PSHE/RSE
PSHE Primary School Guide for Parents
PSHE - Information for Parents and Carers
At Gray’s Farm, PSHE is fundamental to our children’s development as confident, healthy, and respectful members of society. This curriculum brings together the vital areas of personal wellbeing, health, and relationship education.
We believe that equipping pupils with the right knowledge, skills, and attributes is essential to help them navigate the world safely. Through high-quality PSHE lessons, we give our pupils the lifelong tools they need to:
- Stay safe: Making informed, smart choices to protect themselves both in the physical world and online
- Prioritise wellbeing: Looking after their physical and mental health
- Build positive relationships: Developing respectful connections with others, celebrating diversity, and understanding personal identity
- Grow emotionally: Learning to recognise, name, and manage their feelings
Our Curriculum Approach
To achieve this, Gray’s Farm follows the progressive Jigsaw PSHE curriculum, which is carefully designed to grow alongside our children. From the moment they join our school, pupils begin to explore emotional literacy, building a vital foundation of self-awareness. As they progress through each year group, this foundation transforms into deep personal resilience and the ability to make choices that support their own and others' wellbeing.
Beyond the Classroom
We don't just teach PSHE; we live it. By embedding these values into our daily school culture, we foster an inclusive environment where respect and responsibility flourish. Our goal is to ensure that when children leave Gray’s Farm, they have the confidence and skills needed to explore the wider world - fully prepared for the challenges of childhood, adulthood, and active citizens
If you would like to find out more about how we teach PHSE, read a Parent's Information Guide to teaching PHSE here.
What Will My Child Learn?
The Jigsaw curriculum is broken down into six core units of work (called 'Puzzles') that progress in sequence across the academic year. Each Puzzle is color-coded and carefully tailored to be age-appropriate for every year group.
To foster a shared sense of community, the entire school focuses on the same Puzzle at the same time. This allows us to launch each new topic with a whole-school assembly and celebrate our learning together in a meaningful way.
The 6 core units covered are: -
- Term 1: Being Me in My World Children explore what it means to belong, focusing on welcoming others and being part of their school, local, and global communities. This unit introduces rights, responsibilities, teamwork, and the importance of having a voice.
- Term 2: Celebrating Difference This unit focuses on diversity, exploring similarities and differences such as disability, race, and identity. Children learn to respect everyone's right to be different, resolve conflicts peacefully, and understand anti-bullying strategies.
- Term 3: Dreams and Goals Designed to build ambition and resilience, this unit helps children identify their personal strengths and talk about their hopes for the future. They learn how to overcome challenges through teamwork, explore basic financial education and fundraising, and discuss how to manage emotions like pride, success, and disappointment.
- Term 4: Healthy Me This unit focuses evenly on physical and mental wellbeing. Children learn about healthy eating, exercise, rest, and substance awareness, alongside mental health skills like managing stress and body image. It also teaches vital real-world safety strategies (including water, fire, road, and rail safety) using the 'Safety STAR' framework: Stop, Think, Assess, React.
- Term 5: Relationships Starting with self-esteem and self-respect, children learn how to build healthy relationships with family, friends, and peers. This unit heavily emphasises safeguarding, teaching children how to recognise unhealthy behaviors, navigate social media safely, challenge stereotypes, and confidently speak up or seek help when something doesn't feel right.
- Term 6: Changing Me This unit helps children understand and cope with change as a natural part of life. Topics range from growing older and coping with emotional transitions (such as moving to a new year group or secondary school) to puberty, self-respect, and personal safety. (Note: Human reproduction/sex education is introduced in Year 6).
Snapshot Overview of Curriculum Content Snapshot and Coverage by year group: click here.
For an overview of each topic by year group, please click on the links below:-
Term 1: Being Me in My World
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6
Term 2: Celebrating Difference
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6
Term 3: Dreams and Goals
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6
Term 4: Healthy Me
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6
Term 5: Relationships
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6
Term 6: Changing Me
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6
What is Statutory and What Are My Rights?
We believe in working in close partnership with our families. To keep you fully informed, our curriculum follows the national statutory framework for primary schools:
- Statutory Lessons (Compulsory): Relationships Education and Health Education are required by law for all primary-aged children. These lessons cover essential life themes like online safety, physical health, mental wellbeing, and building respectful friendships. Because these are vital for child safety and development, parents do not have the right to withdraw their children from them.
- Non-Statutory Lessons (The Right to Withdraw): In line with national guidance, we teach age-appropriate sex education (defined strictly as learning about human reproduction, conception, and birth) to children in Years 5 and 6. This is kept entirely separate from statutory science and health lessons.
As a parent, you have the legal right to request that your child be withdrawn from these specific, non-statutory sex education lessons.
We will always notify families in advance before these specific lessons take place. This ensures you have the opportunity to view the exact lesson materials beforehand and discuss any options or opt-out requests with us.
Supporting PSHE at Home
A helpful to list of books that parents could use at home to support conversations surrounding topics taught within the RSHE curriculum can be found below.
Please note: the books listed here around the topics of puberty and periods are ones recommended on various websites on the internet and are NOT used as resources to support the school curriculum followed in school, they are recommendations by other professionals and authors. The age guidance for these books is listed for your guidance
Please note: the books listed here around the topics of puberty and periods are ones recommended on various websites on the internet and are NOT used as resources to support the school curriculum followed in school, they are recommendations by other professionals and authors. The age guidance for these books is listed for your guidance