Skills for Life

At Navigation, we teach children ‘Skills for Life’.  This includes PSHE and RSE. PSHE stands for personal, social and health education. For primary-age children, this is not always an accessible phrase, so at Navigation we call the specific lessons ‘skills for life,’ or you may hear children discuss ‘Jigsaw’ lessons. It should be noted that this is a very broad subject and is covered in a variety of ways. This page will outline how we teach it in our school, including our how we approach relationships and sex education (RSE). To explain this, the page is broken down into three broad sections:

Intent: the knowledge and skills that pupils will gain 

Implementation: how the curriculum developed or adopted by the school is taught 

Impact: the outcomes that pupils achieve as a result of the education they have received

Curriculum Vision Statement:

'By the time children leave Navigation they will have developed the Navigation values of caring, collaboration, and respect through everything we do including assemblies, visitors, school trips, Skills for Life lessons, Jigsaw program and the example set by the adults in our school. They will have the knowledge, skills and attributes to manage their lives now and in the future.

Intent:

Our curriculum vision statement outlines our broad goals for PSHE, whereas our whole school curriculum progression map gives a detailed breakdown of what each year group is taught.  There is also an overview of the different units of work that each year group covers. Go to the bottom of the page and you can open these documents and take a look.

Implementation: 

This is a very broad subject and it can be seen in many aspects of school life. For example, our school values permeate through all elements of school life. Our assemblies follow a timetable that cover the following broad areas which are numbered below. There are also a few illustrative examples of assemblies that would fall under these themes, but this is by no means an exhaustive list.

1. Promoting safeguarding - for example, stranger danger, canal and rail safety (as these are close to the school), road safety, safer internet day etc
2. Promoting our British values of democracy, the rule of law, civil liberty, respect and tolerance alongside our Navigation values of caring, respect, collaboration and respect.
3. Celebrating diversity and difference in our school community for example, International Women’s’ Day, Black History Month, Neurodiversity Week, Pride month, Ramadam 
4. Highlighting community and global issues - for example, World Mental Health Day, UN Rights of the Child Day, World Refugee Day

We also try to link our assemblies with relevant events that take place at specific times of year, or special occasions. At the start of each half-term, we look at a new Jigsaw puzzle piece (a theme) and introduce this to the children. In their Jigsaw, or 'Skills for Life' lessons, which take place in class, the puzzle piece is then followed up and they look at it in more detail.

The creation of Jigsaw is motivated by the genuine belief that if attention is paid to supporting children’s personal development in a structured and developmentally appropriate way, this will not only improve their capacity to learn (across the curriculum) but will ultimately improve their life chances. That is why Jigsaw is child-focussed and that is reflected in the innovative way that Pieces (lessons) are structured, which also reflects an understanding of the learning process.

In designing the Pieces, we imagine that children are asking the teacher to:

• Improve their social skills to better enable collaborative learning (Connect us)
• Relax their bodies and calm their minds to prepare them for learning (Calm me)
• Help the brain to focus on specific learning intentions (Open my mind)
• Initiate new learning (Tell me or show me)
• Facilitate learning activities to reinforce the new learning (Let me learn)
• Support them in reflecting on their learning and personal development (Help me reflect)

Using these child-centred headings for the sections of each Piece is very significant. It encourages teachers to see their pupils as whole children who want and deserve to learn.

Connect Us - This is a game or activity designed to be fun and inclusive and to build and maximise social skills. ‘Connect us’ engenders positive relationships and enhances collaborative learning. It sets the atmosphere at the beginning of each Jigsaw Piece and can be used again at the end should the teacher feel the atmosphere needs to be lifted after some deep work during the lesson.

Calm Me - This section of the Piece helps children gain awareness of the activity in their minds, relaxing them and quietening their thoughts and emotions to a place of optimum learning capacity. This will also engender a peaceful atmosphere within the classroom. It may well take a number of sessions before children can do this successfully, as many children live in continually noisy and hectic environments. It is an invaluable life skill which also enhances reflection and spiritual development. This underpins the mindful approach advocated in Jigsaw (See ‘mindfulness’ above)

Open my Mind - The Reticular Activating System of the brain filters the many stimuli entering the child’s mind at any given time. It is designed only to allow in that which is significant. Therefore, it is important to engage this system with the most important aspects of learning intended for each Piece (lesson). If we do this well, it will enable children to filter out activity around them not significant to this learning intention, thereby improving concentration and learning.

Tell Me or Show Me - This section of the Piece (lesson) is used to introduce new information, concepts and skills, using a range of teaching approaches and activities.

Let Me Learn - Following Piaget’s learning model, after receiving new information/concepts, children need to manipulate, use, and play with that new information in order for it to make sense to them and for them to ‘accommodate’ it into their existing learning.

Help Me Reflect -Throughout Jigsaw, children are encouraged to reflect on their learning experiences and their progress. By reflecting, children can process and evaluate what they have learnt, which enables them to consolidate and apply their learning. They are also asked to stop and become aware of their thoughts and feelings in any given moment in Pause Points  thus developing their mindfulness.

Closure - Each Piece needs safe closure. This will always include the teacher praising the children for their effort, positive attitude and achievement, as well as giving one or two sentences to summarise the key learning points for the children.

Relationships and Sex Education (RSE):

As this is an aspect of the curriculum that parents have many questions about, here we have created a separate section that seeks to address this in more detail. When there was a review of our RSE provision, it was felt that our current provision was suitable for our children and community. As a result, this is the only unit that is not taught following the Jigsaw scheme, as it was felt like there were elements of that scheme that were somewhat graphic for primary children. Instead, we use the Christopher Winter Project. This is a scheme of work that we have used for many years and pupil, parental and staff feedback has been very positive. Before the subject became statutory, we had a consultation with parents about the continuation of the scheme and parents were in favour of retaining the CWP scheme. We feel it gives children all the knowledge that they need in an accessible and age-appropriate manner. The scheme runs from reception to year 6; however, it should be noted that almost all the content focuses on relationships - a broad theme that includes how to be a good friend, how to behave online etc. As the children progress further through school, issues such as puberty are also covered. 

RSE is a statutory subject and there is only one lesson taught in year 6 that covers any material concerning conception and pregnancy. Prior to this unit being taught, parents of children in years 5 and 6 are invited in for an information evening, so that can be sure exactly what is going to be taught and see the materials for themselves. Parents have a right to withdraw their children from this lesson and further details can be found in the policy section within the RSE policy. However, it is our hope that with the information provided that parents will be reassured that the lessons are child-friendly and age-appropriate. Should you have any concerns or questions please speak to your child's class teacher, Ms Patterson, or Mr Bonsall and we will be happy to address any concerns. 

At the bottom of the page, there is an overview of the topics covered. Please note we do not teach the additional units. You can find a full list of objectives and what is covered to download below. 

Impact: 

Each subject is driven forward by a member of staff who monitors the attainment and progress of our children. We do this in a variety of ways including speaking to children, looking at their learning in their books, observing lessons and using data gathered from our school’s assessment system. This analysis can then be used to provide support and resources where needed to maintain high standards across all subjects.

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