A high quality PSHE education provides learners with the knowledge, understanding, attitudes, values and skills they need in order to reach their potential as individuals and within the community. At Barnett Wood, our learners are encouraged to take part in a wide range of activities and experiences across and beyond the curriculum, contributing fully to the life of our school and community. In doing so they learn to recognise their own worth, work well with others and become increasingly responsible for their own learning. They reflect on their experiences and understand how they are developing personally and socially, tackling many of the spiritual, moral, social and cultural issues that are part of growing up. Through our PSHE curriculum, children learn to understand and respect our common humanity; diversity and differences so that they can go on to form the effective, fulfilling relationships that are an essential part of life and learning. In our school we choose to deliver Personal, Social, Health Education using the ‘Jigsaw’ scheme of work, the mindful approach to PSHE.

Jigsaw holds children at its heart, and its cohesive vision helps children understand and value how they fit into and contribute to the world. With strong emphasis on emotional literacy, building resilience and nurturing mental and physical health, Jigsaw properly equips us to deliver engaging and relevant PSHE within a whole-school approach. Jigsaw lessons also include mindfulness allowing children to advance their emotional awareness, concentration, focus and self-regulation.

Jigsaw sets out a progressive and sequential programme evidenced by the developmental learning intentions written into all the materials. The learning within our Jigsaw PSHE is challenging but child-centred. It allows students to focus on ‘the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life’; and as such underpins a broad and balanced curriculum offer. Cultural capital is at the heart of EVERY Jigsaw lesson, helping students to understand and navigate a rapidly changing 21st Century world.

The Jigsaw scheme is a universal whole-school curriculum that builds social skills, grows emotional literacy, enables mental health, nurtures children’s positive relationships with themselves and others. Integrating this personal and social development work into a comprehensive Personal, Social, Health Education (Health and Well-being) curriculum gives the relevant context to build skills, attitudes, self- esteem, resilience and confidence, all of which I believe need to be taught explicitly as well as nurtured implicitly, thereby demanding a well-structured, progressive lesson-a-week process.

However, Jigsaw PSHE/HWB programmes are far more than curriculum programmes. It offers whole-school opportunities e.g. assemblies, end-of-Puzzle displays, Weekly celebrations, music and songs, to reinforce the curriculum work and enhance the positive ethos of the whole school community; an effective whole- school development tool. The rationale and philosophy underpinning Jigsaw resources is based on mindfulness philosophy and practice, sound psychology and is evidence-based. We have explored how the brain works and how learning happens and have structured Jigsaw lessons to maximise these processes.

Jigsaw is sequential, the six puzzles (units) starting with 'Being Me in My World' (BM) at the beginning of the school year and working through to the end of the year:

1. BM (Being Me in My World)
   'Who am I and how do I fit?'
2. CD (Celebrating Difference)
   Respect for similarity and difference. Anti-bullying and being unique
3. DG (Dreams and Goals)
   Aspirations, how to achieve goals and understanding the emotions that go with this
4. HM (Healthy Me)
   Being and keeping safe and healthy
5. RL (Relationships)
   Building positive, healthy relationships
6. CM (Changing Me)
   Coping positively with change

Each puzzle has six lesson plans accompanied by all of the teaching and learning materials needed to deliver them. They offer whole-school opportunities e.g. assemblies, end-of-Puzzle displays, Weekly celebrations, music and songs, to reinforce the curriculum work and enhance the positive ethos of the whole school community.

Each Piece (lesson) has two Learning Intentions: one is based on specific PSHE learning (covering the non-statutory national framework for PSHE Education and the statutory Relationships and Health Education guidance, but enhanced to address children’s needs today); and one is based on emotional literacy and social skills development to enhance children’s emotional and mental health. The enhancements mean that Jigsaw, the mindful approach to PSHE, is relevant to children living in today’s world as it helps them understand and be equipped to cope with issues like body image, cyber and homophobic bullying, and internet safety. Every Piece (lesson) contributes to at least one of these aspects of children’s development. This is mapped on each Piece and balanced across each year group. Jigsaw sessions are current, relevant and responsive to the needs of our learners. Jigsaw’s wide range of child-centred activities ensure the learning is enjoyable for learners and teachers alike.

Children will have learned about rights and responsibilities to themselves and others and they will have developed a high degree of empathy and social skills. In the ‘Being Me in my World’ and ‘Dreams and Goals’ units, our learners will have focused on their attitudes towards learning, motivation and resilience and developed the skills and understanding to better these. The ‘Celebrating Difference’ unit will have supported our children in exploring differences across the spectrum of global society, prejudice and discrimination, acceptance and understanding; as a result our children will be tolerant and respectful.

Jigsaw PSHE will have supported the development of the skills, attitudes, values and behaviour, which will have enabled our learners to:

• Have a sense of purpose
• Value self and others
• Form relationships
• Make and act on informed decisions
• Communicate effectively
• Work with others
• Respond to challenge
• Be an active partner in their own learning
• Be active citizens within the local community
• Explore issues related to living in a democratic society
• Become healthy and fulfilled individuals