Frequently Asked Questions

Jigsaw is an integrated scheme of learning with particular emphasis on emotional literacy, mental health, social, moral, cultural and spiritual development as well as physical health education. It provides teachers with detailed, weekly lesson plans and all the resources needed to deliver an engaging and relevant, spiral Health and Well-being curriculum.

The expectations set out in the Curriculum for Excellence for Health and Wellbeing are comprehensively covered through Jigsaw’s spiral curriculum, with mindfulness philosophy and practice woven throughout making Jigsaw is a unique, progressive and effective scheme of work for this area of the curriculum.

Jigsaw addresses the needs of children today and will continue to do so by keeping the materials updated and relevant. Our whole-school approach, aims to equip children for life, helping them really know and value who they are and how they relate to other people in this ever-changing world.

Find the Benchmarks Guidance here.

The Education Scotland Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy (Aug 2020), explains how education providers should help, “children, young people and adults to be safe, nurtured, achieving, healthy, active, included, respected and responsible; and children, young people and adults in Scotland to become successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors in centres of learning, the workplace and the community”.

Put simply, Jigsaw helps to teach children about keeping themselves safe and promotes an ethos in school that strongly supports keeping children safe in many diverse situations.

From the Early Years onwards, children are taught about what to say and do if they don’t like something – from encountering strangers to bullying, from unwanted physical contact to racism and being safe with technology.

As ever, the emphasis is on helping children realise their independence and responsibility for themselves, rather than employing scare tactics and horror stories to frighten children and dissuade them from choosing certain paths.

This content reflects the most up-to-date guidance around teaching about peer-on-peer abuse and harassment in an age-appropriate way, and we provide clear supporting materials for schools that shows when and how this is taught.

Jigsaw does not cover radicalisation and extremist behaviour explicitly, as the concepts themselves are perhaps not appropriate for teaching about in primary schools: whilst we want to prepare children for life, at the same time we do not want to alarm them.

Rather, Jigsaw makes a significant contribution towards ensuring that the curriculum and the learning environment that children experience lays down a grounding in which the ideological and emotional roots of extremist beliefs, attitudes and behaviours cannot flourish.

This contribution emerges first and foremost through the overall character of the Jigsaw scheme and the learning styles it advocates, but also through many aspects of the specific content of the themes or ‘Puzzles’ that make up the programme.

Children are taught to know their own minds, to operate from a position of self-awareness and self-valuing, and to develop the capacity to empathise with others.

Children develop the skills and confidence in Jigsaw to have respectful discussions around sensitive subjects, and in upper KS2 this includes lessons around topics such as belonging, peer pressure, changing relationships and gangs, which can be built upon in more specific lessons when they reach secondary school.

Our Celebrating Difference Puzzle in the Autumn term truly looks at the diversity in our local and wider communities and the benefits that this brings to us all.

Within this, there are also lessons looking at what bullying is, why it happens, and how we can all behave in a way that supports each other, including the pros and cons of peer influence, how to say no, where to go for help and how to support others.

We do not have lessons that single out just one particular group in a lesson such as race, sexuality, disability or gender but these aspects are reflected in the lessons in an age appropriate way with lessons explaining the importance of the Equality Act and Protected Characteristics in Upper Primary, when we find pupils are also naturally bringing more questions on these areas to the classroom.

Jigsaw lessons provide a safe supported environment for having respectful discussions about topics that some adults find difficult to discuss, and we ensure that our planning supports teachers to manage these in a respectful and non-political manner including the use of the Jigsaw charter, the lesson structure and distancing techniques.

Jigsaw Scotland, the mindful approach to Health and Wellbeing, brings together Personal, Social, Health and Economic education in a comprehensive, structured scheme of work to fulfil the requirements of the Health and Wellbeing Curriculum’s Experiences and Outcomes and SHANARRI.

There is a strong emphasis on emotional literacy and nurturing mental health as the necessary underpinnings for learning with a unique mindfulness approach in every lesson.

Jigsaw Scotland provides detailed lesson plans providing practitioners with everything they need to deliver creative teaching and learning activities.

At Jigsaw we highly value these aspects of children’s development and believe that Jigsaw enhances each of them. We have mapped SMSC across each Puzzle and across each year group to ensure balanced coverage.

