Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE) is our comprehensive curriculum for supporting children's personal development, health, wellbeing and understanding of relationships. Our PSHE curriculum also includes age-appropriate aspects of economic education, preparing children to understand spending, saving and the world of work, and citizenship education including British Values, helping children understand their rights, responsibilities and role in society.

We are required by law to teach Relationships Education and Health Education to all primary-aged pupils. We deliver these statutory subjects within our broader PSHE programme. We have chosen to teach about human reproduction (sex education) and we do so in line with the principles and approach of the 2025  Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) statutory guidance, in which sex education itself remains non-statutory (but recommended) in primary schools. In line with this, we offer all parents the ‘right to withdraw’ from sex education.

What is our vision for PSHE Education?

At Butlers Court we believe every child deserves an education that prepares them not only for academic success but also to thrive as rounded individuals in modern society. PSHE  education sits at the heart of this commitment.

PSHE is not an add-on to our curriculum; it is fundamental to our children’s development as confident, healthy and respectful members of society. Through high-quality PSHE, we equip pupils with the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to stay safe, maintain wellbeing, and build positive relationships throughout their lives.

 Our curriculum is carefully designed to be developmental and progressive. From the moment children join our school, they begin to explore emotional literacy—learning to recognise, name and talk about feelings. This foundation grows year by year, helping pupils to manage emotions, develop resilience, and make informed decisions that support their own and others’ wellbeing.

 By embedding PSHE across our school culture, we nurture a community where respect, inclusivity and responsibility flourish. In doing so, we prepare our pupils not only for the challenges of childhood but also for adulthood, work and active citizenship.

At Butlers Court we are committed to:

• Supporting the whole child - recognising that children's emotional and social development directly impacts their capacity to lear
• Creating a safe, inclusive environment where every child feels valued and able to discuss concerns without fear or stigma
• Building foundations for the future - providing age-appropriate learning that prepares children for the challenges and opportunities of adolescence and beyond
• Working in partnership with families, recognising that parents are children's first educators in many aspects of relationships and health
• Embedding PSHE across school life - not just in weekly lessons, but through our values, relationships, and everyday interactions

 How do we teach PSHE at Butlers Court?

We use Jigsaw PSHE as our curriculum framework because it provides a comprehensive, carefully sequenced scheme of work that brings consistency and progression to children's learning across their primary years. Children from Reception to Year 6 take part in weekly lessons following a whole school theme, each year group at its own level, which is introduced through a half termly whole school assembly. Jigsaw is built on current research and best practice in child development, safeguarding and health education, it is kept continuously up to date with evolving statutory guidance and enables us to deliver high-quality PSHE education that meets our children's needs.

The Jigsaw Puzzles (half termly units) 

Being Me in My World

Understanding personal identity, my place in the class and school community, rights and responsibilities, democracy, making a positive contribution. 

Celebrating Difference

Recognising and respecting diversity, challenging stereotypes, understanding difference and similarity, addressing bullying, building empathy and compassion.

Dreams and Goals

Setting and working towards goals, understanding aspirations and future possibilities, developing perseverance and resilience, recognising achievements, working collaboratively.

Healthy Me

The relationship between physical and emotional health; nutrition, sleep, exercise and hygiene; emotional wellbeing; drug education (including medicines); keeping safe; understanding habits and making healthy lifestyle choices.

Relationships

Understanding different relationships and their characteristics, our families, managing friendship challenges, conflict resolution and communication skills, recognising when relationships are unhealthy, understanding loss and bereavement.

Changing Me

Understanding life cycles and human growth, coping positively with change, body image and self-esteem, puberty education, changing relationships, and for upper Key Stage 2, human reproduction (where taught as sex education.) 

We believe that PSHE plays a vital part of a child’s development and therefore PSHE is integrated throughout the curriculum, it is displayed across the school and it is evident throughout the school day

Suggested reading list for 3-7 year-olds, covering relationships, reproduction & families

• Mummy Laid an Egg by B Cole 
• Amazing You by Dr G Saltz
• Where Willy Went by N Allan 
• Let’s Talk About Where Babies Come From by R H Harris
• What Makes a Baby by C Silverberg 
• If I had a 100 Mummies by V Carter 
• Mummy Never Told Me by B Cole 
• And Tango Makes Three by J Richardson and P Parnell 
• So Much by T Cooke 
• Where Did That Baby Come From by D Gliori 
• Topsy and Tim and the New Baby by J and G Adamson 

Suggested reading list for 8-11 year-olds, covering reproduction/puberty/relationships/gender

• Girls Only by V Parker
• How your Body Works by Judy Hindley
• Let’s Talk About Sex by R H Harris
• Living with a Willy by N Fisher
• Sex is a Funny Word by C Silverberg and F Smyth 
• The Period Book by K Gravelle
• The Puberty Book by W Darvill
• What’s Happening to Me? by P Mayle
• Alien Nation by The Proud Trust
• 'Grown' The Black Girls Guide to Glowing Up by Melissa Cummings-Quarry & Natalie A Carter
• The Autsim-Friendly Guide to Periods by Robyn Steward

National Literacy Trust list of books about love

Useful books for parents

Questions Children Ask and How to Answer Them by Dr M Stoppard

Speakeasy: Talking with your Children about Growing Up by fpa (Family Planning Association)

Can I have babies too? Sexuality and Relationships Education for Children from Infancy up to Age 11 by Sanderijn van der Doef, Clare Bennett, and Arris Lueks