“By education I mean an all-round drawing out of the best in the child and man; body, mind and spirit.”

Mahatma Gandhi

“Teaching is not about answering questions but about raising questions – opening doors for them in places that they could not imagine.”

Yawar Baig

“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”

Aristotle

Helping Each Child to Flourish  

At Heworth we aim to prepare all children for a successful life in modern Britain.   We want to give children strategies to deal with complex emotions in order to manage them in a positive way.  We aim to teach for inclusivity and respect for difference, fostering a sense of inclusion within all of our sessions in a way that is meaningful and appropriate for our children. Our life skills curriculum seeks to equip the children with the skills to enable them to develop a capacity for resilience, as well as the necessary resources to facilitate the management of their own wellbeing.

What Life Skills looks like at Heworth

• Our life skills sessions are taught weekly by every class, as part of the ‘Jigsaw’ scheme of work. Every year group are being taught the same ‘puzzle’ of the Jigsaw at the same time, but in a session appropriate for the year group. 
• Jigsaw sessions can begin with an opportunity for mindfulness, normally conducted through a ‘Calm Me’ script, allowing pupils to develop a sense of which calming approach works best for them, both within the sessions and beyond. 
• The Jigsaw planning covers a range of meaningful topics, from celebrating difference to managing friendship issues. The wide breadth of topics allows for our pupils to explore in great depth potential issues that may come to, or are already, effecting them.
• Jigsaw consists of six half-term units of work (puzzles), each containing six lessons: Term 1: Being Me in My World, Term 2: Celebrating Difference (including anti-bullying), Term 3: Dreams and Goals, Term 4: Healthy Me, Term 5: Relationships and Term 6: Changing Me (including Sex Education)
• In Key Stage 1, pupils’ work is celebrated through use of ‘big books’ that show their learning across each unit.  In Key Stage 2, folders are used when written tasks are completed in life skills lessons.  Many lessons are discussion based.    

How do our values shine through in Life Skills?

How do children flourish in Life Skills at Heworth?

• Children develop a ready willingness and ability to try new things, push themselves and show endurance.
• Children understand how to stay safe and develop good relationships. 
• Children appreciate and celebrate what it means to be a positive member of a diverse, multicultural society. 
• Children hold a strong self-awareness, interlinked with compassion of others.