Intent

At Sunnyside Primary Academy, our Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE), including Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE), is central to our curriculum and to our school values. It is carefully designed to promote pupils’ personal development, emotional wellbeing, and readiness for life in modern Britain.

Using the Jigsaw PSHE Programme, we aim to:

• Aspire for Excellence by equipping every child with the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to succeed personally, socially and academically.

• Enrich Language and Communication through high-quality, structured vocabulary development around emotional literacy, self-regulation, and respectful dialogue.

• Cultivate a Strong Community by embedding values of empathy, respect, and inclusion in every lesson and across school life.

• Broaden Horizons by preparing pupils to understand and engage with the diverse society in which they live, both online and offline.

• Build a Knowledge-Rich Foundation that ensures statutory RSHE objectives are taught progressively and sensitively, tailored to children’s developmental stages.

Through a spiral curriculum, pupils revisit and deepen their understanding across six core themes, known as 'Puzzles': Being Me in My World, Celebrating Difference, Dreams and Goals, Healthy Me, Relationships, and Changing Me.

Implementation

PSHE is taught weekly across all year groups through discrete lessons using the Jigsaw Programme. Each Puzzle is introduced with a whole-school assembly and revisited through weekly themes, with each lesson including mindfulness practice, collaborative learning, and reflective discussion.

• We allocate at least 55 minutes per week for explicit PSHE teaching.

• PSHE is delivered by class teachers, ensuring consistency and familiarity in delivery.

• The statutory content for Relationships Education and Health Education is fully covered through the Relationships, Healthy Me, and Changing Me units, as mapped against DfE expectations.

• The Changing Me unit in Summer Term includes Sex Education. Where human reproduction is taught beyond the Science curriculum, parents are informed of their right to withdraw their child from specific PSHE lessons in Year 4–6.

• Learning is contextualised through whole-school initiatives, including assemblies, pastoral support, restorative behaviour systems, and safeguarding practices.

• The curriculum reflects our Equalities Duty, promoting respect and valuing all individuals, including content on families of all types and LGBT+ inclusion, in a developmentally appropriate and inclusive way.

Impact

Our approach ensures that by the time pupils leave Sunnyside Primary Academy, they:

• Are confident in discussing emotions, relationships, physical and mental health, and the changes they experience as they grow.

• Understand and can articulate their rights and responsibilities as members of a diverse society.

• Have developed a strong moral compass, showing respect, kindness, and resilience.

• Are prepared for the transition to secondary school, having received comprehensive education about puberty, self-care, and safe relationships.

• Can apply what they have learned to real-life scenarios, both within school and beyond, using strategies to keep themselves and others safe and healthy.

The impact of our PSHE and RSHE curriculum is measured through pupil voice, teacher assessment, lesson observations, and the positive relationships observed throughout the Academy.