Every Jigsaw Piece (lesson) contributes to this target and our mapping grids clearly indicate which elements are enhanced in each lesson. Every lesson in Jigsaw has 2 learning intentions – one of which is always social and emotional.

This ensures that not only are the social and emotional aspects of learning included in every lesson, but also that children are encouraged to recognise and value their own learning in these areas.

We do not believe our content is controversial. Many of our schools have been using the Jigsaw materials for sex education and puberty for several years confidently with the support of parents and carers.

Feedback from our newer schools is positive and indicates that the content is in line with what they would expect from a high quality PSHE resource. Our sex education content is flexible enough for a school to ensure that the material fits their ethos and values.

The ‘Changing Me’ Puzzle in Jigsaw 3-11 covers puberty and human reproduction in the context of coping positively with change. It does this in a sensitive and age-appropriate way which includes lessons on human reproduction, the coverage of which is at schools’ discretion.

We also provide leaflets and a parent presentation that schools can use as part of their parental engagement on RSE.

Yes. There are numerous opportunities in Jigsaw for teaching and learning about financial capability and economic well-being. The Puzzle ‘Dreams and Goals’ holds most of the explicit lessons on finances, where it looks at enterprise and fundraising, aspirations, jobs and careers.

For the younger year groups, learning intentions are focused on perseverance, achieving goals and thinking about what needs to happen now so that things can be better in the future.

For older year groups, the emphasis is more on jobs and careers, and also on supporting others with fundraising, etc. For example, in Year 5, there are lessons on children’s dream jobs and the steps they need to take to get there, what people in a variety of jobs earn and how everyone makes a contribution in society.

The end of Puzzle outcomes also offer opportunities for enterprise and learning about money and finance e.g. building a garden of Dreams and Goals enables children to collaborate to raise money for charity.

There are also additional lesson plans dealing explicitly with money, spending, saving etc on the Jigsaw website for all our schools to use to supplement the lessons already in the Jigsaw Programme if they wish to.

The whole school approach in Jigsaw means that every year group is studying the same theme at the same time e.g. ‘Celebrating Difference’ in Autumn 2.

The same themes are revisited and built upon throughout the programme, always with content that allows the class teacher to assess pupils’ knowledge and understanding through a form of baseline assessment at the beginning of the Puzzle (unit of work) and then guide discussions and activities in response to the pupils’ needs.

This makes it easier for the teacher to plan and differentiate the teaching and learning for the class they are teaching, whatever the age of the pupils in front of them.

There are a large number of Jigsaw schools on a 2-year rolling cycle who are able to use the majority of the materials like this with only a handful of lessons needing some adaptation to ensure that the content is fully accessible for all.

There are very few lessons within the Puzzles where children are reliant on specific knowledge from a previous year group that is not revisited in the teaching, and we can help you identify the lessons where this may take place if you feel you would like the support.

These lessons are mostly related to drug education in Healthy Me and puberty and sex education in Changing Me. Some schools choose to adapt these lessons, and some choose to split the classes into smaller groups for parts of them instead

Some Jigsaw schools are tiny and may have 3 or 4 year groups in one composite class. These much smaller schools will find that there will be some more occasions in Key Stage 2 where they will need to split the groups into narrower age groups for at least part of the lessons due the to nature of the topics being discussed (for example in some drug education, puberty and relationships lessons), but the exact needs of each school will vary according to the mix of age groups and how each school approaches this in other curriculum areas.

The mindfulness approach that we use across each lesson allows pupils of all abilities to access the learning and the nature of the teaching and learning activities makes the learning in Jigsaw more accessible for many SEND children than some other curriculum areas.

We also have some specific documents to further help you to support SEND children in the classroom relating to Autism, and also an alternative set of Connect Us activities for children with restricted mobility and/or limited language and communication skills.

The Jigsaw 3-12 mapping and progression documents show how pupils develop their knowledge and understanding about the topics discussed in the classroom as well as their social and emotional learning throughout Jigsaw.

This helps class teachers to identify specific areas where the teaching and learning can be adapted to suit the needs of different children, sometimes from an alternative year group’s resources.

Alongside this, we have mapped the specific lesson planning in Jigsaw with the content that is relevant to the six sections of the PSHE Association’s Planning Framework for pupils with SEND.

