At Elmwood Infant School, we follow the Jigsaw scheme of work for PSHE. Jigsaw is child-centred and aims to help develop pupils into confident, independent, healthy, and responsible members of society, as well as developing them morally, socially, intellectually, socially, and spiritually.

Curriculum and Ethos

• Gold Rights Respecting Status: Children's rights under the UN Convention shape daily practice, assemblies, and the ethos of the school.
• Super Skills: Our school uses an engaging animal-character theme ("Super Skills") introduced via whole-school assemblies to help young children explore emotions, positive behaviours, and real-life situations in an age-appropriate way.
• Whole-Child Approach: The curriculum prioritises strong language development, foundational literacy and maths, and emotional literacy through a broad and balanced framework.

Intent

Through our whole-school approach to PSHE, it is our belief that excellence in these areas will lead to excellence across the curriculum and beyond in later life. Thus, our PSHE curriculum equips children with relevant and meaningful content, which is supported through a strong emphasis on emotional literacy, building resilience and nurturing mental and physical health.

With an ever-changing society, we aim to provide our pupils with a strong understanding of the diverse world around them. Children are given opportunities in PSHE and assemblies to develop self-motivation, confidence and an understanding of their rights and responsibilities within our diverse society.

Implementation and Jigsaw Puzzles

Elmwood Infant School structures its Personal, Social, and Health Education (PSHE) using Jigsaw’s spiral progressive framework across the six standard half-termly units (Puzzles), adapted for young learners:

• Autumn 1: Being Me in My World (Focusing on belonging, classroom/playground charters, and rights).
• Autumn 2: Celebrating Difference (Anti-bullying, similarities and differences).
• Spring 1: Dreams and Goals (Aspirations, overcoming challenges).
• Spring 2: Healthy Me (Physical health, keeping safe).
• Summer 1: Relationships (Friendships, family roles, and teamwork).
• Summer 2: Changing Me (Growing, changing, and transitions).

EYFS 

In the Foundation Stage, PSHE and citizenship is taught as an integral part of topic work and is embedded throughout the curriculum. The objectives taught are the Personal, Social and Emotional Development statements from EYFS Development Matters.

Key Stage 1

In Key Stage 1, PSHE is taught through a clear and comprehensive scheme of work in line with the National Curriculum. We ensure we cover Health and Well-Being, Relationships, and Living in the Wider World Learning.

Pupils are taught PSHE using ‘Jigsaw’ which is a spiral, progressive scheme of work, covering all of the above and 'aims to prepare children for life, helping them to know and value who they are and understand how they relate to other people in this ever-changing world. There is a strong emphasis on emotional Literacy, building resilience and nurturing mental and physical health. It includes mindfulness to allow children to advance their emotional awareness, concentration and focus.

At Elmwood Infant School, the Relationships and Sex Education aspects of PSHE are also taught through the Jigsaw scheme.

Wider Curriculum  

We believe that focusing on developing a 'Growth Mindset' in our children will help them to build resilience, independence, and confidence; embrace challenges; foster a love of learning; and increase their level of happiness. We do this through the language we use in class, praising children for their efforts, and using language to encourage children to change their way of thinking. This supports both our school and PSHE aims and values, and we focus on Growth Mindsets in all aspects of school life.

PSHE, including social and moral social culture (SMSC) and British Values (BV), is an integral part of the whole school curriculum and is therefore often taught within another subject areas.

Assemblies are linked to the Jigsaw scheme, British Values, and SMSC and cover any additional subjects that would benefit the whole school.

Zones of Regulation

In every class we use the Zones of Regulation as a shared approach to using language to talk to children about identifying and managing their feelings. Children are given the opportunity to move their name card to indicate how they are feeling, thus giving adults the opportunity to talk to them about their feelings and help regulate, if required.

Zones of Regulation teach our pupils emotional literacy and self-regulation. At Elmwood Infants, we have KS1 assemblies which teach pupils how to understand their feelings and manage them better. In addition, pupils learn about children’s rights and what they mean for them. They also explore children rights under the conventions on the right of the child.

UNICEF UK Rights Respecting School: Gold Award

At Elmwood Infant School, we are incredibly proud to hold the UNICEF UK Gold Rights Respecting School Award. This is the highest accolade granted by UNICEF UK, recognising our deep commitment to children's rights.

Rather than teaching rights as a standalone topic, we explicitly embed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into everything we do. It shapes our school vision, guides our curriculum, and inspires a safe, inclusive environment where every child can thrive.

What Does Being a Gold School Mean?

Achieving Gold status means our school community has successfully embedded children's rights into our foundational ethos and daily culture. We have met the three core strands of the UNICEF framework:

• Teaching and learning about rights: Children and adults learn about the UNCRC and understand how rights apply to everyone, everywhere.
• Teaching and learning through rights: Children's rights guide our school ethos, relationships, policies, and classroom environments.
• Teaching and learning for rights: We empower our pupils to become active citizens, speak out on global issues, and advocate for the rights of others.

Our Core Articles

While we respect and promote all children's rights, two central articles form the foundation of our daily school life:

• Article 3 (Best interests of the child): The best interests of our children are top priority in all our choices and decisions.
• Article 28 & 29 (Right to education): We are dedicated to helping every child develop their talents and abilities to their fullest potential.

How We Live Our Rights Daily

• Student Voice: Our school council ensure children have a genuine say in school life and that their opinions are respected.
• Inclusive Curriculum: We celebrate diversity and foster empathy through focused assemblies and key awareness weeks (Achiever’s week and Pride of Elmwood).
• Positive Behaviour: Our rights-respecting ethos promotes mutual respect, kindness, and collaboration in the classroom and on the playground.