Intent

PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic) education is an essential part of a child’s learning journey. At TGMS, we provide a broad and balanced curriculum, which meets the diverse needs of all the pupils in our school. Through this, we aim to promote children’s knowledge, self-esteem, emotional wellbeing and resilience, and help them to form and maintain worthwhile and positive relationships. Children will be taught to have respect for themselves and others, within our local, national and global communities. We aim to enable children to develop a deepening knowledge of their health and wellbeing, including their mental and physical health. All information shared is relevant and appropriate to the age and maturity of our pupils.  At TGMS, we aim to prepare pupils adequately for adult life (its decisions, responsibilities, experiences and opportunities) and to allow pupils to develop fully as emotionally mature human beings.

Sex Education is a non-statutory, but recommended aspect of Relationships and Health Education, which at TGMS, we believe is very important to include in our rich Curriculum. Taught alongside PSHE, Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) forms part of a balanced factual aspect of learning about human reproduction, together with consideration of the broader emotional, ethical, religious, and moral dimensions of sexual health. Although we strongly believe the RSHE lessons in our Curriculum are of real benefit to our pupils' personal development, we recognise the legal right for parents to withdraw their child from some or all of these elements (details of which are found in our PSHE and RSHE Policy). 

Implementation

At TGMS, we follow a PSHE Scheme of Learning called Jigsaw. Jigsaw is a well-planned, developmental programme of learning through which our pupils acquire the knowledge, understanding and skills they need to manage their lives now and in the future. As part of a whole-school approach, PSHE education develops the qualities and attributes pupils need to thrive as individuals, family members and members of a diverse society. PSHE education equips pupils to live healthy, safe, productive, capable, responsible and balanced lives.

Jigsaw perfectly connects the pieces of Personal, Social, Health and Wellbeing Education. The programme teaches children and young people emotional literacy, social and lifelong skills, RSE/RSHE and resilience in an age-appropriate manner. Jigsaw provides our children with the tools they need to have the best possible life, giving them agency to make their way through the world in the 21st century.

PSHE will be taught on a weekly, discrete basis, with some content also being taught through other subject areas and within other contexts, such as assemblies, as well as the teaching of e-safety within Computing lessons, and Animals including Humans in Science.

Impact

Assessment is essential to the effective teaching of PSHE and helps us to measure the impact. The learning we wish to assess will relate to the pupils’ attributes and skills, as well as their knowledge and understanding related to the topic. At TGMS, we recognise and celebrate the importance of pupil voice and our children’s individual experience of PSHE. Pupil voice, in addition to teacher observation, will form the heart of how we measure the impact of our PSHE teaching. Jigsaw also allows opportunities for reflection at the end of every lesson.

The skills that children at TGMS will develop will include the following:

• An understanding of their universal rights, and how these rights can and should be protected
• An understanding of our diverse and complex world, and an empathy and respect for the rights of all individuals
• Positive and constructive communication, with highly developed oracy skills
• Resilience and self-regulation, and a keen understanding of their own health and wellbeing, especially supporting their mental and emotional development
• Risk management and balanced decision making, within the context of a changing and challenging world.

These skills are transferable to all other areas of the curriculum and will help children to understand them in new ways. Additionally, they form the basis of a child’s wider development and experience.