The Department for Education published statutory guidance for Health Education, Relationships Education and RSE in June 2019.
This covers broad areas of relevance and concern to children and young people today. It should ensure that every pupil is guaranteed a PSHE education that covers mental health and wellbeing; physical health (including healthy lifestyles and first aid); learning about safe, healthy relationships and sex (including understanding consent, negotiating life online, intimate relationships).
Acronyms: Personal, Social, Health & Economic Education (PSHE) Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE)
Context and Purpose
PSHE education has a proven impact on life chances and academic success. This strengthening of PSHE educations status can have a major impact on the quality of PSHE in all schools for all students. These developments mean that all students can benefit from an education that keeps them safe, healthy and prepared for the realities of modern life.
Curriculum aims
A person’s ‘character’ develops over time and in a range of contexts and is shaped by unknown and unpredictable events. However, a planned approach to providing opportunities to develop character-based skills and attributes has been shown to make a difference to outcomes for children and young people (see the accompanying document Section 3: PSHE education character curriculum: Theoretical context and evidence base). PSHE education is an integral element of a whole-school approach to developing ‘character’, providing the ideal curriculum subject through which to focus on the development of these essential skills and attributes. The Shoreham Academy PSHE framework provides learning objectives that, delivered through the context of a planned, developmental PSHE education programme, enable pupils to develop:
• interpersonal and social effectiveness
• self-awareness
• values
• resilience
• effectiveness within a wider community
• risk management
Outcomes
The aim of our PSHE education programme is to support students to thrive in a time of rapid change, with new and unpredictable opportunities and challenges constantly emerging, outlined within the three core themes of the PSHE Programme of Study:
- Health & wellbeing
- Living in the wider world
- Relationships
These have been carefully designed as a context through which to develop the concepts, skills and attributes. Although the specific content of PSHE education will constantly evolve as the world changes, these concepts are timeless. It is not enough to simply teach students about the issues covered in the suggested subject content. It is vital they have the opportunity to explore their attitudes, values and beliefs about them and to develop the skills, language and strategies necessary to manage these issues should they encounter them in their lives.
Further resources and links
DfE guidance for parents: CLICK HERE
Understanding Relationships, Sex and Health Education: a guide for parents
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/sex-relationships/
https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/for-parents/parents-survival-guide/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0ffR5t2Z8QIVGLLtCh0tDQE0EAAYAiAAEgJd3vD_BwE
https://www.relate.org.uk/relationship-help/help-family-life-and-parenting/parenting-teenagers?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0ffR5t2Z8QIVGLLtCh0tDQE0EAAYAyAAEgLuZfD_BwE