"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."

Gavin Williamson (Secretary of State for Education 2019-2021)

As you may already be aware, the Department for Education has announced changes to relationships and sex education following nationwide consultation. These changes will come into effect from September 2026 and all schools will be required to comply with the updated requirements. The statutory guidance can be found at: 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68b8499e11b4ded2da19fd92/Relationships_education__relationships_and_sex_education_and_health_education_-_statutory_guidance.pdf 

We hope that you find the information below useful and informative. We welcome feedback via the parent survey.

Curriculum Intent

At Minster in Sheppey Primary School, our vision is for every child to be the best they can be – best learner, best friend, and best citizen. We understand that health and wellbeing are paramount for all children to be successful now and in their futures, and are dedicated to ensuring that our PSHE and RSE curriculums provide them with the knowledge and skills to make well informed and ethical decisions about their wellbeing, health and relationships, enabling them to thrive in the modern world.  Our safe learning community cultivates positive characteristics including resilience, self-worth, self-respect, honesty, integrity, courage, kindness, and trustworthiness, and supports the prevention of harms by helping our pupils to understand and identify when things are not right.

At Minster in Sheppey Primary School, we believe that children learn best when learning is: meaningful, relevant, collaborative, reflective and purposeful. Learning should inspire children to ask questions, developing their skills of communication, collaboration, critical thinking, social responsibility, problem solving and reflection. It should have the highest of expectations of the learners. It should build on experience and always be purposeful and relevant whilst developing resilience and character. 

Our PSHE and RSE curriculum provides children with the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to lead confident, healthy, independent lives and to become well-informed, active, responsible citizens.  We place children’s wellbeing, happiness and safety as our first priority and use PSHE as the key vehicle through which we share this with children. We regard PSHE as an important, integral component of our curriculum; it is central to our approach and at the core of our ethos. We promote the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of our children and of society and prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences they already face and for adult life. Through providing information about keeping healthy and safe, emotionally and physically as well as teaching our children to understand how all actions have consequences and how they can make informed choices to help themselves, others and the environment.

Implementation

At Minster in Sheppey Primary School, we follow the Jigsaw PSHE Programme. This is a whole‑school approach that supports children’s personal, social, emotional and health development in a structured and age‑appropriate way. Jigsaw provides a full programme from ages 3–11, with every year group learning the same theme at the same time, ensuring consistency across the school. 

1. Whole‑School Structure

Jigsaw is taught through six themes (“Puzzles”) each year: Being Me in My World, Celebrating Difference, Dreams and Goals, Healthy Me, Relationships, and Changing Me.
Each Puzzle is revisited annually at a deeper level, supporting progression in knowledge and skills. 

Each class has a weekly PSHE lesson, using Jigsaw’s structured plans, resources, and mindfulness activities designed to promote focus, emotional regulation and calm.

2. Consistent Teaching Across the School

All year groups work on the same Puzzle at the same time, creating a shared language and whole‑school focus for children and staff. 

Each Puzzle begins with an introductory assembly, helping children understand the theme for the half‑term in an engaging and age‑appropriate way. 

3. Building Knowledge and Skills Over Time

The programme follows a spiral curriculum, meaning that ideas such as identity, relationships, health and managing change are revisited with increasing depth as children grow. 

Each unit includes opportunities for children to develop emotional literacy, social skills and resilience in a safe, supportive environment.

4. Assessment and Pupil Progress

Teachers use Jigsaw’s suggested progression maps and assessment statements to monitor children’s learning and personal development over time. 

Lessons include reflection activities to help children recognise their own achievements and identify personal next steps.

5. Supporting Statutory Requirements

Jigsaw covers all content required for Relationships Education and Health Education in primary schools, helping us meet national curriculum expectations. 

6. Partnership with Parents

As we begin using the Jigsaw PSHE Programme this year, we will continue to develop the way we share information with parents. Over the coming year, we will build up the details we provide through newsletters and our school website so families can stay informed about the themes their children are exploring in class.

Parents can speak to class teachers or the PSHE lead if they would like more detail about content or how we support children’s wellbeing.

Click on the image below to view SEND Adaptations for PHSE/RSE