Friday 28th May 2021
Dear Parents and Carers,
Re: RSE Information for Parents
This school year we have been implementing the PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) programme across our school called Jigsaw, the mindful approach to PSHE. The government made Relationships Education and Health Education statutory for all primary schools from September 2020 and the Jigsaw programme is used in school to support the teaching of PSHE and RSE.
Since September, the lessons have built children’s emotional literacy, self-esteem and knowledge of who they are and how they relate to each other and the world in a positive and healthy way. Your child may have told you about the Jigsaw Friends and Calm Me time.
After half term, the puzzle piece (unit of work) will be Changing Me.
The Changing Me Puzzle includes, in every year group, lessons to help children understand the changes puberty brings and how human reproduction happens. There is a very serious safeguarding aspect to this work and obviously the younger year groups are not looking at these issues directly and explicitly but rather learning correct terminology for body parts and doing the foundation work for later year groups. The Years 5 and 6 lessons look more fully at puberty and human reproduction.
As the materials are new, we are providing an information pack for you which explains how we teach Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) using the Jigsaw programme. At Kelvin Grove, we define sex education as learning about human reproduction which is taught in both science and PSHE.
We hope you will be in agreement with us that this work is vitally important for children, that it needs to be done age-appropriately and that the Jigsaw Programme gives us a secure framework in which to do this.
On our school website, under physical development, health and well-being, you will find the RSE content for each year group. We hope that you, like us, will see the materials in Jigsaw as educationally sound and beneficial to our children, helping to safeguard them.
We always want to work in partnership with parents and carers and therefore wish to inform you of your legal right to withdraw your children from some aspects of this work. After half term, we will be sending a letter which details which aspects you can withdraw your child from and details of how to do this.
If you have any questions, we invite you to talk to your child’s teacher or the Health Lead.
Regards,
Mrs Cooper
Health Lead