P.H.S.E

Here at Brierley Hill we teach our personal, social and health education, emotional literacy, social skills and spiritual development through ‘The Jigsaw Approach’.   Jigsaw is designed as a whole school approach, with all year groups working on the same theme ‘puzzle’ at the same time.  This enables each Puzzle to start with an introductory assembly, generating a whole school focus for adults and children alike.

Weekly Celebrations

The weekly celebration is the same for each year group. These are designed to draw out a key theme from each week and reinforce its application; in turn, this ensures the Jigsaw learning is translated into behaviour and attitudes and is not confined to the lesson slot on the timetable.

Six Puzzles

There are six Puzzles in Jigsaw that are designed to progress in sequence from September to July:

Autumn 1: Being Me in My World

Autumn 2: Celebrating Difference (including anti-bullying)

Spring 1: Dreams and Goals

Spring 2: Healthy Me

Summer 1: Relationships

Summer 2: Changing Me (including Sex Education)

Each Puzzle has six Pieces which work towards an ‘end product’, for example, The School Learning Charter or The Garden of Dreams and Goals.

Each Piece has two Learning Intentions: one is based on specific PSHE learning (covering the non-statutory national framework for PSHE Education but enhanced to address children’s needs today); and one is based on emotional literacy and social skills (covering the SEAL learning intentions but also enhanced). The enhancements mean that Jigsaw 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.

Sex and Relationship Education
The specific SRE content is taught through the Changing Me Puzzle of learning. The animations; the female reproductive system and the male reproductive system provide a visual resource to enable children to understand how the body changes and develops in puberty. Whilst the core SRE content is delivered through the Changing Me Puzzle, essential work is done in previous puzzles to build children’s self-esteem, to enhance their own sense of self in regard to their body image, how to develop caring and healthy relationships and how to develop assertiveness skills in keeping themselves valued, safe and respected. This work underpins the explicit SRE content and is part of the holistic approach to SRE teaching and learning.  Our school nurse will be involved in delivering some of the specific lessons around health and puberty.