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 beautiful slice of Kent countryside

Discover why the locals love this place so much by exploring this tranquil site along its network of paths, which wind their way up through the woodland. Once at the top, relax and take in the wonderful view to the south over the Weald of Kent.

Raleigh Park is 27 sloping acres, outside the city boundaries between Botley and North Hinksey. It has recently been accredited with Local Wildlife Site.

Huge park offering lakes, meadows and rivers for exploration, plus a multi activity centre and adventure playground. Incorporates a proper 9 hole golf course please note not crazy or mini golf though beginners welcome.

A park at the heart of the community

Morden Hall Park is green oasis in the city, giving you a taste of a country estate with a glimpse of its agricultural and industrial history.

A natural amphitheatre on a spur of the Cotswolds, with views over the Vale of Evesham

Dover's Hill was the site of the original English Olympic Games, which began here 400 years ago in 1612.

Broads Holiday Adventure

Spend quality time on the Broads with Herbert Woods. 

Varied landscape of moorland, woods, farms and coast, rich in wildlife

Holnicote Estate makes up 12,000 acres of Exmoor National Park and is a contrasting landscape with everything from wild, rugged moorland and shingle beaches to ancient woodland and charming thatched villages.

A wonderful mix of open heathland, woodland and chalk downland

Headley Heath has a wide network of tracks to explore, and stunning views to rival any of its neighbours - the perfect place to enjoy the countryside, whether walking, cycling or horseriding.

500 acres of beautiful woodlands, grasslands, gardens and lake.

We have a children's play area, climbing forest, picnic benches and barbecue areas, a bird hide, woodlands, open space for the children to play and of course plenty of ducks and swans to feed!

It is the perfect location for a fun filled family day out or a relaxing picnic out in the fresh air.

Extensive chalk and grassland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Soar above a breathtaking landscape, sculpted over time, decorated by nature and enjoyed by generations.

Stand on top of Dunstable Downs for a view that will simply take your breath away. These Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) are designated for the quality of their chalk grasslands.

A remote island in the Norfolk Broads

You may not have heard of Heigham Holmes, but this 500 acre nature reserve is an oasis of calm and a haven for wildlife – and heaven for wildlife lovers.

It’s a unique and internationally important site, with reed-fringed flood banks, open water, grazing marsh, scrub and wet woodland. They're linked by a maze of dykes and pools characteristic of the Norfolk broadland landscape.

A Land Apart...

A precious landscape whose distinctive character and natural beauty is so outstanding that it is protected for future generations...

White Peak Estate, including Ilam Park, Dovedale and Hamps and Manifold Valleys

Situated in the spectacular setting of the Staffordshire and Derbyshire Peak District, Ilam Park makes an ideal base to explore the other parts of the White Peak area.

White Peak incorporates several key areas that are well worth a visit. These include: Dovedale; the Manifold Valley; Ilam Park; Ecton Mine, Stanton Moor Edge; Miller's Dale and Ravenstor; and High Wheeldon.

Beecraigs Country Park is a great place to visit. It caters for a wide range of leisure and recreational activities within its 370 hectares (913 acres) and can be discovered nestled high in the Bathgate Hills near the historic town of Linlithgow. The Park is open throughout the year and admission is free.

Two acres of magnificent garden, set on the side of Kinnoull Hill overlooking Perth. Branklyn holds an impressive collection of rare and unusual plants. Schools are welcome to arrange a visit with the site manager.

The park opened in 1934 after the land was presented to the City by Councillor F.E. Moss in memory of his sister Florence.

What facilities does it have?

Welcome to Clan Donald Skye, a magnificent 20,000 acre estate in south Skye. Enjoy an outstanding holiday experience, exploring the historic gardens and woodland trails around Armadale Castle, learning about highland history in our fascinating Museum of the Isles or staying in our self-catering lodges.

Umberslade Adventure is an outdoor play area set in an 80 acre woodland in the heart of Warwickshire, offering physical and educational activities for all ages.

These include:
420ft Zip line: swoop from the trees if you think you are brave enough. It will get your adrenaline pumping.

This 100 acre site, managed in partnership with 

Landscape of fell, meadow and woodland around Coniston Water

At five miles long, and with a maximum depth of 184 feet, Coniston Water is the third largest of the lakes. It provided an important fish source for the monks of Furness Abbey who owned the lake and much of the surrounding land in the 13th and 14th Centuries.

Lakeshore park with stunning mountain views

Situated at the very southern tip of Lake Windermere, Fell Foot is a great, family friendly location to play, explore and relax. Sweeping lawns offer plenty of space for games, picnics and gentle walks, while easy lake access makes the park perfect for paddling, swimming and boating.

Rowing is fun and relaxing and a great way to spend a sunny afternoon on the river, pedalos and punts also available. You can hire the boat for an hour or if you want to make a day of it, just stay on the river as long as you like, simply returning the row boat to the boathouse before sunset.

A garden lovers' home for all seasons, with an extensive yet intimate garden set around a romantic house and ruins.

In the late 1800s Ludwig Messel bought the Nymans Estate in the Sussex High Weald to make a dream family house. Inspired by the wooded surroundings he created a garden with plants collected from around the world. Here this creative family entertained friends and family, enjoyed relaxing, playing and picnicking in the garden and woods.

Lichen-clad, ancient oak woodland valleys following the River Dart

Hembury and Holne contain two discreet woods on the south-eastern edge of Dartmoor National Park.

Perched at the top of Hembury Woods with far reaching views over Dartmoor, the iron-age Hembury Hill Fort gives you a real sense of what it would have been like to live in a protected palisade.

Discover the gateway to the famous Jurassic Coast

Follow a clifftop walk with breathtaking views of the Jurassic coast with a night under the stars at Prattshayes caravan and campsite.

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