PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education)

PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education)

Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE) can mean all things to all people, but in a positive way. It enables schools to analyse what they offer to students and to use PSHE programmes to provide the final rounded curriculum. This is not easy as PSHE is not so much a ‘subject’ as a group of learning experiences that need careful binding together lest they become amorphous.

PSHE at its best brings emotional literacy, social skills and healthy attitudes to the core studies of the history, economic state and social make-up of the local and wider community

Ofsted has praised some schools’ multi-faceted approaches to creating a caring and coherent school and reaching out to the local communities, and some schools for delivering sex and relations programmes effectively, and some for their commitment to equality and diversity. Visits and activities outside the classroom can act not only as focal points for a school’s work but as catalysts to reinforce the messages contained in the courses.

In some ways it does not matter where the visit is to. The importance is how well they are planned, the matching of the experiences to the aim, and the enthusiasm staff and students bring to it.

So, typically learning for PSHE takes place whilst undertaking other activities. Here we list a range of ideas which the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom suggest as activities which can engender excellent experiences to benefit students in this area.

Attitudes and values

  • Talking about an object in a museum, or visiting a place of worship can give insight into issues, other cultures or periods of history.
  • Creating your own work of art can give rise to explorations and understandings about the world and our place in it
  • A visit to a farm can stimulate debate about animal husbandry and food production, and provide a context for designing a Fairtrade enterprise.
  • Adventure education can provide opportunities to show different skills, such as leadership or teamwork.
  • Seeing a play on the stage can bring a text alive and stimulate conversations about the values and actions of the characters.
  • A residential can provide a different setting for conversations about what we believe and what we think is important.

Confidence and resilience

  • Learning a new skill, such as map-reading or how to look at a painting, builds independence and confidence.
  • Adventure education enables young people to test themselves in various ways and develop new aptitudes and dispositions.
  • For young people with disabilities, a residential trip can foster independence and give them a rare opportunity to build close relationships outside the family.
  • Planning their own experience or activity helps young people to gain confidence in a wide range of project planning skills.  It can develop resilience in dealing with conflicting opinions, and in finding solutions to project challenges.

Communication and social skills

  • A drama workshop requires teamwork and helps, to strengthen friendship groups.
  • A residential experience enables staff to get to know young people, and young people get to know each other, discovering different aspects of each others’ personalities.
  • An experience, such as visiting a power station, stimulates discussion and encourages young people to share ideas and opinions.
  • A musical performance gives young people a feeling of achievement and a sense of personal success.
  • Young people planning their own programme or activities gives them voice and choice and ensures their active involvement.
  • Undertaking voluntary work in the community gives young people a sense of making a positive contribution.

Knowledge of the world beyond the classroom

  • Young people who live in the country may encounter a town or city for the first time or vice versa.
  • Environmentalists, town planners, artists, curators, scientists, politicians, musicians, dancers and actors can all act as new and powerful role models.
  • Going to an arts venue can encourage young people to try the experience again.
  • Recording the reminiscences of older people gives young people new insight into their community, and brings historical events alive.
  • Going to a local civic institution like a town hall builds knowledge of how communities function.
  • A school or youth council enables young people to learn about and participate in democratic processes
  • Visiting the library enables young people to find out what they have to offer – apart from lending books.
  • Children and young people with profound learning difficulties and disabilities may not often experience visits to galleries, concerts or the countryside because of the difficulties of transport and personal care which parents have to consider and cannot always manage alone. Educational visits may provide the only means for these young people to have such experiences.

Physical development and well-being

  • Visiting a park, field studies centre or making a school garden all provide physical activity and develop an interest in the environment.
  • Participating in recreational activities help to develop physical well-being and the growth of confidence.
  • Many learning outside the classroom activities can also provide attractive alternatives to competitive sports and can lead to a lifelong interest in healthy physical recreation.

Emotional spiritual and moral development

  • An integrated dance workshop with able bodied and disabled participants can help young people empathise and develop awareness of disability.
  • Activities in the natural environment can encourage a feeling of awe and wonder, and an appreciation of silence and solitude.
  • Visiting a place of worship develops an understanding of religion, reflection and spirituality.
  • Engaging with young people in conversations about values and beliefs, right and wrong, good and bad supports their moral development.

Main organisations:

PSHE Association

National Centre for Citizenship and the Law

Inclusion: NASEN

Venues for this Curriculum

Cambridge University run 10 museums around Cambridge:

An exciting, participation fantasy game allowing players to be the space hero that they have always wanted to be, in a safe environment. 6 zones on 3 levels: awesome!

Motoring experiences up to 40mph on their 300m outdoor circuit. The minimum age for driving is 8 years old plus minimum height of 1.2 meters.

