loader-icon

At Sandhurst Primary School, personal, social and health education (PSHE) enables our children to become healthy, independent and responsible members of a society. In line with the national curriculum, we use carefully sequenced lessons, inspired by the Jigsaw Programme to enable pupils to aim high and build on what they already know and understand, whilst offering an exciting curriculum creating enjoyment within every lesson. It aims to help them understand how they are developing personally and socially, and challenges many of the moral, social and cultural issues that are part of growing up. We provide our children with opportunities for them to learn about rights and responsibilities and appreciate what it means to be a member of a diverse society. Our children are encouraged to develop their sense of self-worth and kindness by playing a positive role in contributing to school life and the wider community.

The PSHE curriculum develops six concepts over the course of the year. These unique programmes are embedded in weekly classroom PSHE lessons and activities, as well as through termly values assemblies. Children will be taught the six concepts across the ‘Jigsaw Puzzle’ over the course of the year, throughout years R-6. The table below gives the learning theme of each of the six Puzzles (units) and these are taught across the school; the learning deepens and broadens every year. See below for a termly overview.

Being Me In My World Celebrating Difference Dreams and Goals Healthy Me Relationships Changing Me
  • Feeling special and safe
  • Being part of a class
  • Rights and responsibilities
  • Rewards and feeling proud Consequences
  • Owning the Learning Charter
  • Similarities and differences
  • Understanding bullying and knowing how to deal with it
  • Making new friends Celebrating the differences in everyone
  • Setting goals
  • Identifying successes and achievements
  • Learning styles
  • Working well and celebrating achievement with a partner Tackling new challenges
  • Identifying and overcoming obstacles
  • Feelings of success
  • Keeping myself healthy
  • Healthier lifestyle choices
  • Keeping clean
  • Being safe
  • Medicine safety/safety with household items
  • Road safety
  • Linking health and happiness
  • Belonging to a family
  • Making friends/being a good friend
  • Physical contact preferences
  • People who help us
  • Qualities as a friend and person Self-acknowledgement
  • Being a good friend to myself
  • Celebrating special relationships
  • Life cycles – animal and human
  • Changes in me
  • Changes since being a baby
  • Differences between female and male bodies (correct terminology) Linking growing and learning Coping with change
  • Transition

Being Me In My World Celebrating Difference Dreams and Goals Healthy Me Relationships Changing Me
  • Hopes and fears for the year
  • Rights and responsibilities
  • Rewards and consequences
  • Safe and fair learning environment
  • Valuing contributions Choices
  • Recognising feelings
  • Assumptions and stereotypes about gender
  • Understanding bullying
  • Standing up for self and others
  • Making new friends
  • Gender diversity
  • Celebrating difference and remaining friends
  • Achieving realistic goals
  • Perseverance
  • Learning strengths
  • Learning with others
  • Group co-operation
  • Contributing to and sharing success
  • Motivation
  • Healthier choices
  • Relaxation
  • Healthy eating and nutrition
  • Healthier snacks and sharing food
  • Different types of family
  • Physical contact boundaries
  • Friendship and conflict
  • Secrets
  • Trust and appreciation
  • Expressing appreciation for special relationships
  • Life cycles in nature
  • Growing from young to old
  • Increasing independence
  • Differences in female and male bodies (correct terminology)
  • Assertiveness Preparing for transition

Being Me In My World Celebrating Difference Dreams and Goals Healthy Me Relationships Changing Me
  • Setting personal goals
  • Self-identity and worth
  • Positivity in challenges
  • Rules, rights and responsibilities
  • Rewards and consequences Responsible choices
  • Seeing things from others’ perspectives
  • Families and their differences
  • Family conflict and how to manage it (child-centred) Witnessing bullying and how to solve it
  • Recognising how words can be hurtful
  • Giving and receiving compliments
  • Difficult challenges and achieving success
  • Dreams and ambitions
  • New challenges
  • Motivation and enthusiasm Recognising and trying to overcome obstacles
  • Evaluating learning processes
  • Managing feelings
  • Simple budgeting
  • Exercise
  • Fitness challenges
  • Food labelling and healthy swaps
  • Attitudes towards drugs Keeping safe and why it’s important online and off line scenarios
  • Respect for myself and others
  • Healthy and safe choices
  • Family roles and responsibilities
  • Friendship and negotiation
  • Keeping safe online and who to go to for help
  • Being a global citizen
  • Being aware of how my choices affect others
  • Awareness of how other children have different lives
  • Expressing appreciation for family and friends
  • How babies grow
  • Understanding a baby’s needs
  • Outside body changes
  • Inside body changes Family stereotypes Challenging my ideas Preparing for transition

Being Me In My World Celebrating Difference Dreams and Goals Healthy Me Relationships Changing Me
  • Being part of a class team
  • Being a school citizen
  • Rights, responsibilities and democracy (school council)
  • Rewards and consequences
  • Group decision-making Having a voice
  • What motivates behaviour
  • Challenging assumptions
  • Judging by appearance
  • Accepting self and others
  • Understanding influences
  • Understanding bullying
  • Problem-solving
  • Identifying how special and unique everyone is First impressions
  • Hopes and dreams
  • Overcoming disappointment
  • Creating new, realistic dreams
  • Achieving goals
  • Working in a group
  • Celebrating contributions Resilience
  • Positive attitudes
  • Healthier friendships
  • Group dynamics
  • Smoking
  • Alcohol
  • Assertiveness
  • Peer pressure
  • Celebrating inner strength
  • Jealousy
  • Love and loss
  • Memories of loved ones
  • Getting on and Falling Out
  • Girlfriends and boyfriends
  • Showing appreciation to people and animals
  • Being unique
  • Having a baby
  • Girls and puberty
  • Confidence in change
  • Accepting change
  • Preparing for transition Environmental change

