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 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.

Truly a hidden gem

One of the most elegant country houses in East Anglia, the Hall is a place of surprises and delights, a mixture of opulence and homeliness where each room has something to feed the imagination. From the stained glass windows in the great hall to the nodding mandarins in the chinese bedroom; from Queen Mary's teapot in the dining room to the copper pans in the kitchen. Story boxes for the childr

Late 15th-century stone house

Little Clarendon was built in the late 15th century for a family of some local distinction, but its origins and early history remain mysterious.

The historic parish church of All Saints is a large and beautiful medieval building at the heart of Loughborough's ancient town centre.

Experience a day in the life of the Stuart monarchs at Falkland Palace, their country residence for 200 years - and a favourite place of Mary, Queen of Scots.

Falkland Palace has a large Living History programme for schools, based around Mary, Queen of Scots. The programme, which is aimed at Primary children, includes costumed guides, role playing and Burgh tours.

A romantic house and gallery set in beautiful riverside gardens

Ancient trees, bubbling brooks and rolling lawns frame this lovely old house. Crafted from a medieval priory, it is full of surprises, with art that intrigues and delights. Come back throughout the year to see different exhibitions in the gallery and the latest installations by our artists in residence.

The Pass of Killiecrankie is a magnificent wooded gorge with the River Garry flowing along its base.

The Battle of Killiecrankie, the major event in the first of the Jacobite uprisings, was fought nearby. The Visitor Centre, on the east side of the Pass, tells both the story of the rich natural history of the Pass and the story of the battle.

The Farne Islands lie two to three miles off the Northumberland coast midway between the fishing village of Seahouses and the magnificent Castle of Bamburgh. As well as being the most famous Sea Bird Sanctuary in the British Isles they also have a large colony of Atlantic or Grey Seals.

Over 260 animal species in over 160 acres of stunning gardens and parkland. Giraffe Walkway, Lemur Walk-through exhibit, Train, Adventure Playground, Picnic Areas, Children's Farmyard, Brass Rubbing, Tropical House, Reptile House, Bat House and Insect House.

Faringdon’s unique, iconic 100ft tower, the last major folly to be built in England, surrounded by woodland. Kids aged 11 and under get in free.

There are four acres of circular woodland to to enjoy, with some trees that are more than 400 years old!

Ancient common on the Greensand Ridge where time comes home to sleep

Limpsfield Common was used by commoners for grazing their animals and collecting stone and firewood. Now, with its extensive network of footpaths and bridleways through patches of open heathland and large areas of woodland, the Common is a perfect place to enjoy the countryside, whether walking, cycling or horseriding. There’s an old Roman road to saunter along too.

Elegant country house with highly distinctive gardens

This elegant country manor and tranquil garden sit so harmoniously within the landscape that one cannot exist without the other.

Delightful medieval manor house, set in woodland and meadows

Unspoilt and fascinating medieval manor house, still a relaxed family home. Wander through rooms untouched by time, warm yourself by the open fire, and unwind in the tranquil garden.

Located in a green haven of riverside meadows and woodland hidden away in the heart of the town.

Our Dynamic Earth is a 

Far-reaching views of rolling valleys and hills

Cherhill Down is well known for its White Horse and views of the Lansdowne Monument, which can be seen for miles around.

Walk to the top of the Down and be rewarded with great views. In the summer enjoy carpets of chalk grassland flowers and the sound of skylarks.

Studley Park Royal is a designated World Heritage Site in North Yorkshire.

The Famous Dartmoor Waterfall

No visit to Devon would be complete without a visit to Dartmoor's famous Becky Falls, where we've been welcoming visitors since 1903. The falls are an iconic Dartmoor landmark, and a day out here can be as gentle or as adventurous as you wish. All of our activities and shows are included in the entry price, so there are no extras to pay once you're inside. 

Belfast Zoo is home to more than 1,000 animals and 150 species. Many of our animals are under threat in their natural habitat.

Some of the animals you can see include:

World Primate Centre

Twycross Zoo has been providing the exciting opportunity to get close to wildlife for over 50 years and has achieved well-respected status as one of Britain's major zoos, attracting half a million visitors each year.

Isleham Priory Church is the best example in England of a small Norman Benedictine priory church, surviving in a surprisingly unaltered state despite later conversion into a barn. 

This small Norman chapel is the best example in the country of a small Benedictine priory church that has remained substantially unaltered.

In the footsteps of giants...

Flanked by the wild North Atlantic Ocean and a landscape of dramatic cliffs, for centuries the Giant’s Causeway has inspired artists, stirred scientific debate and captured the imagination of all who see it. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Stoke-on-Trent is world famous for its pottery and no visit to the city would be complete without experiencing this unique Museum.

Discover how bone china tableware was made in the original workshops and giant bottle kilns of the former Gladstone China Works, now preserved as the last complete Victorian Pottery factory in the country.

A world famous museum telling the story of the people of North East England during the Georgian, Victorian, and Edwardian periods.

The story of Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian life is told by our costumed staff and volunteers in a unique living and working museum which hosts over 300,000 objects.

Nestling in 300 acres of countryside, Beamish boasts a railway station, a farm, a mill, a colliery village and police and fire stations.

Broughton Castle is a moated and fortified manor house near Banbury in North Oxfordshire.

Towering above the sea, this historic headland offers dramatic, panoramic views

The Dodman is the highest headland on the south Cornish coast. Offering spectacular views, this area is also of great archaeological interest.

A massive Iron Age earthwork, nearly 666m long and over 6m high, encloses the headland. Over 2,000 years ago, this earthwork could have housed a series of dwellings, known collectively as a promontory fort or cliff castle.

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