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

The 17th-century Queen’s House represents a turning point in English architecture. It was originally the home of Charles I's queen, Henrietta Maria. It now showcases the Museum's outstanding fine art collection and provides a unique and beautiful environment for its exhibitions.

Schools at Royal Museums Greenwich

Totnes Museum is contained within an authentic Elizabethan Merchant's House, built around 1575 for the Kelland family. The house retains many features dating back to the Elizabethan period and has been painstakingly restored. 

Collections, dating from 5000BC, relate to the social, cultural, economic history of Totnes, include a room dedicated to the life and work of Charles Babbage.

The remains of the bath house of Ravenglass Roman fort, established in AD 130, are among the tallest Roman structures surviving innorthern Britain: the walls stand almost 4 metres (13 feet) high.

Bursting with history, art from all ages and a first hand glimpse into life on a working farmyard, plus so much more. A school trip to Chatsworth makes for a rewarding day of learning for pupils and teachers alike.

There's so much to see and do

A fine example of a 16th/17th century house, the historic Merchant's

A must for kids studying local history, a visit will let you help out with their schoolwork and spend some quality time together. Special quizzes and hands-on trails take them through Bunyan's amazing life at their own pace.

147 acres of lakes, parklands, over 35 rides and attractions including Rocky River Falls, our famous Waterchute, Train, Double Pirate ship and largest free playground in the UK offering a perfect day out for young and old.

A stone-built causeway, where the road from the south crossed the Vallum earthwork on its way to Benwell fort.

Great indoor play structure for the smalls to rampage around.

For schools and groups we offer discounted rates and exclusive hire. We can cater for sleepovers and to find out more just give us a call.

Remains of a wealthy Augustinian priory, originally founded at Portchester: once a famous place of pilgrimage. Only part of the refectory wall survives.

Strategically placed astride the London Road, guarding an important crossing of the River Medway, this imposing fortress has a complex history of destruction and rebuilding. Today it stands as a proud reminder of the history of Rochester along with the cathedral and cobbled steets.

The delightful Row Houses at Row 111 and the Old Merchant’s House are rare remnants of Great Yarmouth’s original distinctive ‘Rows’ which were a network of narrow alleyways linking Yarmouth’s three main thoroughfares.

Facilities include a leisure pool with beach entry, adventure soft play, sports hall, pre school activities, climbing wall and roller skating.

Roman Alcester is the exciting exhibition interpreting and displaying objects from Alcester's Roman past.

Alcester is one of the most investigated Roman small towns in the country, with over 100 archaeological digs in the last 80 years.

A fine example of a small, well preserved manorial gatehouse dating from the 14th century.

Steeton Hall Gateway is one surviving element of a medieval manorial complex. The solar, or private apartment, and some later buildings also still exist, although the latter are on private land and are not open to the public.

Extensive earthworks marking the site of an 11th century motte and bailey castle.

The earthworks forming Deddington Castle lie in a rural location to the south-east of the village of Deddington.

We have an indoor area containing slides, ball pools and ball cannons and also an outdoor area complete with swings, frame, roundabout and sit and ride cars etc. We will soon be adding a traversing wall to the outside area. We have full catering facilities Serving tasty food and drinks.

During the 18th and 19th centuries Portsmouth Royal Dockyard was the greatest industrial complex in the world, employing over 25,000 workers. The Dockyard Apprentice tells the story of Dockyard life in 1911, when the great Dreadnought battleships were being constructed.

1,000 acres of parkland plus special attractions including miniature railway, Woodland Adventure Playground, dress up and games room, woodland walks, lakes and follies to explore, as well as an entertaining guided tour around the house itself.

St Nicholas Priory was founded in 1087 and was home to Benedictine monks for over 400 years. In 1536, like other monasteries, it was closed and partly demolished by King Henry VIII.

The best known of many Dartmoor prehistoric settlements, Grimspound dates from the late Bronze Age. The remains of 24 houses enclosed within a stone wall, and further houses outside the enclosure, lie in a fold in the hills about 450 metres (1,500 feet) above sea level, between Hookney and Hameldown tors.

The Climbing section runs climbing sessions for ages 6-18, and we have a great kid friendly ethos to accompany this healthy activity.

Soft play with kiddies' rock climbing wall, adventure play, and toddlers' area with soft structure, to name but a few features. Everything is specifically designed to enhance motor neurone skills in the different age groups.

The Great North Museum: Hancock will take you on an exciting journey through the story of our planet and its people. The new Museum is bursting with displays, interactives and a planetarium.

A great soft play area for children aged up to 9years, available for the older ones is a fantastic LaserQuest area!

Space Play is ideal for ages up to a maximum of 9 years, by which point LaserQuest might be more appealing! Spaceplay offers a multilevel adventure playframe with ramps, tunnels, slides, balls, viewing porthole & a wobbler seesaw all set to a clean spaceage theme.

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