The feedback from schools reinforces that the universal delivery of Jigsaw is successful and promotes pupil voice. This comes through the specific planned content as well as through the development of children’s confidence and skills in communication around different topics.

Jigsaw values teachers’ professional judgement and knowledge of how to best support the pupils in their classrooms. We ensure that our programme has all the content and support that a busy teacher needs to deliver high quality PSHE for all the children in the classroom, whatever the topic or political climate.

We fully expect teachers to adapt the materials in the classroom for the pupils in front of them, but by following the programme structure and learning intentions they can be confident that they are providing a broad and balanced curriculum across the school that will help prepare children for all the different aspects of life beyond the classroom, as well as within it.

Every teacher in a Jigsaw school has access to a Jigsaw mentor who can help to find documents, explain things that they may have questions about in connection to their class, or simply help to explain how something works when there are a hundred other things in that week they are having to contend with.

Jigsaw also has additional optional lesson plans on specific topics that schools can use to tackle some specific subject areas that other schools may not need to address such as knife crime, railway safety and FGM.

As well as these, we provide leaflets for parents, mapping documents and explanatory articles in all the areas that schools tell us that they need.
We also ensure that we listen to teacher feedback and make changes or additions wherever we can, and tailor our webinars to meet the areas that teachers tell us that they would like support with.

Definitely! Each Jigsaw Puzzle is launched across the whole school at the same time with a specific Puzzle Launch Assembly designed to appeal to all the year groups. These assemblies initiate key learning messages that are then reinforced in the lessons and Weekly Celebrations. This helps maintain focus and intention for both children and staff.

There is one set of Puzzle Launch Assemblies included in the Jigsaw Programme when you buy it and there are 3 additional sets of Puzzle Launch assemblies available for purchase as part of the Bumper Bundle of assemblies. This Bumper Bundle also includes x36 weekly celebration assemblies which help launch the weekly theme.

As well as the assembly for each Puzzle, we envisage schools will also hold Celebration/Golden Assemblies that will include references to what children have been doing in Jigsaw that week. These Weekly Celebration Assemblies can be used as part of the Jigsaw scheme or stand-alone and are available now in the Jigsaw online store.

Jigsaw aims to empower children to understand their own rights and those of others, and supports the development of global citizenship.
We have mapped the Jigsaw Puzzles’ contribution to the Rights Respecting Schools Award and to the Universal Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Many schools successfully integrate the Rights Respecting Charter within the structured delivery of Jigsaw lessons.

In the Early Years, Jigsaw identifies assessment opportunities in the lessons.

From ages 5-12 years, there are built-in assessment opportunities within every lesson, including baseline assessments for teachers to assess how to guide the discussions related to the topics and learning intentions across the whole unit of work.

These are not written tests, but activities such as continuums or discussions that encourage deeper thinking and reflection. There are then weekly pupil self-assessments in every lesson, as well as summative assessment opportunities built into the last piece of every Puzzle (unit of work).

Much of the active learning content in Jigsaw is discussion-based, but we encourage the use of individual Jigsaw Journals to keep a record of individual children’s formative assessment from these lessons and any written work and certificates that children receive both in and out of the lessons that are relevant to their learning in PSHE.

These journals can move through the school with pupils for them to see their own progress, and also be used to help teachers carry out summative assessments.

Simply complete your online order using our Online Store on the website, send an email or give us a call and we can take your order over the phone.

You will usually have the physical Jigsaw materials (Jigsaw friends, Jerrie Cats and Chimes) within 5 working days of placing your order.

Your login access to electronic materials will be delivered separately by email to the person you nominated as the contact when you placed your order.

The Jigsaw Team offers both introductory training and/or training specific to certain aspects of Jigsaw such as PSHE, Health & Well-being, Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE), or training bespoke to the needs of your school, staff, parents/carers and children.

This is primarily available as online training, but may be possible face-to-face depending on the availability of our Jigsaw consultants.

Primary schools can also access the Optimise Training Library (a library of 30+ recorded training sessions) as part of their annual membership.

Please contact us with your specific requirements.

In P1 to P3, we would expect at least 45 minutes to be allocated for a Jigsaw lesson.

In P4 to P7 this increases to 1 hour per lesson.

It is possible to deliver the ‘Connect Us’ activity as a separate entity.