Being Me In My World Celebrating Difference Dreams and Goals Healthy Me Relationships Changing Me
  • Planning the forthcoming year
  • Being a citizen
  • Rights and responsibilities
  • Rewards and consequences
  • How behaviour affects groups
  • Democracy, having a voice, participating
  • Cultural differences and how they can cause conflict
  • Racism
  • Rumours and name-calling
  • Types of bullying
  • Material wealth and happiness
  • Enjoying and respecting other cultures
  • Future dreams
  • The importance of money
  • Jobs and careers
  • Dream job and how to get there
  • Goals in different cultures
  • Supporting others (charity)
  • Motivation
  • Smoking, including vaping
  • Alcohol
  • Alcohol and anti-social behaviour
  • Emergency aid
  • Body image

Relationships with food

Healthy choices

Motivation and behaviour

  • Self-recognition and self-worth
  • Building self-esteem
  • Safer online communities
  • Rights and responsibilities online
  • Online gaming and gambling
  • Reducing screen time
  • Dangers of online grooming
  • SMARRT internet safety rules
  • Self- and body image
  • Influence of online and media on body image
  • Puberty for girls
  • Puberty for boys
  • Conception (including IVF)
  • Growing responsibility
  • Coping with change Preparing for transition

Being Me In My World Celebrating Difference Dreams and Goals Healthy Me Relationships Changing Me
  • Identifying goals for the year
  • Global citizenship
  • Children’s universal rights
  • Feeling welcome and valued Choices, consequences and rewards
  • Group dynamics
  • Democracy, having a voice Anti-social behaviour
  • Role-modelling
  • Perceptions of normality
  • Understanding disability
  • Power struggles
  • Understanding bullying Inclusion/exclusion Differences as conflict, difference as celebration Empathy
  • Personal learning goals, in and
  • out of school
  • Success criteria
  • Emotions in success
  • Making a difference in the world Motivation
  • Recognising achievements Compliments
  • Taking personal responsibility
  • How substances affect the body
  • Exploitation, including ‘county
  • lines’ and gang culture Emotional and mental health Managing stress
  • Mental health
  • Identifying mental health worries and
  • sources of support
  • Love and loss Managing feelings Power and control Assertiveness Technology safety
  • Take responsibility with technology use
  • Self-image
  • Body image
  • Puberty and feelings
  • Conception to birth Reflections about change Physical attraction Respect and consent
  • Boyfriends/girlfriends Sexting
  • Transition

Teaching strategies are varied and are mindful of preferred learning styles and the need for differentiation.

Each lesson begins with the class sharing ‘The Jigsaw Charter’ to reinforce how we work together.

This is followed by a game or activity designed to be fun and inclusive and to build and maximise social skills. This engenders positive relationships and enhances collaborative learning. It sets the atmosphere at the beginning of each lesson and can be used again at the end should the teacher feel the atmosphere needs to be lifted after some deep work during the lesson.

A period of mindfulness follows which helps children gain awareness of the activity in their minds, relaxing them and quietening their thoughts and emotions to a place of optimum learning capacity. This will also engender a peaceful atmosphere within the classroom.

Throughout each lesson, children are encouraged to reflect on their learning experiences and their progress. By reflecting, children can process and evaluate what they have learnt, which enables them to consolidate and apply their learning. They are also asked to stop and become aware of their thoughts and feelings in any given moment in Pause Points thus developing their mindfulness.

Individual ‘Jigsaw Friends’ can be used as the ‘talking object’ in circle discussions. Children and staff pass the particular 'Friend' for their class around the circle and when holding the Jigsaw Friend it is their turn to talk or to offer a suggestion, experience or feeling relevant to the discussion.

Additionally, the Jigsaw Friends act as distancing tools so that children can talk about potentially more sensitive issues without referring directly to themselves. For example, in Being Me in My World, ages 5-6 years, Piece 1, the children are guided to offer suggestions for how to help Jigsaw Jack feel safe and special within the class. So, by finding ideas to help Jack, they are actually voicing ideas that can apply to, and help, themselves.

As part of our curriculum philosophy, built on around the concept of mastery and learning being a change to long-term memory, it is impossible to see impact in the short term. We do, however, use assessment based on deliberate practice. This means that we look at the practices taking place to determine whether they are appropriate, related to our goals and likely to produce results in the long run. We use comparative judgement in two ways: in the tasks we set and in comparing a child's work over time.

Aspirations for the future

We want our pupils to develop a love for PSHE and as a result remind them, if they continue to aim high, as a responsible citizen, they could become:

  • Guide Dog Trainer
  • Member of Parliament
  • Counsellor

Please find downloadable PDF versions of the Information available for the PSHE Curriculum.

Jigsaw Curriculum Overview

This content has been restricted to logged in users only. Please login to view this content.
Download PDF copy of this pageDownload PDF copy of this page
Our agreed consistencies for PSHE: If you were to walk into a PSHE lesson at Sandhurst you would see: In our PSHE curriculum you will see that we value inclusion and diversity:
  • Every class has a weekly PSHE lesson.
  • We use the Jigsaw PSHE to scheme to ensure progression and thorough coverage of the curriculum.
  • There is a safe, open and positive learning environment based on trusting relationships between all members of the class.
  • Children take turns to speak and use kind and positive words
  • The right of individuals to keep their views private is respected.
  • Use of the ‘Jigsaw chime’ to help children reach an optimum state for learning.
  • A team-building game at the start of each lesson.
  • Questioning to promote reflection and evaluation in a supportive learning environment.
  • Time for children to reflect on their learning experience and their progress.
  • All children, regardless of views or ability, are encouraged to participate in discussions and share their thoughts and ideas if they wish to.
  • Provision is made for children who require additional support.
Scroll to Top