PSHE/RSE
Today’s children and young people are growing up in an increasingly complex world and living their lives seamlessly on and offline. This presents many positive and exciting opportunities, but also challenges and risks. In this environment, children and young people need to know how to be safe and healthy, and how to manage their academic, personal and social lives in a positive way. This is why we have prioritised PSHE/RSE so that it is delivered consistently as a timetabled lesson throughout a students’ time at Verulam.
To ensure that we are providing a coherent, compliant PSHE/RSE curriculum, we follow the Jigsaw Secondary PSHE programme, a mindful approach to PSHE 11-16, that brings together PSHE, emotional literacy, social and employability skills and Relationships, Sex and Health Education in a comprehensive scheme of learning. Statutory Guidance for Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education, published by the Department for Education (DfE) in June 2019, outlines what schools need to cover from September 2020.
Jigsaw is designed as a whole-school approach, a spiral curriculum, with year groups working on the same theme (Puzzle) at the same time. The Jigsaw programme is also underpinned by a mindfulness philosophy to support young people’s mental health and learning.
To support the delivery of the curriculum, we work in partnership with a number of outside agencies such as Survivors UK and Innovative Enterprise – Sarah’s Legacy to support and enhance the delivery of key topics such as Sexual Violence, Consent and Sexual Harassment, bringing in specialist knowledge and different ways of engaging students.
Key Stage 3
The year 7-9 Programme includes six units of study (Puzzles), each with six lessons (Pieces), designed to be taught sequentially throughout the school year, through our weekly PSHE/RSE lessons, as follows:
Puzzle (Unit)
- Being Me in My World
- Celebrating Difference
- Dreams and Goals
- Healthy Me
- Relationships
- Changing Me