Schools that commit to a regular weekly slot find that Jigsaw PSHE will have a full and positive impact on learning behaviours and school ethos. The PSHE curriculum quickly becomes embedded and helps to develop the school as a positive learning community.

The Jigsaw Friend is integral to this system of learning. It acts as the talking object in the Jigsaw circle and can take on the role of a distancing tool, helping children talk about sensitive issues; and so the children will develop a positive relationship with their Jigsaw Friend.

Therefore, it is really important that each class has its own Jigsaw Friend. The Friends need to be respected and treated as special in order to obtain the most impact.

We do not sell Jigsaw Friends to anyone other than schools using Jigsaw in order to keep their fidelity and specialness for children.

The Jigsaw Chimes have been specially selected for their pitch and duration of resonance. This helps children to focus for longer when listening to them. The sound helps draw a line between whatever they were previously thinking about and the focus of the ‘Calm Me’ time.

So, we strongly recommend the Jigsaw chimes are used instead of any other instrument. Schools report that the Jigsaw Chimes really work, playing a key element in the delivery of the programme.

The resonance of the Jigsaw Chime may bother a hearing-impaired child (with hearing aids). We recommend teachers to encourage the child to sit close to the chime with their fingers on the table next to the chime. They will then feel the resonance in their bodies.

We listen to teachers and we are aware of limited budgets. Jigsaw has been created as a stand-alone resource so you will not need to buy any resources other than consumable art and craft supplies e.g. paper and crayons.

Every lesson plan includes links to the resources needed to deliver it including the slides, Calm Me script, pictures etc. Jigsaw is a stand-alone resource needing no further outlay in Key Stages 1 and 2.

There are suggested picture books that schools can buy to support the programme, but these are optional, particularly at Key Stages 1 and 2.
The suggested picture books are more integral to teaching in Reception and Nursery, but many schools find they already have many of these titles, or have their own favourites on the same themes they can use instead.

Teachers are free to enhance our resource, and as they become more confident with the programme, we encourage them to take greater ownership over the content.

Our growing Twitter feed often illustrates good ideas and lesson successes. We also encourage schools to formally share their success stories on our website. When you become a Jigsaw school, you instantly become part of a growing and vibrant world-wide family of schools.

TAs and HLTAs can teach Jigsaw, the mindful approach to PSHE. The lesson plans are detailed and all the resources are included. However, we strongly recommend that teachers deliver Jigsaw as this programme provides on-going opportunities to get to know and build a strong relationship with the children. It also enables teachers to use the strategies in Jigsaw across the curriculum.

We offer our FREE Overview of Jigsaw PSHE teaching resources and product videos. To access this overview, you can request it here.

The Jigsaw Resilience programme includes: the Resilience Scale itself, a scale for pupils to self-assess, methods for moderating and tracking findings, training PowerPoint presentations for teachers, a section on working with parents (including a presentation, Top Tips handout, and invitation letter template), interventions for teachers to use against the descriptors on the Scale, a 6-activity programme for building resilience, assemblies for 4-7 year olds and 7-11/12 year olds and a map showing which Jigsaw PSHE lessons additionally support the 10 resilience-building descriptors in each year group.

You only need one pack. When you buy Jigsaw Resilience you can use it for all the pupils in your school, this includes older primary pupils who you may want to involve in self-assessing using the Pupils’ Scale.

Jigsaw Resilience is full of ideas and methods for building resilience and engagement. There are interventions for teachers to use with each year group directly linked to the descriptors on the Scale, assemblies for KS1 and KS2, a 6-activity intervention programme for boosting resilience, which can be used in conjunction with pupils’ self-assessing and a map showing which Jigsaw PSHE lessons can support each of the 10 resilience-building descriptors in each year group.

Using the resource allows schools to demonstrate evidence for many aspects of Education Scotland’s “Health and Wellbeing: A Thematic Review” (2022).

This report gives examples of good practice where schools have used systems to identify pupils who need further support as part of a whole school approach, but recognises this is an ongoing issue for schools that needs to be prioritised.

Jigsaw Resilience provides a simple way to not only identify where extra support may e needs, but also provides the tools to support these children.

Jigsaw Resilience is designed to assess pupils’ resilience and engagement and to provide suggested interventions. The Jigsaw PSHE Whole-School Programme works on building emotional well-being, mental health and resilience and the Resilience Scale can be used to measure resilience and to measure the impact of the Jigsaw PSHE Programme.

