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

See how people lived through time - what they wore, the toys they played with and how they managed their household chores. Find out about the history of the house, the landscaping of its estate and enjoy the beautiful Picture Room. Free entry.

Our exhibitions include Dolls, Art, Victorian School Room, Costume and Bristol at School.

The Jodrell Bank Observatory is part of the University of Manchester's School of Physics and Astronomy. It is dominated by the monumental Lovell Telescope, the first large fully steerable radio telescope in the world - which still operates as the 3rd largest on the planet.

Take advantage of the many activities offered at Grendon's countryside location. Flexible accommodation, homemade food and a friendly atmosphere make it the perfect place for a residential visit for early years upwards.

The Old Skating Rink Gallery has permanent displays and changing exhibitions of decorative arts and crafts from South Asia, from the collection of the SADACC Trust.

M33 is one of only three British First World War warships to survive and funding is being sought to open her to the public for the first time.

An ideal way to teach skiing and boarding to beginners, or challenge pros. Our revolving slopes mean you can do turn after turn, forgetting the hassle of lift queues, crowds and bad weather. Suitable for 5 year olds upwards, all equipment and instruction included in the cost

Housed on three floors in a 19th century granary building in the centre of Okehampton, the museum tells the story of how people have lived, worked and played on and around Dartmoor through the centuries. It shows how the moors have shaped their lives just as their work has shaped the moorland.

An inspiring, surprising, family-friendly, free attraction in South London’s Forest Hill.

Come on board. Share the secret of living under the sea

Visit HMS Alliance, newly restored after a £7m refit and ready for patrol! Assault all of your sense by walking on board HMS Alliance, the only remaining WW2 era British ocean-going submarine.

One of the finest local history collections in Hampshire, exploring 100 million years of history Displays include prehistoric tools, Roman pottery reconstruction, Saxon burials, the Battle of Alton 1643, the notorious tale of Sweet Fanny Adams and Hop picking and brewing.

Jane Austen Trail at the Curtis Museum

Discover the geology, archaeology and history of the Peak District through seven time zones, experience the Wonders of the Peak Time Tunnel and step into a Victorian scientists study in the Buxton Museum.

Education sessions in the museum

Visit a thriving colony of grey seals that have been breeding on the Lincolnshire coast since the 1970s. A number of different habitats to explore and plenty of wildlife to discover.

Award-winning museum of Great Yarmouth life

Set in a beautifully preserved Victorian curing works, Time and Tide tells the story of Great Yarmouth from its Ice Age origins to the present day. Discover the town's rich maritime heritage and its development as a popular seaside resort. Hear gripping tales of wreck and rescue and meet colourful characters who made their living from the sea. 

Make a voyage of discovery about Gosport in this exciting display, with objects, display panels and set pieces which trace the story of Gosport through the centuries.

The complex contains a state of the art gym, dance studios, spin room, 6 court sports hall, squash courts, swimming pool, function room, bar and cinema. Parking is available in the Leisure Centre Car parks at the front and rear of the building. And FREE parking is available in the Weston Favell Shopping Centre for up to 4 hours.

Northcroft Leisure Centre and Lido offers a 25m swimming pool with teaching pool and in summer a 75m outdoor pool and an outdoor teaching pool

There is also a 63 station gym, Group fitness studio, 6 court sports hall, sauna, and 2 squash courts. Plus a great multi level adventure soft play area for the younger ones.

Whether you want to swim, work out in our gym or take one of our sports workout classes, we've got everything on offer at Stourport Sports Centre.

Classes

Aquatic Fitness and Aqua Zumba, Studio Classes, Trampolining

​Plus Tumble Fun for Under 5s

Children

25 metre pool - Beach pool with water features - including jacuzzi - Flume - Teaching pool - Gym - Creche - Cravings Cafe - Learn to be a Lifeguard

Situated in the stunning grounds of Bedford Park, boasting the main competition pool, the diving pool with varying high boards and a beginners' teaching pool.

Robinson Pool is Bedfordshire’s premier swimming facility; home to Bedford’s largest pool, and is situated in the stunning grounds of Bedford Park.

Facilities include: a state of the art gym, dance studio, main pool, teaching/toddler pool, turkish hot rooms, sauna, steam room and table tennis.

Our family sessions are fun packed with waves, flume rides, inflatables, floats and music. For the parent and toddler sessions we have baby waves and pool toys for a fun toddler friendly swim.

Comprising an ice rink, a 25 metre, deck level, pool, climbing facility, 5-a-side outdoor football pitches with floodlighting and a state of the art gym.

The striking modern structure of the Link Centre houses an ice rink (recognised as a centre of excellence for both figure skating and ice hockey), with penguin skating aids available for kids.

Lodmoor Country Park is just a 15 minute stroll from Weymouth Esplanade and through Greenhill Gardens.

You'll discover a host of independent attractions providing something of interest to entertain everyone. Access to most of the park is free and you can enjoy the numerous sport and recreation areas, wander around the footpaths and nature reserve or enjoy a picnic or barbecue.

Uttoxeter Leisure Centre closed its doors at the end of 2013 and is currently undergoing a large full site redevelopment.

Situated close to the centre of Thrapston, The Nene Centre has a wide range of leisure facilities for all the family including a swimming pool, 2 fitness studios, a cafeteria and an air-conditioned gym.  

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