Personal, Social, Health & Education

At Damers we use the JIGSAW scheme of work to deliver our PSHE, supported by other events in the school year.

Jigsaw practises a mindful approach to PSHE and children are helped to think and reflect on their learning throughout the units of work.  Children are encouraged to be aware of their thoughts and feelings, with no judgement. We believe this will enable them to become emotionally resilient and more able to act with consideration, choosing how they respond to situations not reacting as they are caught up in the emotion of the moment.  The learning environment for these lessons develops a caring, nurturing atmosphere where children feel safe. Each class will develop their own Class Charter which ensures everyone is aware of the expectations during these sessions.

Each Jigsaw Puzzle piece is introduced through a whole school assembly and the same theme is followed by each year group. We celebrate children’s success in their learning in our Friday assemblies where children are awarded Golden Tickets for their positive response to the theme for the week. These children are then given a lovely treat!

At certain times in the Year our Jigsaw work is supplemented by other activities. Foundation, Year 1 and Year 3 children will visit the Life Education Van and receive a specialist lesson about caring for their bodies and keeping healthy.  Year 2 children visit the Streetwise Safety Centre and learn about keeping safe when they are out and about, and Year 4 visit the Fire Safety Centre and learn about safety at home.

We also enjoy a whole school “Healthy Fortnight” when children experience a wide range of activities, such as, skateboarding, hiking, canoeing, a climbing wall, trampolining and many other activities linked with promoting healthy lifestyles and wellbeing.

The Jigsaw scheme of work also includes Sex Education. We believe that this is an important part of our PSHE work, ensuring that children are best prepared for living in today’s world. We make sure that parents are informed when their children will be doing this unit of work and offer opportunities to look at and comment on the material.

Scroll down to see what we teach in PSHE: