Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education
On 5 November 2009 Secretary of State Ed Balls confirmed that Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education will become a statutory part of the National Curriculum from 2011.
PSHE education equips children and young people with the knowledge and skills to deal with a range issues they face as they grow up. It covers:
- drugs and alcohol education
- emotional health and well-being
- sex and relationship education (SRE)
- nutrition and physical activity
- personal finance
- safety
- careers education
- work-related learning.
In October 2008 the Government announced it was making PSHE education statutory in primary and secondary schools. An independent review, undertaken by Sir Alasdair Macdonald, looked into three major areas of particular concern among schools and parents. These were:
- Statutory PSHE education would increase pressure on the curriculum and it was important that schools should be able to tailor the curriculum to suit their pupils.
- It would cut across the rights of school governing bodies to decide their own approach in areas such as SRE.
- The rights of parents to withdraw their children from SRE had to be taken into account.
The DCSF accepted all the recommendations of the Macdonald Review on these key issues, and on other areas such as workforce development, assessment and accountability, subject only, in some cases, to the results of a public consultation which followed the review.
The public consultation, which ended in July 2009, included views on the principle of making PSHE education statutory, the programmes of study it would include, and whether the name of PSHE education in the secondary National Curriculum should be changed.
How do/will schools teach PSHE education?
The Government believes that there are certain core elements of PSHE education which all young people are entitled to receive and is producing statutory programmes of study which describe the broad topic areas that PSHE education should cover. These programmes may be reviewed in the future.
Schools will be able to decide how the topics are taught so that they can take account of the views of parents, pupils and local communities, and reflect the ethos of the school. However, school policies must include the core entitlement of PSHE education.
PSHE education also plays an important role in schools' contribution to the five outcomes of Every Child Matters (ECM), and to their statutory responsibilities to:
- promote the well-being of children and young people
- achieve the aims of the whole curriculum
- promote community cohesion
- provide careers education and sex education.
What is/will be taught in PSHE education?
Most schools already provide a broad PSHE education programme and the introduction of statutory PSHE education is unlikely to result in significant changes to the way in which they teach the subject now. Some schools do not currently offer PSHE education, or only provide some aspects of what is recommended. Statutory PSHE education will ensure that all children and young people receive the core entitlement. PSHE education programmes of study can include:
- learning opportunities across the curriculum
- specific lessons with separate curriculum time
- explicit opportunities in other curriculum subjects
- whole-school and extended-timetable activities
- specific projects
- information, support and guidance on specific areas of learning and development
- learning through involvement in the life of the school and wider community.
These opportunities should be planned, coordinated, assessed, monitored and evaluated. Children and young people should be involved in this process, influencing what is taught from the start, as well as having a say in how learning develops.
Primary schools
The current recommendations for PSHE education in primary schools are set out in the Frameworks for PSHE and citizenship at Key Stages 1 and 2 in The National Curriculum handbook for primary teachers in England Key Stages 1 and 2 (QCA, 2000). Primary schools already address many of the areas of learning included in the PSHE education programmes of study.
- Non-statutory guidelines for citizenship at Key Stages 1 and 2
- Non-statutory guidelines for PSHE at Key Stages 1 and 2
A review of the primary National Curriculum, including PSHE education, was completed in July 2009 Sir Jim Rose.
Secondary schools
In the new secondary curriculum (phased in from September 2008) PSHE education is described in two interrelated programmes of study for Key Stages 3 and 4: one for personal well-being and one for economic well-being and financial capability.
Personal well-being draws together personal, social and health education, including SRE and the social and emotional aspects of learning. Economic well-being draws together economic understanding, careers education, enterprise, financial capability and work-related learning.
The programmes of study should be used flexibly to ensure that PSHE education is appropriate to pupils' abilities and backgrounds, and they should provide opportunities to address real-life and topical issues.
What next?
Before PSHE education becomes statutory, a priority for the DCSF will be to work with the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) to investigate and establish a dedicated route for initial teacher training (ITT) which will, in time, create a group of specialist PSHE education teachers.
Working with stakeholders such as the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA) and the PSHE Association in the lead up to PSHE education becoming statutory in September 2011, the DCSF will:
- provide a review of the outcomes of the consultation and their implications for legislation
- research models of teaching and their effectiveness in improving outcomes, which will also inform the development of a workforce strategy
- work to find appropriate and innovative ways of assessing pupil progress
- provide support for schools and teachers, including resources, guidance, examples of good practice and advice on how schools can involve people and organisations from outside the school
- support teachers, schools and other partners in building on and sharing good practice
- raise the profile of PSHE education among school senior management teams
- work to consider ways of promoting pupil and parent engagement
- collect feedback on what more is needed
- develop good communications with partners in the first stages of preparing for statutory PSHE education.
Useful websites
- Association for Careers Education and Guidance
- Association for Citizenship Teaching
- Cegnet
- Drug Education Forum
- Enterprise Network
- Every Child Matters
- Healthy Schools
- Institute of Career Guidance
- National Health Education Group
- Personal Finance Education Group (PFEG)
- PSHE Association
- PSHE and Citizenship Information Service
- Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA)
- Sex Education Forum (SEF)
Last updated: 05 November 2009
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