East Harling Primary School And Nursery
PSHE (including Relationships and Sex Education)
We use the Jigsaw Programme as the basis for our PSHE (and RSE) curriculum across EYFS, Key Stage One and Two.
The Jigsaw Programme offers us a comprehensive, carefully thought-through scheme of work which brings consistency and progression to our children’s learning in this vital curriculum area. An overview of the programme can be found by clicking on the link below.
We have adapted the programme so that it matches the needs of our children (in rural Norfolk) and includes direct links to the 'No outsiders' resource. The 'No Outsiders' programme is an approach to teaching children about inclusion, tolerance and diversity through the use of picture books. These stories are used in class and whole school assemblies.
EHPS Long term plan for PSHE updated.pdf
EHPS PSHE policy (incorporating RSE).pdf
Relationships & Sex Education
An important part of the Jigsaw PSHE programme is delivered through the 'Relationships' and 'Changing Me' puzzle pieces.
There are four main aims of teaching RSE:
• To enable children to understand and respect their bodies
• To help children develop positive and healthy relationships appropriate to their age and development
• To support children to have positive self-esteem and body image
• To empower them to be safe and safeguarded.
Each year group will be taught appropriate to their age and developmental stage. At no point will a child be taught something that is inappropriate; and if a question from a child arises and the teacher feels it would be inappropriate to answer, (for example, because of its mature or explicit nature), this information with be shared with you by your child’s class teacher. The question will not be answered to the child or class if it is outside the remit of that year group’s programme.
Below is a summary of RSE coverage within the Jigsaw scheme for each year group:
• Year 1 - Boys’ and girls’ bodies; naming body parts
• Year 2 - Boys’ and girls’ bodies; body parts and respecting privacy (which parts of the body are private and why this is)
• Year 3 - How babies grow and how boys’ and girls’ bodies change as they grow older
• Year 4 - Internal and external reproductive body parts, body changes in girls and menstruation
• Year 5 - Puberty for boys and girls, and conception
• Year 6 - Puberty for boys and girls and understanding conception to birth of a baby
The aim of our teaching is to help our children to learn to respect themselves and others and to move with confidence from childhood through adolescence into adulthood and to develop happy, healthy and safe relationships.
At East Harling Primary School and Nursery, we believe children should understand the facts about human reproduction before they leave primary school. Parents have the right to request that their child be withdrawn from some or all of sex education delivered as part of statutory Relationships and Sex Education. (DfE Guidance p.17)
At East Harling Primary School and Nursery, puberty is taught as a statutory requirement of Health Education and covered by our Jigsaw PSHE Programme in the ‘Changing Me’ unit (Spring 2). We conclude that sex education refers to human reproduction, and therefore inform parents of their right to request their child be withdrawn from the PSHE lessons that explicitly teach this within the Jigsaw Changing Me unit of work, for example:
Year 4, Lesson 2 (Having a baby)
Year 5, Lesson 4 (Conception)
Year 6, Lesson 3 (Conception, birth)
Any parent wishing to withdraw their child from sex education should discuss their decision with the headteacher.
Further information for parents about The Jigsaw programme can be found by clicking on the links below;
Jigsaw information leaflet for parents and carers 2021
Relationships, Sex And Health Education - A guide for parents