Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE), including Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE), plays an important role in supporting our children’s personal development and wellbeing. At St Michael’s, we want our pupils to grow into kind, confident and responsible individuals, ready to navigate the world around them with dignity, equity and mutual respect.

A whole-school approach

We follow the Jigsaw PSHE programme, which provides a clear, structured and age-appropriate curriculum from Reception to Year 6. The six themes run throughout the school and build each year:

• Being Me in My World – belonging, community and rights
• Celebrating Difference – diversity, equality and respect
• Dreams and Goals – aspirations and resilience
• Healthy Me – physical and mental wellbeing
• Relationships – friendship, family and care
• Changing Me – growing up, puberty and relationships education

Each lesson begins with a calm reflection time, helping children settle their minds and bodies so they can focus and engage fully.

Statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education

Our curriculum meets the statutory requirements for Relationships and Health Education and is rooted in respect, inclusion and safety. Children learn about healthy relationships, families, friendships, personal boundaries, online safety, physical health and emotional wellbeing.

Sex Education is taught in an age-appropriate way in upper Key Stage 2, in partnership with parents and carers. We respect families’ beliefs and ensure teaching reflects our inclusive Christian ethos.

Supporting wider personal development

PSHE and RSHE sit at the heart of our school’s culture and values. Learning in this area is supported through assemblies, collective worship, classroom practice and our approach to wellbeing across the curriculum. The programme also promotes the government’s British Values, contributes to our safeguarding work and supports pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

Our vision

Through our PSHE and RSHE curriculum, children learn to:

• Understand and respect themselves and others
• Build healthy relationships and manage challenges positively
• Make informed, responsible choices
• Develop resilience and self-belief
• Embrace diversity and equality

Our mission is to ensure that every child has the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to thrive and flourish from whatever their individual starting point.

At St Michael’s, we use Jigsaw, which is a comprehensive PSHE package, it includes all the up-to-date guidance for Health Education and Relationships and Sex Education .

Jigsaw is a unique and effective scheme of work used in many schools. The aim is to prepare children/young people for life, and to help them know and value who they are and understand how to relate to others. There are 6 units in total, and they are continuous, however the content of each changes as your child goes up the school. These are Being Me in My World, Celebrating Differences, Dreams and Goals, Healthy Me, Relationships and Changing Me. These 6 topics are used in each year group.

Jigsaw is a great way to help children focus on their own personal mental health and wellbeing, this is done in each session using a ‘Calm Me’ Script, where the teacher reads out a prewritten script to help the children focus and calm their minds and bodies ready to learn. Some children see it as a meditation time, and this is how each Jigsaw lesson starts.