Curriculum For Life (PSHE and RSE)
Intent
At Elmhurst Junior School, Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) and RSHE sit at the very heart of our curriculum, reflecting our belief that a child’s emotional and social development directly underpins their academic success. Our intent is to equip every pupil with the essential knowledge, skills and emotional attributes they need to stay safe, maintain exceptional personal wellbeing, and build positive, respectful relationships throughout their lives.
We aim to develop well-rounded individuals who can confidently navigate the opportunities and challenges of modern society. Through our progressive curriculum, we cultivate deep emotional literacy from the moment children join our school, enabling them to recognise, name and manage their feelings while building resilience and making informed, healthy lifestyle choices.
Beyond personal development, our curriculum intends to foster a sense of active citizenship, helping children understand British Values, appreciate diverse family structures, challenge harmful stereotypes and navigate diff erences with kindness. Ultimately, our intent is preventative and safeguarding-led – empowering children to know their rights over their own bodies and online personas, identify unsafe situations and seek help from trusted adults with confidence.
Implementation
We deliver a sequentially mapped, age-appropriate spiral curriculum using the Jigsaw PSHE 3-11 framework, which meets all statutory requirements for Relationships and Health Education.
- Dedicated Curriculum Time: PSHE is taught weekly by class teachers for approximately an hour, seamlessly connecting with daily school life.
- The Six Progressive Puzzles: Learning is structured around six half-termly units: Being Me in My World, Celebrating Diff erence, Dreams and Goals, Healthy Me, Relationships and Changing Me.
- Active and Responsive Pedagogy: In direct alignment with our pupil feedback, lessons are highly interactive and multi-sensory. They balance active learning strategies – such as collaborative group games, role-play, creative work, and outdoor learning/Forest School – with regular class circle discussions.
- Mindful Practice: Every session begins with a consistent ‘Calm Me’ mindfulness activity to develop children’s self-regulation and prepare them for open, thoughtful dialogue.
- Safe Spaces & Co-Created Charters: Every classroom establishes a living ‘Jigsaw Learning Charter’ based directly on pupil-selected priorities (such as using kind words, active listening, respecting the right to pass and keeping personal stories private/confidential) to ensure an emotionally safe environment.
- Working in Partnership with Families: We maintain a completely transparent approach to our curriculum. To support families as primary educators, we send out half-termly overviews detailing upcoming learning objectives, provide parent access to lesson slides on request and provide detailed knowledge organisers for every unit.
Impact
The impact of our RSHE curriculum is monitored continuously through learning walks, pupil voice interviews, staff feedback, and the review of children’s self-assessments and reflections.
The true impact, however, is lived out daily in the culture of Elmhurst Junior School.
Pupils demonstrate an extensive, sophisticated vocabulary for emotions, allowing them to communicate their worries clearly and navigate relationship or friendship challenges constructively. Our children develop a robust understanding of how to protect their mental and physical health, practice dental and personal hygiene, and safely navigate digital platforms and social media harms.
Most importantly, our pupils display a healthy confidence in reporting concerns and seeking help, treating it as a sign of strength rather than weakness. They move on from Elmhurst Junior School fully prepared for the transition to secondary education, carrying a strong foundation of self-respect, tolerance for diversity, and the practical safety skills required for adolescence and adulthood.
