The term ‘Growth Mindset’ refers to a way of thinking, learning and taking on challenges. A person with a growth mindset is open to constructive criticism, takes feedback and uses it, takes on new challenges, pushes themselves outside of their comfort zone and shows resilience and perseverance.

Studies show that it is people with a growth mindset (as opposed to a ‘fixed mindset’) who achieve in life, are successful in all they do and are happy. This is what we want for all our children at Streetsbrook. We know that children who have a positive attitude towards their learning will make good progress and be successful.

Within the curriculum for this subject, consideration will be given at the planning stages by the subject leader and the class teacher to promoting diversity in its broadest sense. Opportunities will be given for children to reflect, discuss and share opinions within the context of our whole school values. All adults in school have the responsibility to challenge attitudes or actions which may discriminate or be deemed as being derogatory towards another group.  We endeavour for our children and community to show respect, tolerance and empathy in order for them to be responsible members of modern British society.

At Streetsbrook, we are committed to challenging stereotypes in all aspects of school life. This may be on grounds of race, sexual orientation, faith or gender.  We also recognise that lifelong positive relationships stem from a broad, open and honest understanding of positive mental health and wellbeing.  For this reason, this policy should be read in conjunction with our ‘Mental Health and Wellbeing’ and ‘Equal Opportunities’ Policies. 

The skills, knowledge and understanding needed by our children to keep themselves and others physically and mentally healthy and safe are included as part of our developmental PSHE curriculum, Jigsaw. Additional lessons are planned and taught where necessary. The benefits of the Jigsaw programme include how it:

• creates learning experiences they look forward to
• establishes a safe learning environment
• offers accurate information
• builds skills essential for life and relationships
• equips them for a modern and diverse world
• gives resilience and inner strength
• develops spiritual peace

The creation of Jigsaw was motivated by the belief that if attention is paid to supporting children’s personal development in a structured way, this will not only improve their capacity to learn (across the curriculum), but will ultimately improve their life chances.

Jigsaw consists of 6 ‘Puzzles’ (half-term units of work) containing 6 ‘Pieces’ (lessons). Each Piece has two Learning Intentions. One is based on specific PSHE learning (covering the non-statutory national framework for PSH Education but enhanced to address children’s needs today); and the other is based on emotional literacy and social skills (covering the SEAL learning intentions but also enhanced). These enhancements mean that Jigsaw is relevant to children living in today’s world as it helps them understand and be equipped to cope with modern issues such as body image, cyber and homophobic bullying and internet safety.

The lessons (‘Pieces’) are structured as follows:

• Connect Us (including Circle Time) - To improve their social skills to better enable collaborative learning
• Calm Me - Prepare them for learning
• Open My Mind - Help the brain focus on specific learning intentions
• Tell Me or Show Me – Initiate new learning
• Help Me Reflect – Support them in reflecting on their learning and personal development

Jigsaw offers many opportunities for Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) development, as well as contributing to all strands of the British Values agenda.

The specific content of lessons will be determined by the specific needs of the cohort we are teaching but there will always be an emphasis on enabling students to develop the skills, knowledge, understanding, language and confidence to seek help, as needed, for themselves or others. Please see Appendices i (Whole-School), ii (EYFS) and iii (KS1) for an overview of the Jigsaw programme.