PSHE curriculum intent
The intent of our PSHE curriculum is to deliver a curriculum which is accessible to all and that will maximise the outcomes for every child. PSHE enables our children to become healthy, independent and responsible members of society. It aims to help them understand how they are developing personally and socially, and tackles many of the moral, social and cultural issues that are part of growing up.
At Spa Academy, we aim to promote children’s knowledge, self-esteem, emotional wellbeing and resilience, and to help them to form and maintain worthwhile and positive relationships. Children will be taught to have respect for themselves, and for others, within our local, national and global communities. In an ever–changing world, it is important that our pupils are aware, to an appropriate level, of different factors that could affect them and learn how to deal with these different situations. Our Relationships and Sex Education is clear and structures which enables our children to learn how to be safe, and to understand and develop healthy relationships, both now and in their future lives.
Curriculum Implementation
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.
The progression documents on this page show the curriculum from 3 - 11, as both our feeder infant schools also use Jigsaw, allowing for a coherent PSHE & RSHE curriculum.
Jigsaw consists of six half-term units of work (Puzzles), each containing six lessons (Pieces) covering each academic year.
Autumn 1: Being Me in My World
Autumn 2: Celebrating Difference (including anti-bullying)
Spring 1: Dreams and Goals
Spring 2: Healthy Me
Summer 1: Relationships
Summer 2: Changing Me (including Sex Education)
Every Piece has two Learning Intentions, one specific to Relationships and Health Education (PSHE) (in purple) and the other designed to develop emotional literacy and social skills (in green).
The Puzzle ‘Celebrating Difference’ is the most pertinent of units for teaching about the protected characteristics, as it focuses on similarities and differences and teaches about diversity, such as disability, racism, gender, family composition, friendships, and conflict. Children learn to accept everyone’s right to ‘difference’, and most year groups explore the concept of ‘normal’. Bullying – what it is and what it isn’t, including cyber and homophobic bullying – is an important aspect of this Puzzle.
The ‘Relationships’ Puzzle also has a wide focus, looking at diverse topics such as families, friendships, equality in relationships, and love and loss – all of which can help to deliver the vital messages behind the Equality Act. A vital part of this Puzzle is about safeguarding and keeping children safe; this links to cyber safety and social networking, as well as attraction and assertiveness; children learn how to deal with conflict, their own strengths and self-esteem. They have the chance to explore roles and responsibilities in families and look at stereotypes.
All Jigsaw lessons are delivered in an age- and stage-appropriate way so that they meet pupils’ needs and can help them understand the wider world. The grids below highlight where links are made, both implicitly and explicitly, to the protected characteristics. Note that this list is not exhaustive.
As part of Spa's Literature-Led Curriculum, the literature spine has been developed to allow pupils to confidently enjoy PSHE-themed literature in the term following discrete teaching of PSHE. More information can be found below and under the English page.
In Summer 1, pupils study literature focused on exploring mental health, disability and neurodiversity. Spa have selected this literature to build on our No Outsiders culture and work, focused on the protected characteristics. In Year 3, pupils begin to consider differences through The Day I Was Erased, and explore the work of Lisa Thompson. In Year 4, pupils revisit Lisa Thompson as an author in their study of The Goldfish Boy. Here, pupils begin to explore OCD. In Year 5, pupils study A Kind of Spark. This promotes themes of neurodiversity and celebrating differences. In Year 6, pupils study Ho-Yen's The Boy in the Tower. Pupils are encouraged to explore further reading on these themes through our diverse library selections and weekly No Outsiders assemblies.
Literature in Summer 2 is based upon British Values. In Year 3 pupils explore democracy through The Accidental Prime Minister. Through the years after this, pupils' understanding of mutual respect is developed through exploring, in different literature, the experiences of refugees, a carefully-selected theme relevant to the context of our school. In Year 4 pupils study The Journey focused on developing an understanding of war and the many reasons and treacherous journeys of refugeed. In Year 5, pupils take an inward refection using The Boy at the Back of the Class, to consider differences and how we celebrate these in Britain and our own school. In Year 6, pupils study The Arrival which applies pupils' prior knowledge to an abstract tale of refugeeism. By sequencing the study of literature in this way, pupils are able to apply a range of devices and vocabulary with increasing confidence.
Supplementing Jigsaw, Spa uses Big Talk Education to provide sex education. The knowledge taught here are recapped by Jigsaw.
Spa's RSE Policy can be found at the bottom of this page. The school consults with parents ensuring they are fully informed of the sex education content pupils are taught as part of the school's PSHE & RSE curriculums. The school collects feedback from parents, for example those attending Big Talk Education's parent sessions that provide additional input and support.
Please find below the key documents referred to throughout this page.
The progression documents on this page show the curriculum from 3 - 11, as both our feeder infant schools also use Jigsaw, allowing for a coherent PSHE & RSHE curriculum.