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

William and Mary-style country house, garden and park

Built in 1701 by Thomas Vernon, a lawyer and whig MP for Worcester, Hanbury Hall is a beautiful country house.

Discover more than just history

Leeds Castle welcomes school visits from all over the world, all year round. As part of our charitable mission we offer special subsidised rates to schools from Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Essex and London. 

The new National Curriculum

Take a walk on the wild side and explore an ecological paradise

Discover the beautiful countryside and rugged scenery of Marsden Moor. With more than 5000 acres of moorland to explore, there is always something new to see.

The Wash is the largest estuary and the most important wetland site in the UK. The south east corner of the Wash forms the largest National Nature Reserve in England.

Attenborough Nature Centre is an award-winning education centre and visitor attraction located at Attenborough Nature Reserve, a nationally important wildlife site close to Nottingham and Derby.

Offering a weird and exciting mix of public aquarium plus thermal carp pool, creepy petrifying well, shiny gemstone and fossil display, vintage chinaware collection, regional history exhibition and one of the largest public displays of Holograms in Europe!

The Thermal Pool is fed by a warm spring and illuminated at night, containing plentiful common carp, mirror carp and koi.

Set in 33 acres of beautiful woodland with some stunning views of the surrounding countryside, Dartmoor Zoological Park is a unique family owned zoo with a fantastic collection of animals.

In this most southerly part of rural Derbyshire, Beehive Farm Woodland Lakes offers visitors lots of fun ways to enjoy a very special corner of the New National Forest. They have over 66 acres of emerging young woodland to explore with thriving wildlife, fishing lakes and a family-friendly animal farm.

An intimate Arts and Crafts style family home and complementary gardens

Discover the cherished family home of Noel Goddard Terry, owner of the famous chocolate-making firm Terry’s of York. The house was designed by architect Walter Brierley in the Arts and Crafts style and is complemented by four acres of gardens, designed by George Dillistone. A hidden gem - only a stone's throw away from York City Centre.

Farm Shop, Butchery, nature trail, restaurant and activities

Jimmy’s Farm caters to large or small groups seeking education and/or adventure!

We offer formally structured courses for children and young people…

The exotic luxuriance of Mount Stewart's celebrated gardens, created in the 1920s by Edith, Lady Londonderry has helped make it one of Northern Ireland's most popular Trust's properties with all the family.

Cistercian abbey, elegant Georgian water garden and medieval deer park

For centuries people have been drawn to this inspiring place.

From humble beginnings the magnificent abbey was established by devout monks seeking a simpler existence. The atmospheric ruins that remain are a window into a way of life which shaped the medieval world.

A landscape abandoned by a generation of progress

A step into Lanlay Meadows is a step back in time, where sprawling, unkempt hedgerows meet gnarled, twisted old oak trees.

Farmed for centuries, this small fragment of land has lain unchanged for decades, avoiding the wrath of today's flail hedge trimmers and fertilisers and becoming a rare haven for a huge array of wildlife.

The Reserve covers 369 acres of the Meon Valley, encompassing a mosaic of natural habitats. River, fen, pools, reedbed and meadow are carefully managed, giving protection to a range of special wildlife.

Educational Visits

The Grand Union Canal at Stoke Bruerne is an idyllic picture of passing boats and local wildlife. It’s a relaxing and lovely place for a day out.

There are loads of different things to do – boat trips and walks, bird watching and fun for kids at Rookery farm.

There's a natural surprise waiting around every corner

For all lovers of nature and the great outdoors, Escot is a unique experience and offers a great

Kellie Castle in Fife dates from as early as the 14th century and has magnificent plaster ceilings, painted panelling and fine furniture designed by Sir Robert Lorimer.

There are excellent facilities for school groups, including a fully equipped education room, adjacent to the walled garden.

The 'leaning tower' and walls of this large late medieval church survived bombing during the Second World War. The graveyard is now a public garden.

Bristol’s Temple Church is so called because the original church was built by the Knights Templar, perhaps the most famous of the medieval military orders.

12th-century Welsh castle, historic house and 18th-century landscape park, enclosing a medieval deer park

A magical land of power and influence for more than 2,000 years, Dinefwr Park and Castle is an iconic place in the history of Wales. Two forts are evidence of a dominant Roman presence. The powerful Lord Rhys held court at Dinefwr and influenced decisions in Wales.

The visionaries, George and Cecil Rice designed the superb 18th-century landscape that you see today.

Welcome to the National Botanic Garden of Wales. The first botanic garden of the new millennium is 568 acres of beautiful Carmarthenshire countryside, about an hour west of Cardiff. It is easy to get to but hard to forget.

Glorious gardens overlooking the River Thames.

Set high above the Thames with far-reaching views, Cliveden’s impressive gardens and majestic woodlands capture the grandeur of a bygone age.

Middleton Hall is a "unique" Grade II-listed country house in Staffordshire. The hall shows evidence of several phases of English domestic architecture from the late thirteenth to the early nineteenth century. There is a fine Great Hall that is of Tudor origin, which makes a classic setting for weddings, for performances and for parties.

Two nature reserves, a huge open field, busy Countryside Centre with cafe facilities, adventure play area and easy access from the city or the motorway, make this site very popular with a variety of visitors. Whether you are looking for birds, swings, coffee, flowers, footpaths or all of these and more, you've come to the right place at Worcester Woods Country Park.

Spectacular walks, secluded beaches and exceptional views

A spectacular coastline, combined with a lively working Cornish port, lends this area its unique character and charm. 

There's a network of footpaths to discover, making the area great walking country, with the South West Coast Path offering sweeping views and a few hilly challenges.

The natural world is incredible!  And Portsmouth is a very special place for wildlife in Britain. It has many different habitats in a very small area, and at Portsmouth Natural History Museum you can explore them all.

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