is overseen by the subject coordinator and, in each year group the year group teachers are responsible for the planning of individual PSHE lessons using the Jigsaw lesson plans and resources to aid them.

 

Impact 

Our PSHE curriculum is designed to enable skills to be acquired throughout the course of the year and be built upon as each year progresses. Each half term the learning focuses on different key skills to be acquired by the end of the year, some examples are: 

Being Me in My World
Recognising their own worth. Recognising that their actions have consequences. Understanding the importance of being part of a team.

Celebrating Difference
Developing empathy for others. Recognising how to appreciate the differences in people.

Dreams and Goals
Identify their own dreams for the future. Know how to overcome problems. Build resilience.

Healthy Me
Know how to keep themselves safe. Understand which foods constitute a healthy diet.

Relationships
Know how to make and develop appropriate relationships.

Changing Me
Recognise what changes they are looking forward to in their next academic year and how to manage change. Understand how their body is changing and how to deal with it.

The skills acquired are not subject specific and can be utilised throughout their school life and beyond. The intended impact is that pupils will also have developed into well rounded individuals who are ready for the next stage in their life and education.