Activities from the Jigsaw PSHE materials are used as targeted interventions forming a symbiotic relationship between Jigsaw Resilience and Jigsaw PSHE.

The Scale itself is simple to use and teachers can assess pupils easily in just a few minutes. The initial introduction needs a little time set aside (a staff meeting for example) though it is an essential part of the process for teachers to initially reflect and build understanding, a PowerPoint presentation is included as part of the resource to take schools through this process.

Younger pupils up to the age of 9-10 don’t need to be aware of the Scale or their score. It will certainly help if they realise that resilience is an important trait and something the school are trying to build in them, though an awareness of their score in that regard is unnecessary.

Older pupils (9/10+) can self-assess, though this is their own score and again they don’t need to be aware of how the teacher has scored them.

Pupils who do feel down about their score or their resilience generally are hopefully those that teachers can help the most.

Yes, Jigsaw Resilience has a section specifically to support schools to involve parents in the resilience-building process. A PowerPoint presentation, handout of Top Tips, together with an invitation letter template are included to help schools facilitate Parent Information sessions.

Jigsaw knows that parents and carers play the largest role in children’s personal, social and health development.

We encourage our schools to stay engaged with parents and carers through the introduction and ongoing delivery of Jigsaw through sharing the parent leaflets, summaries of what is going on in each classroom each term, use of the Parent Access feature (where parents and carers can view the lesson planning) and maintaining the open relationship between class teachers and parents and carers that makes such a difference to the individual children.

Education Scotland’s Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy (Aug 2020), explains how education providers will help children, young people and adults to be safe, nurtured, achieving, healthy, active, included, respected and responsible; and children, young people and adults in Scotland to become successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors in centres of learning, the workplace and the community.

Put simply, Jigsaw, the mindful approach to PSHE, helps to teach students about keeping themselves safe both physically and emotionally, including when using technology.

All the way through the Jigsaw Programme, students are taught in age- and stage-appropriate ways, about what to say and do if they don’t feel safe in a situation, or if something feels uncomfortable or not right to them, from bullying and unwanted physical contact to racism and being safe with technology.

The emphasis is on helping students realise their independence and be responsible for themselves whilst knowing how and where to access advice and support when they need it.

Jigsaw, the mindful approach to PSHE, makes a significant contribution towards ensuring that the curriculum and the learning environment that students experience lays down a grounding in which the ideological and emotional roots of extremist beliefs, attitudes and behaviours cannot flourish.

This contribution emerges first and foremost through the underpinning philosophy of the Jigsaw Programme and the learning styles it advocates, but also through many aspects of the specific content of the themes or ‘Puzzles’ that make up the Programme.

Students are taught and empowered to know their own minds, to operate from a position of self-awareness, mindfulness and self-valuing, and to develop the capacity to empathise with others as well as to think with discernment.

Jigsaw highly values these aspects of students’ development and believe that Jigsaw enhances each of them.

We have mapped SMSC across each Puzzle and across each year group to ensure a balanced coverage.

Every Jigsaw Piece (lesson) contributes to SMSC, there is a mapping document in the community area which shows this along with British Values and Emotional Literacy Domains.

Employability Skills are a key feature throughout Jigsaw, sometimes explicitly described as such, sometimes more implicit in lessons. Each Puzzle (unit) includes a lesson where the activities lend themselves to providing students with evidence of their personal development through activities in a Jigsaw Workbook.

For students to gain the most from the Jigsaw Programme, they must have the chance to experience the full lesson (Learning Pod, the Big Bit, Finishing Facts and the Signpost) to make best use of the opportunity to develop the skills that will prove valuable as they continue their career journey.

There are numerous lessons in every year group that explore the world of work and further study, most of which appear in the Dreams & Goals and Being Me in My World Puzzles (units).

The Jigsaw PSHE programme provides well-researched lessons covering essential areas in the development of a student’s life. It helps them build self-esteem and resilience while encouraging them to recognise their own strengths. This process will enable them to make healthy and positive decisions in their lives.

Looking after the mental and physical health of students is a major focus for this Programme; a student who is able to develop strategies to deal with teenage life will be more equipped to succeed academically and holistically. This is value for money in any currency.’

