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

Glorious beach with dramatic sand dunes, surrounded by sweeping coastal pinewoods

Red squirrels, natterjacks, prehistoric footprints and miles of coastal walks are just waiting to be discovered - part of Formby's amazing and ever changing landscape. 

Enjoy breathtaking sea views or a picnic; head out on a bracing coastal walk or find out about Formby's fascinating coastal history with links to asparagus growing and the early days of aviation.

Nature reserve with bird hides, a visitor centre with wildlife explorer backpacks and picnic area. Free to visit.

These packs include trail notes, games and spotter sheets with different wildlife to look out for. Kids can follow the trail through the grassy glades, woods and pond at their own pace.

Come on board and put yourself in the shoes of the crew who sailed this world-famous ship around the world over a century ago.

Majestic views across mid Wales, and a 72m high dam holding back 50,000 megalitres of water, makes this one of Severn Trent Water's most spectacular visitor sites.

Multi level adventure play zone with loads of features with separate age zones for under 5s and under 12s. They also offer a variety of themed parties for kids, including Laser Storm which can also be done Pay and Play.

The facilities include a main play frame complete with slides, ball pool, ball cannons and sports activity area. New management for 2014 so worth a revisit.

Found deep beneath the limestone hills on the edge of the historic Derbyshire spa town of Buxton. This secret underground world once echoed to the sound of a glacial river that scoured the rock for millions of years.

BedZed (Beddington Zero Energy Development)is the UK's first and largest carbon neutral eco-community. Situated in the South London borough of Sutton, BedZed provides 100 comfortable and futuristically-styled homes with community facilities and workspace for another 100 people, without contributing any extra CO2 to the atmosphere.

Fascinating displays and a few hands on experiments inspired by local mathematical physicist George Green, housed in his families' working windmill. Really interesting stuff plus lots of community and family events like seasonal crafts and cooking classes.

3 hectares of green space, with a children's play area, sports areas and a park for skating and BMX. Their latest feature is the waterfall, which is lit up at night.The vast yet friendly Kidwells Park's latest feature, The Waterfall, features a bridge, ornamental planting and is lit up at night! It's an enchanting little stop on the way through, but there's actually plenty to do here too! 

Daventry Country Park was created in 1968 as part of the nationwide Countryside Act. This movement sought to provide communities with green spaces to use and enjoy. The reservoir (130 acres of open water) was dug out and completed in 1804, taking eight years to finish.

Offers crazy golf and children's play area for 3-12 year olds as well as natural green space and a cafe.

Welcoming over 400,000 visitors through its doors every year, the V&A Museum of Childhood in London's Bethnal Green houses the Victoria and Albert Museum's collection of childhood-related objects and artefacts, spanning the 1600s to the present day.

Nearly 350 heactares of ancient woodland that is full of butterflies and moths. 2 trails have been set up so that everyone can enjoy them. Information boards along the way provide details of the species that you may see.

Limavady Museum's collections reflect both the local and social history of Limavady as well as the rural and industrial heritage of the Roe Valley.

Situated in the Tees valley close to Middlesbrough, Nature’s World is “the North of England’s pioneering eco-experience”. Opening in 1992, we are a thriving visitor attraction, training centre and educational facility with over 29,000 visitors every year.

An enormous green space with woodland children's play area, a selection of way marked nature trails with panoramic views, hidden sculptures and 1,200 rare and exotic trees in the Arboretum! Plus park cafe, picnic spots and BBQs.

A Palladian Palace in the Norfolk countryside

Surrounded by 3,000 acres of rolling parkland, Holkham Hall is one the finest examples of Palladian architecture in England. 

A great little local museum with plenty to discover such as a panoramic view of Victorian Louth, the story of the Ghost of the Green Lady, rock and fossils, plus 200,000 years of local archaeology!

Louth Museum will take you on an amazing journey of discovery, with several galleries, plus a courtyard to explore.

Unspoilt and fascinating medieval manor house, still a relaxed family home. Located in a green haven of riverside meadows and woodland.

Established in 1980 Britain’s most experienced summer holiday operator for children and teenagers aged 3-17 years. With a host of exciting and adventurous activities to choose from.

Day camps every half term and school holiday, including specialist courses, residential bank holiday weekends and school activity days set in the heart of the Surrey Hills. London and local transport available.

Peaceful and attractive riverside park with lots of green space for informal play plus equipped play areas for toddlers and juniors, zip slide and BMX track.

On the quiet banks of the River Wye and offers tennis courts and a putting green, a rounders pitch and a charming foot bridge over to the historic Castle Green and Castle Pool.

The original Iron Age Hillfort defences were built at Bratton Camp over 2000 years ago. These earthworks protected a settlement containing round houses, granaries, stores and workshops. The design and construction showed the effectiveness of the hillfort to its enemies.

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