Personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education is a school curriculum subject in England that focuses on strengthening the knowledge, skills, and connections to keep children and young people healthy and safe and prepare them for life and work. The acronym PSHCE is also sometimes used, where the 'C' stands for Citizenship.
The stated goals of PSHE is to equip young people with the knowledge, understanding, attitudes and practical skills to live healthily, safely, productively and responsibly.
The PSHE curriculum in brief:
The PSHE education programme of study is organised into three core themes (for KEY STAGES 1-5:
These themes include numerous topics linked to physical and mental health, alcohol and drug culture, sex, and relationships, education, economic well-being, and careers.
The PSHE curriculum in more detail:
Core theme: Health and Wellbeing This area of PSHE teaches children:
Pupils will learn things like the importance of personal hygiene; the physical differences between boys and girls; road safety, cycle safety and online safety; people who help us; how to talk about their feelings; and the benefits of physical activity.
Core theme: Relationships This theme includes:
Among other things, children will learn to recognise that their behaviour can affect other people; to listen to other people and work and play cooperatively; to identify special people in their lives (parents, siblings, friends) and how they should care for each other; what physical contact is acceptable; and what to do if they’re being bullied.
Core theme: Living in the Wider World Through this theme, children learn:
Some of the things schoolkids will learn include how to make and follow group, class and school rules; what protects and harms the environment; how to make choices about spending or saving money; ways in which we are all unique and the things we have in common; about basic human rights; and to respect national, regional, religious and ethnic identities.
How PSHE is taught in primary schools The PSHE Association advises that they should have one hour of specific, timetabled PSHE per week.
This could include, for example, lessons on bullying, different world religions, why it’s important to recycle, Bikeability training, and talks from visitors, such as people who help us (police, firefighters, doctors, etc).
PSHE is also taught across the curriculum.
In science, for instance, the National Curriculum states that pupils must be taught about how bodies change as people grow and age.
In geography, they might do a survey of their local area and count how many pieces of litter they find.
In ICT, they might discuss the risks that they may face online, and come up with rules for internet safety.
In PE, they’ll learn different ways of keeping fit and active. They might reflect on how their bodies feel after physical activity, for example by taking their pulse or discussing how their breathing has changed.
PSHE is delivered implicitly as well as explicitly, through many areas of school life. Assemblies, circle time, buddy or mentoring schemes and campaigns like Anti-Bullying Week all teach children the principles of PSHE.
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