In terms of the monetary value of Jigsaw, each year group’s resource costs less than 2 days’ supply cover. Can any PSHE teacher plan 36 lessons in less than 2 days and ensure they meet statutory requirements, fit into a spiral curriculum, have summative assessment tasks etc?

We strive to keep the cost of Jigsaw as affordable as possible for every school.

Jigsaw 11-16 builds on the Jigsaw 3-12 Programme, offering a holistic PSHE learning journey spanning the pupil’s school career, with a progressive, spiral curriculum that addresses real needs in a rapidly changing world.

Every aspect of the PSHE Association’s programme of study (2020) is covered in Jigsaw. The mapping documents (which are in the Jigsaw 11-16 website Community Area, once you have purchased Jigsaw 11-16) state clearly how Jigsaw covers the outcomes in the Programme of Study, as well as how Jigsaw places a lot of emphasis on emotional literacy and personal development, more than is suggested in the Programme of Study.

The Jigsaw snapshot, supplied in the Materials (Launch Pack) and downloadable with Inspection materials, shows a brief overview of the content covered in Jigsaw and the documents relating to Ofsted and statutory status guidance give more detail as to Jigsaw’s coverage.

That said, we believe it is vitally important for teachers to tailor their delivery of Jigsaw 11-16 to the needs of their students and there is flexibility built into the jigsaw Programmes to allow this to happen.

The Jigsaw team are constantly monitoring the changing world of PSHE and Health & Well-being coverage and anything new which appears in the curriculum is quickly addressed through the supportive Community Area.

No – Jigsaw 11-16 has been written to meet the teaching and learning needs in many different types of schools, and schools only need to buy the resources for the pupils in their school.

Jigsaw 11-16 was co-produced with teachers and students in 30+ schools over 2 years to ensure it works for all teachers. It does not matter if they are specialists or not, as Jigsaw 11-16 has been written with the needs of non-specialists in mind.

The detailed and flexible lesson plans (including all teaching resources) can be adapted according to the structure of the timetable and also model best practice, regardless of who is teaching the lessons.

The lesson plan is a brief summary with the lesson itself being structured and delivered through a detailed slide show presentation with teacher notes provided and activities and assessment resources included for printing when necessary. This means preparation time is kept to a minimum, allowing teachers to use their time to tailor and differentiate the lessons rather than planning them from scratch and searching for teaching resources.

We believe Jigsaw PSHE lessons are examples of good practice while enabling teaching staff to use their professional judgement and creativity to best meet the needs of students. Teachers are, of course, free to add to the lesson plans and resources to suit students and staff, whilst maintaining the fidelity of the Jigsaw Programme.

In order for the Jigsaw Programme to have the most positive impact in school, it is important that teachers adhere to the philosophy and structure of the programme. Whilst there is room for flexibility in the structure (as you will have seen in the way the lessons are planned), and it is vital to meet student needs, it is crucial that teachers use the tried-and-tested methods and ideas so they can note real impact.

We have produced lesson plans that can be used in a range of settings and using a variety of teaching models to suit all needs, and carefully considered how learning happens and the structures necessary to optimise this.

Jigsaw 11-16 is a universal programme and will be relevant to most students. If students require more input on a specific topic, the school setting will need to provide or suggest targeted support services appropriate to need.

In addition to this, Jigsaw 11-16 can help by signalling further information and, as such, each lesson ends with signposting: the final slide of each lesson features links to useful websites that are relevant to the messages of the lesson. Please feel free to provide students with your own list of additional websites and/or services available in your local area.

The issues covered in Jigsaw lessons may well lead to discussions which disclose or hint at students’ needs that should be addressed and referred into the pastoral system.

We believe mindfulness practice has significant benefits to mental health, self-esteem and the capacity to learn.

Supported by many years’ experience in teaching and psychotherapy, and through seeing the tangible positive impact this makes on children experiencing Jigsaw 3-11, the practice of mindfulness, even just a few minutes each Jigsaw lesson, can have real benefits.

Students learn to become aware of their thought processes and emotional states in the present moment without judgement, and the ability to do this needs to be practised regularly.

The Jigsaw Approach is underpinned by mindfulness philosophy. This aims to empower students to learn now and improve their life-chances later, and to help them develop personal awareness. Mindfulness practice enables them to observe their own thoughts and feelings, regulate them and make conscious decisions about their learning, behaviour and lives.