Northamptonshire's premier aviation museum....Museum of the Year & Best Exhibition in the Renaissance Heritage Awards 2007, Highly Commended in the Northants Heritage Awards 2011 & 2012 for Best Special Project....

This peaceful ten acre garden occupies a hillside position extending down from the 17th century manor house, constructed of mellow Northamptonshire stone.

Landscaped on different levels, it comprises a series of distinctive smaller gardens, providing variety and interest throughout the season, and enhanced by flowing streams, fountains and ponds.

There are lots of ways to get kids involved in climbing at the Pinnacle. We welcome all from absolute beginners just looking for a taste of climbing, to expert climbers working towards national competitions. With sessions for all ages and abilities, please get in touch for more information.

Our ceramics painting studio is just the place to enjoy creative time with your family. It's a fantastic environment for children and adults to express their creative talent and to produce something completely unique to treasure forever. Booking recommended during weekends and children's holidays

A huge ancient forest, dating right back to Roman times

It is home to the Tree Top Way, an amazing walkway in the canopy of the trees. It also has a play area, cycle trails, some amazing ancient trees, and lots of space to explore!

This former Northampton to Market Harborough Railway is now a car free ‘linear’ park surrounded by beautiful scenery and rich in natural and historical heritage. It provides a 14 mile long walking, cycling and in parts horse riding route. The stone surfaced path follows the old railway track bed and is suitable for both hybrid style and mountain bikes.

Northamptonshire Archives hold a range of documents covering the history of our county from Norman times to the present day. The aim of the Heritage Education Service is to make this information accessible to school children of all ages.

We work in schools and at special events throughout the county and offer taught sessions using original documents.  

A bowling centre located located in Sixfields Leisure, Weedon Road. We have 26 modern fully computerised lanes, American Pool tables, and Amusement Arcades. There is also the Beach Road Cafe Bar for some delicious meal and snack options.

The Northampton and Lamport Railway is a steam and heritage diesel operated tourist railway located in the Northamptonshire countryside just 5 miles from Northampton, within easy reach of the motorway network.

At Masjid Umar we welcome visitors from all over the world. We also work closely with local schools and organisations.

Masjid Umar provides a range of education for both young and old, including:

  • Quran
  • Arabic
  • Tajweed
  • Fiqh
  • Hadith

The museum opened in 1992 houses paintings on Sikh history ranging from portraits of the Sikh Gurus, the Sikh scholars, paintings relating to Sikh rule in the Panjab in the 19th Century and the persecution of the Sikhs.

The UK's Only Main Line Heritage Railway

The Great Central Railway is Britain's only double track main line steam railway. Train rides are available every weekend and Bank Holiday throughout the year and daily in May through to September.

Belgrave Hall provides an oasis of peace and quiet in a busy city.

Housed within the enormous Earlswood Lakes Craft Centre this is a child friendly pottery craft studio who will assist you in your artistic creations! Pottery painting, decopatch and baby prints.

Evocatively sited amid the East Kent marshes, Richborough is perhaps the most symbolically important of all Roman sites in Britain, witnessing both the beginning and almost the end of Roman rule here. Explore the huge stone walls which mark the site of this Saxon Shore fortress and take a look at the fascinating museum.

For a fascinating day out on the Kent coast look no further than Deal Castle.

Built by the order of King Henry VIII it is one of the finest Tudor artillery castles in England, and among the earliest and most elaborate of a chain of coastal forts, which also includes Calshot, Camber, Walmer and Pendennis Castles.

The EARM is a living heritage site based at Chappel railway station. We are situated on the edge of breathtaking Constable Country and adjacent to one of the largest railway viaducts in Eastern England.

Our Ada Cole visitor centre in Essex has a veritable feast of activities on offer. From horse owners and Redwings guardians to animal lovers and members of our Adoption Club, we have something for everyone!

A pretty four-arched late medieval bridge, spanning the River Kennett on the old route from Cambridge to Bury St Edmunds.

The bridge is built of flint and stone rubble, with plain parapets, and the edges of the arches are made of brick. Pointed arch shapes like these were constructed using wooden formers to support and shape them, and were not used after the 15th century. 

A pretty thatched 13th century chapel with lancet windows.

There is no documentary evidence for the foundation of the Chapel of St James the Apostle at Lindsey.

The historic racing town of Newmarket in Suffolk is home to the National Horseracing museum, housed in the buildings that were once known as the Subscription Rooms which were a focal point of Newmarket and consequently are steeped in history

Retired jockeys and trainers staff the museum, dedicated to horse racing history.

Lydia Eva is the last steam drifter and the last boat to have been constructed in the ship yard in Kings Lynn. Over 1000 of these fishing vessels worked out of Yarmouth in the 1920s.

On-board displays tell the story of the Lydia Eva and the East Coast herring fishing industry.

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