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

A small sanctuary for exotic animals and birds of prey

Gentleshaw Wildlife Centre is a small sanctuary for unwanted and mistreated exotic animals and birds of prey. Home to a wide variety of creatures including, Owls, Hawks, Snakes, Monkeys, Raccoons, Wild cats, Lizards, Fruit bats, Falcons, Terrapins and much more it's a great afternoon out for the family.

A Bird of Prey Centre with a collection of over 50 hawks, falcons and owls, including some babies! Daily flying displays and a Pets Corner with rabbits, guinea pigs, a donkey, a ferret, sheep and more, to meet and feed.

There is a diverse range of owls such as Boobook owls, African Spotted Eagle owls, and Tawny and Common Owls.

Go wild at Dudley Zoo!

Lions and tigers to snakes and spiders. Come face to face with lemurs as they roam in the trees. Watch amazing Birds of Prey, meet friends on the farm and look out for Ghosts in the Castle! Gift shop, restaurant, face painting and land train.

Mar Lodge Estate occupies nearly 7% of the Cairngorms National Park, covers some of the most remote and scenic wild land in Scotland, including four of the five highest mountains in the UK.

West Affric is a vast and remote expanse of wild land, ideally suited to adventurous walkers who want to get off the beaten track.

It is situated at the western end of Glen Affric - sometimes described as the most beautiful of all the Scottish glens.

Please contact the National Trust for Scotland Ranger Service to find about activities suitable for groups.

A great day out in Bristol, whatever the weather!

Enjoy an amazing world of animals, all within all within our spectacular, award-winning, 12-acre gardens. With over 400 species – including nine animal houses under cover – you can make the most of your visit, whatever the weather.

One of the last few areas of wild land in Scotland, this rugged, remote estate in the West Highlands offers a true wilderness experience. The dramatic landscape encompasses the Five Sisters - a mountain ridge incorporating three Munros - and the Falls of Glomach, Britain's second-highest waterfall, as well as lochs, glens and coastline.

Why not spend a day at the bottom of the sea? Dive into the deep at Deep Sea World with our huge sharks, Stella our stingray, tropical fish and much much more! See the wonders of the deep with our fascinating Sand Tiger sharks, our conger eels and a myriad of marine life as you walk underwater through the UK’s longest underwater tunnel.

Science Oxford's mission is: To encourage the pursuit of science and enterprise, with the long term vision of: Making connections between science, enterprise and society.

Science Oxford was founded in 1985 as The Oxford Trust by Sir Martin and Lady Audrey Wood.

Studley Grange is a great place for your students to learn about insects, animals and arts and crafts!

Butterfly World

Visit our Butterfly House in Wiltshire rain or shine.

You can walk among some of the most beautiful butterflies in the World, flying freely against a backdrop of tropical plants and skimming over fish filled ponds.

Near the banks of Loch Fyne, on the west coast, immerse yourself in Britain's finest example of an exotic Himalayan-style woodland garden.

Crarae Garden is a tranquil site, with its dramatic gorge, rippling burn, waterfalls and cliffs. The informal hillside layout of mature woody plants radiating out from the burn creates a wonderful natural effect.

Coconut-scents, purple heather and intimate woodland walks

Coconut-scents, purple heather and intimate woodland walks

 

Marley Common in West Sussex, is a mixed broadleaf woodland and open heath. It's one of our oldest countryside acquisitions, having its centenary in 2011.

Five Sisters Zoo's mission is to:

Encourage conservation of endangered wildlife for both native and non-native species, and create a safe and natural environment for all animals in our collection.

Nestling in the pretty Borders town of Melrose, with enviable views of majestic Melrose Abbey, is Harmony House and Garden.

The handsome Georgian villa looks out onto a beautifully tended garden of smart croquet lawns, colourful, scented flowerbeds, fruits and vegetables.

World-famous garden noted for its botanical collections

Marvel at plants from all over the world grown from seed and cuttings collected over a century ago on plant-hunting expeditions. Created by five generations of one family, this 32-hectare (80-acre) garden is superbly located, with spectacular views across Snowdonia.

Set in over 28 acres of spectacular, sub tropical gardens within the North Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, The Combe Martin Wildlife and Dinosaur Park,has been giving great enjoyment to its customers for 27 years.

A Walking Safari Set In 100 Acres

The Park is home to more than 80 species of animals from around Africa - including the fastest mammal, the tallest mammal and the biggest bird in the world!

We are the perfect destination for an exciting and educational visit for all ages!

The place to be with fun, adventure, animals, gardens, play and activities on the banks of the picturesque River Thames

Space, fresh air, tranquility, fun, adventure, enchanting animals, exotic beauty and all this on the banks of the magical Thames. New Bertie's Bugs and Beasts exhibit!

Abbey Park lies approximately one mile north of the City centre. The River Soar divides this beautiful park into two distinct areas: to the east of the river lies the highly decorative Victorian part of the park with its evergreen shrubberies, trees, lakes and formally planted flower displays.

Unspoilt golden, sandy beaches, estuary and sandy grassland surprisingly close to Newquay

For its sheer diversity of landscape, this relatively small stretch of Cornwall's north coast is hard to beat. Only a stone's throw from the popular seaside resort of Newquay, Holywell to Crantock offers you a haven of beaches, common land and coastline to explore.

Exposed rocky headlands sit alongside spectacular sandy beaches, perfect for surfing or making sandcastles.

A lush, sub-tropical-style, oasis perched on a peninsula at the edge of Loch Ewe amid the rugged landscape of Wester Ross, this world-famous historic garden is one of Scotland's most popular botanical attractions.

School visits are welcome by prior arrangement.

A rare pocket of openness amongst plantation woodland

Lavington Common is a rare survivor of an open landscape that once stretched across the Weald. Its sandy soil leads up to the chalk escarpment on the South Downs, creating this renowned lowland heath, rich in lichens and bryophytes (mosses and liverworts).

Heathers flourish here providing shelter and breeding grounds for reptiles and heathland insects such as the Green Tiger Beetle.

Romantic and tranquil landscape of islands, woodland and historical ruins

Located on the shores of Upper Lough Erne, Crom is one of the most romantic and peaceful places in Northern Ireland. This 2,000 acre demesne is surrounded by tranquil islands and ancient woodlands.

One of Ireland's most important conservation areas, Crom is home to a wealth of wildlife. Discover it whether you are fishing, woodland walking, butterfly spotting or bird watching.

Staffa is the stuff of legend - an unspoilt and uninhabited island best known for its magnificent basalt columns and spectacular sea caves. The most famous of these is Fingal's Cave, also known as An Uamh Binn (Cave of Melody). It has a unique, cathedral-like structure and its hexagonal columns are similar to those of the Giant's Causeway in Ireland.

We look forward to welcoming you in the spring when the garden comes to life again. The woodland walks are lovely at this time of year and on a clear day the views over the Cheshire Plain are great. And there really are hares!

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