PSHE
Curriculum Intent
At Oxhey Wood, our aim is to nurture confident, healthy and responsible young people who are equipped to make positive choices throughout their lives.
We want our pupils to understand the ways in which they are growing and developing, both personally and socially and to build a strong sense of self-worth. Through active involvement in school life and the wider community, pupils learn how they can make a meaningful contribution. Our PSHE curriculum helps children explore their rights and responsibilities and deepens their understanding of what it means to be part of the diverse and inclusive society around them.
Curriculum Implementation
At Oxhey Wood, our PSHE curriculum includes high-quality Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE). We believe that every child is entitled to clear, accurate and age-appropriate learning that helps them form healthy relationships and understand themselves as they grow. Our RSHE provision also plays a key role in helping the school meet the requirements of the Equality Act (2010), ensuring our curriculum is fully inclusive of all genders, sexual orientations, abilities, ethnicities, cultures, ages, religions, beliefs and life experiences.
Our PSHE curriculum is closely linked with safeguarding, SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social & Cultural development) and the promotion of British Values. Through PSHE, children learn how to keep themselves and others Ready, Respectful and Safe, reflecting the core expectations that underpin life at Oxhey Wood.
We actively promote the fundamental British Values of Democracy, the Rule of Law, Individual Liberty, Mutual Respect and Tolerance. This helps pupils develop into thoughtful, fair and confident young people who can contribute positively to an increasingly diverse and complex world.
In line with the National Curriculum, our PSHE provision supports pupils to:
▪ Develop spiritually, morally, socially, culturally, mentally and physically
▪ Be prepared for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life
▪ Understand and uphold British Values
Since 2020, Relationships and Health Education have been compulsory in primary schools and we also deliver age-appropriate Sex Education. Our curriculum aligns with statutory safeguarding guidance (Keeping Children Safe in Education) and the Equality Act.
Jigsaw
To deliver PSHE, Oxhey Wood uses the Jigsaw programme, a whole-school, spiral curriculum that supports children’s personal development through engaging and creative learning. Each term focuses on a different theme, revisited each year to deepen children’s understanding as they grow. The themes are:
▪ Being Me in My World
▪ Celebrating Difference
▪ Dreams and Goals
▪ Healthy Me
▪ Relationships
▪ Changing Me
Teachers have access to a full range of online Jigsaw resources, including adaptable lesson plans and materials that support sensitive discussions around a range of topics. This flexibility ensures that PSHE teaching remains responsive to children’s needs.
Our school rules — Ready, Respect, Safe — are threaded throughout PSHE lessons and reinforced across the wider curriculum. British Values are also embedded wherever relevant to strengthen pupils’ understanding of life beyond school.
Alongside the Jigsaw programme, we enrich our PSHE curriculum through assemblies, workshops and themed events covering areas such as anti-bullying, e-safety, mental health and wellbeing and first aid. These opportunities help children apply their learning to real-life situations and support them in becoming confident, caring and responsible individuals.
From September 2026, the Department for Education’s updated RSHE (Relationships, Sex and Health Education) guidance becomes statutory.
This means that all schools must follow the new requirements when teaching RSHE. Over the next year, Oxhey Wood will review and update our curriculum to ensure it fully reflects the new guidance and continues to meet the needs of our pupils.