It helps them to remain focused on the present moment and thrive in it.

Feedback from schools has shown that although students are unused to the practice at first, they soon see the value of it and willingly use the techniques to help them in other areas of their learning as well as in life outside school, having significant positive impact on learning and mental health.

The overall price depends on how many year groups you need to fit your school and regional structure.

For full pricing information on Jigsaw 11-16 click here.

When you have placed your order, we will issue you with your login details as soon as possible. So, usually within 2 working days you will have access to the materials.

We encourage you to read through the ‘Getting Started’ section and explore the training materials in the Community Area of the website before you start using any of the resources. There is a lot of useful information available on the website to help get Jigsaw 11-16 off to a positive start across your school.

Our handy Snapshot document shows what is taught in each year group.

It also demonstrates progression and the spiral curriculum, with concepts and topics introduced from age 11 and repeated and built upon as students progress through the year groups.

If you already have Jigsaw 11-16, the Snapshot document is included in your ‘Launch Pack’ which you can download after you log into the Jigsaw 11-16 website.

If you haven’t got Jigsaw yet, you will find the Snapshot included with our free sample resources, which can request here.

The lessons in Jigsaw 11-16 are mindful of many different learning styles, so there will be plenty of opportunities for students to learn in different ways, for example, in groups, individually, in pairs, using different media, and for different purposes.

It is possible to differentiate the materials further because all year groups study the same Puzzle (unit) at the same time (but at their own level).

This means that you can pull up onto your computer screen, the relevant lessons for that unit from different year groups and thereby select learning activities that will best suit your students’ needs/abilities.

In Jigsaw PSHE, mindfulness is developed in two ways:
Through the mindfulness practice in each Piece (lesson). This consists of breathing techniques, awareness exercises, and visualisations.

Through the unfolding of mindfulness philosophy within the lessons. For example, this might be explaining how the brain works, how thought-processes happen and the potential consequences of this; it would then explain how the mind can be best used in the context of whatever PSHE content is being covered, for instance, when making decisions about relationships or using alcohol.

There is a short mindfulness practice script included with each lesson plan for the teacher to read. To make this even easier, there is also an audio file embedded into one of the early slides in every lesson’s slide show presentation.

We know this approach is invaluable, so we invite you to try it and encourage your students to persevere and practise this to enable the positive impact it can have.

We have produced a short video that explains how and why mindfulness is used in Jigsaw lessons, which you will also find in the Community Area.

This is to explain to students and staff why there is mindfulness practice in Jigsaw lessons, and may be used to explain the concept to parents/carers too.

Jigsaw 11-16 contains inclusive Relationship, Sex and Health Education, within the whole-school Programme. There is a mapping document showing how Jigsaw meets the outcomes, in the Inspection Materials and of course in the schools Community Area. In this you can see how different aspects of relationships education is included across all six Puzzles.

One of the six Puzzles (units) in Jigsaw 11-16 is called ‘Relationships’ and is dedicated to exploring the relationships we have with ourselves and with others.

Indeed, the relationship with self (self-awareness, self-identity, innate qualities and skills of resilience, self-esteem) is the vital starting point, which has an impact on everything else, from decisions regarding health to relationships chosen.

Positive and successful relationships with others stem from this initial starting point, including others in friendships, family, communities and as a global citizen. Skills of empathy, intimacy, communication, negotiation and conflict-resolution are enabled through the whole of Jigsaw from ages 3 up to 16, as appropriate at different ages and stages of development.

The Jigsaw Sex Education Pieces (lessons) aim to give students their entitlement to information about puberty, human reproduction, sexual health, consent as appropriate to their age and stage of development.

It is treated in a matter-of-fact manner to allay embarrassment and fear. We do not believe it is controversial. It is flexible enough for a school to ensure that the material fits their ethos and values.

There is a strong safeguarding element to this work. The materials in Jigsaw are original so all schools are advised to check them carefully to ensure they fit appropriately with the philosophy and ethos of their setting.

Schools with religious character will obviously need to check their own diocesan/organisation’s advice during this process.

There are myriad ways in which Jigsaw, the mindful approach to PSHE, helps students learn about, improve and sustain good mental health, and these lessons more than cover the requirements set out in the latest government guidance on teaching about mental health.

