Personal, Social and Health Education

What is Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE)?

Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) is a subject taught with the National Curriculum in schools throughout England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales which deals with a number of key subjects that are not taken as examination subjects.

The idea of Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) is to provide pupils with a grounding in those subjects which will become important in their teenage years and also when they leave school and enter the adult world.

Originally Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) were a series of separately taught subjects which included:

• Life Skills
• Careers
• Social Skills
• Sex Education

Now however the aforementioned subjects have been removed in favour of an all-encompassing subject that is now known as Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE).

What does Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) Involve?

As we have already mentioned Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) was originally a series of independent subjects that were taught by several teachers which the same school. With the advent of Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) the subject is required to be taught by only one teacher and involves a more relaxed approached to teaching in order to bring about debate and discussion amongst the class.

Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) focuses on the following:

• Careers Advice
• Relationships
• Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco Awareness
• Personal Development
• Sexually Transmitted Diseases

How are Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) taught?

Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) is taught in a relaxed and informative manner with the class and the teacher sitting together in groups. The idea of the group format is to encourage all of those present to share some of their own life experiences and thoughts and feelings in an environment that is neither intimidating nor susceptible to misinterpretation. Some teachers prefer to hold these group sessions whilst sitting in a circle with their pupils but for the most part pupils are encouraged to gather together around desks and discuss the topic under debate.

Visual aids – normally media such as television or film – are used as a means of opening the debate and the pupils are encouraged to comment freely on what they have seen or heard and how they think it will affect them.

What are the aims of Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE)?

Through the studying of Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) it is hoped that it will encourage within each child an element of self-awareness and self motivation. This self-awareness and self motivation should enable them to consider such things as:

• Personal life style
• Communication skills
• Relationship building
• Social Skills
• How to ask for help
• Personal Hygiene

In addition it is hoped that by encouraging pupils to take part in Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) lessons that they will also learn how to communicate better, not only with each other, but with other adults around them.

Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) also aims to encourage positive social interaction as well as the breaking down of barriers between religions, nationalities and the social classes.

In today's ever changing society the introduction of Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) into the National Curriculum, even though it is not a markable subject, is seen as a direct response to our ever-changing society and those trends within it that have influence over our children's burgeoning relationships and aspirations for the feature.