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

Relive the RAF's role in the First World War!

This world-class collection of over 100 aircraft and aviation memorabilia offers a fun, educational day out for all ages. Fuel their imaginations and let them navigate their way through the history of the RAF and aviation.

An urban oasis for wildlife and people

London Wetland Centre brings the countryside to London and was voted the UK's Favourite Nature Reserve by the public in the Countryfile Magazine Awards 2012. Although close to the heart of the capital it is a haven of tranquility for both wildlife and people. 

Love Nature, Love Pensthorpe

Norfolk's Best Visitor Attraction Winner 2014!

See how firefighting has developed over the last 340 years

Built in 1820, Winchester House on Southwark Bridge Road was home and workplace to London's chief fire officers between 1878 and 1937.

This building now houses one of the most comprehensive collections of firefighting equipment and memorabilia in the country.

Connecting schools and young people to Parliament

Whether it be to understand the process of law making, how a general election works, what your MP does, or simply to visit the historic and beautiful Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin-designed Palace of Westminster, the Education team have a vast array of opportunities and resources to offer you.

Visit Parliament

A fascinating insight into Grimsby's maritime history - Our Heritage

The museum is suitable for all ages, we also have an easy access route. Many interactive displays and get dressed up as a fisherman or apprentice boy.

Social Circus is one of the most significant developments in the world of circus in the past twenty years. The impact of circus learning and participation on marginalised and at risk young people has been witnessed by circus trainers, youth workers, social workers and young people themselves. 

With splendour, colour and glorious craftsmanship, enter the world of Scotland's Renaissance Kings & Queens

Step into a world of plots, passion, intrigue and high fashion with the people of the palace.

Stirling Castle is a great symbol of Scottish independence & a source of national pride. Knights, nobles and foreign ambassadors once flocked to the Royal Court at Stirling Castle to revel in the castle's grandeur.

Every year we engage thousands of people of all ages with their local environment where they make a positive difference to their community.

We manage 26 nature reserves around the county totaling almost 3,500 acres. We carry out conservation projects to create and restore habitats for wildlife, to ensure that the county's wild creatures have se

The Shropshire Wildlife Trust's aim is to give all children opportunities to enjoy being outside and discovering wildlife, so although the base is at the visitor centre we operate many activities in woodland nearby.

The Saturday craft fairs at our Visitor Centre are free to enter and include activities for children. We also offer a weekday range of arts and crafts workshops for all.

Saving Species from Extinction

We work with some of the most endangered animals across the world in countries such as Galapagos, India, Madagascar and the Caribbean Islands, taking action within the animal’s habitats and securing their future through captive breeding or research within our wildlife park.

Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve is a peaceful place, with a rich variety of wildlife in its woodland, fen and reed bed habitats. Located in the beautiful Wensum Valley, the reserve is nationally and internationally recognised as important for its wildlife.

Our work at Shaldon Wildlife Trust is vital to the long-term survival of many animals which are at risk of extinction in their natural habitat.

It offers the visitor real peace and quiet and a chance to escape from it all. A wide range of habitats are on view here, including grassland, heathland and ponds.

Every year thousands of young people take part in the exciting and varied wildlife and environmental education activities offered by the Centre of the Earth.

Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust is the county's leading conservation charity run by local people for the benefit of local wildlife, with over 70 nature reserves - part of a UK network of 47 local Wildlife Trusts working to protect wildlife.

Which Side Will You Choose?

It was Britain's deadliest conflict and one which shaped our modern world. Why did brother take up arms against brother and how did a once all-powerful monarch lose his head to the axeman?

Expect the unexpected. Incredible innovation, devastating loss, remarkable survival and magnificent restoration. All in one place

Being restored to its 18th century beauty, with fascinating statues, follies and temples hidden around every corner of the garden for your students to discover on our Nature Trail, Croome is an incredible place to visit.

A unique Capability Brown Folly Tower in an inspiring location

Graphic displays on three floors, roof viewing platform and Tower Shop are a must for Cotswold visits.

Broadway Tower is one of England's outstanding viewpoints and at 1024 feet (312m) above sea level, it is the second highest point on the Cotswold escarpment. Unrivalled views survey an expanse of a 62 mile radius and as many as 16 Counties.

Enjoy a great day out in Warwickshire at Kenilworth Castle and Elizabethan Garden. One of the largest historic attractions in the West Midlands, the whole family will enjoy exploring the spectacular castle ruins.

The ruins are best known as the home of Robert Dudley, the great love of Queen Elizabeth I. Dudley created an ornate palace here to impress his Queen in 1575.

Futuroscope is the intelligent theme park. It is designed with education in mind and is one of France’s most visited attractions, being based upon multimedia, cinematographic futuroscope and audio-visual techniques. Situated in the heart of the superb Poitou-Charentes region of western France, Futuroscope offers a unique experience for any school group.

Housed in the local library, this collection of local history material contains archaeological finds of national importance. Includes a small and varied collection of British and foreign firearms, swords and daggers, shot and powder flasks and a few pieces of armour. 

Barnet Museum is a free local history Museum in North London run by volunteers.

1086 until the present

A Mill is recorded in the Doomsday Book of 1086 on the site of the The Old Mill. In the 14th Century it had begun to be known as Slaughter Mill and by the 18th Century had become independent of the manorial estate.

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