Jigsaw contains lessons explaining mental illness e.g. eating disorders/self-harm etc but chooses also to emphasise how to gain and maintain positive mental health.

For example, each lesson is represented on a mapping document which states which of the five emotional literacy domains are contributed to, so the purpose of that lesson is clear, in terms of student development and not just their ‘knowledge learning’. This document can be found in the Community area under the ‘Documents’ tile.

Confidence in oneself, awareness of self-identity and authentic self-esteem – the backbones of good mental health – are sometimes difficult for students to develop. However, a tried-and-tested method is used in Jigsaw and is proving to be invaluable when helping students to become more successful in all aspects of their lives, not just as learners.

Mindfulness philosophy and practice (through which students learn to be aware of their thoughts and feelings in the present moment – without judgement and to direct their minds to focus on whatever they choose to focus on) is included at the start of each Jigsaw lesson and uses visualisation and breathing techniques. This philosophy is woven through many lessons to enhance student’s understanding and how it assists positively in real-life situations.

The Jigsaw Approach is underpinned by mindfulness and this aims to empower students to learn now and improve their life-chances later, and to help them develop personal awareness. Mindfulness practice enables them to observe their own thoughts and feelings, regulate them safely and make conscious decisions about their learning, behaviour and lives.

It helps them to remain focused on the present moment and thrive in it, allaying and managing stress and anxiety and helping grow gratitude and appreciation, a positive psychology towards life.

The latest guidance recommends that schools need to teach social and emotional skills. These skills are too important to only be learned by osmosis, which is why Jigsaw 3-16 develops them in a structured and developmental way throughout every age group.

A programme like Jigsaw is so helpful to schools, because it sets out exactly how students learn best and how to teach skills that lead to better social, emotional and mental health, which in turn builds their capacity to learn.

Schools can be confident that a focus on well-being and mental health not only enables them to provide healthy and happy school environments for students and staff, and prepare the citizens of tomorrow with sound character and values, but also directly supports their more immediate mission, which is shared by Jigsaw: the promotion of effective learning.

Jigsaw 11-16 resources can assist schools in their delivery of a robust and meaningful careers strategy. Indeed, the Puzzle ‘Dreams and Goals’ holds most of the explicit lessons on finances, where it looks at enterprise and fundraising, aspirations, jobs and careers.

For all year groups, learning intentions are focused on perseverance, achieving goals and thinking about what needs to happen now so that things can be achieved in the future. Equally, the emphasis is on jobs and careers, and deciding on what is important in life.

Jigsaw 11-16 is mapped against the eight Benchmarks of good career guidance, developed by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, to set a standard of excellence.

Jigsaw integrates numerous areas for student development through the entire scheme of learning.

These have been mapped across the year groups and across each of the Puzzles (units) to ensure that there is full coverage of development opportunities through the entire scheme – featuring in every Jigsaw Piece (lesson).

Elements of each Jigsaw lesson will support student development of the emotional literacy domains: self-awareness, social skills, empathy, motivation and managing their feelings.

There are numerous opportunities in Jigsaw for teaching and learning about financial capability and economic well-being. The Puzzle ‘Dreams and Goals’ holds most of the explicit lessons on finances, where it looks at enterprise and fundraising, aspirations, jobs and careers.

For all year groups, learning intentions are focused on perseverance, achieving goals and thinking about what needs to happen now so that things can be better in the future. Equally, the emphasis is on jobs and careers, and deciding on what is important in life.

Your school can provide a snapshot overview which shows what you will learn from age 11 to age 16 in the Jigsaw 11-16 programme. This Snapshot is supplied to your school in their Jigsaw Launch Pack and is also in our Inspection Materials (for schools that have not yet purchased Jigsaw 11-16).

At Jigsaw, we believe that the practice of mindfulness, where students learn to be in the present moment without judgement, needs to be taught in every Jigsaw lesson – through the mindfulness practice time, through visualisation and breathing techniques.

The Jigsaw Approach is underpinned by mindfulness and this aims to empower your learning, and improve your life-chances later, and to help you develop personal awareness.

Mindfulness practice simply enables you to observe your own thoughts and feelings, regulate them and make conscious decisions about your learning, behaviour and life. It helps you to remain focused on the present moment and thrive in that moment.