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What is PSHCE?

PSHCE (or PSHE as it used to be known) is part of the National Curriculum designed to teach children about Personal Health, Social Issues and Citizenship. Its aim is simple: to ensure our children grow into mature, responsible well-informed young people who have a good and fact based knowledge about themselves, their health, their social responsibilities and their society.

What are the implications for teaching and learning?

The national curriculum statutory inclusion statement describes a school's responsibility to provide a curriculum that meets the specific needs of individuals and groups of pupils. The statement sets out three principles that are essential to developing an inclusive curriculum:

• setting suitable learning challenges
• responding to pupils' diverse learning needs
• overcoming potential barriers to learning and assessment for individuals and groups of pupils

The statement also provides examples of how this responsibility can be met.

PSHE and Citizenship provide an essential context for developing the attitudes, values, knowledge, skills and understanding pupils need for learning in and contributing to inclusive environments, both in school and out in the wider community. Good practice for teaching in PSHE and Citizenship includes:

• enabling teachers and pupils to respond to the diverse learning needs of the learners (e.g. gender issues, special educational needs, different abilities and disabilities)
• providing a curriculum context for pupils to learn to recognise stereotypes, bullying and racial harassment situations so that they can develop skills to challenge these behaviours and to resolve any conflicts that may arise
• making use of the range of social and cultural backgrounds within the school and its wider community;
• encouraging research into the demographic profiles of the various communities that make up modern UK society, whether or not the school has a diverse community
• providing a context for all pupils, whatever their race or ethnicity (eg Travellers, refugees, asylum seekers), to be given opportunities to relate their stories and become increasingly valued members of their school communities
• encouraging staff and pupils to work together to overcome barriers to learning
• promoting the involvement and participation of all pupils
• helping the development of positive relationships with local, national and global communities

Principles to inform teaching and learning

Approaches to teaching and learning in PSHE and Citizenship should promote the active involvement of the pupils. The role of the teacher is often that of facilitator, supporting pupils as they learn to assess evidence, negotiate, make decisions, solve problems, work independently and in groups, and learn from each other. It is not enough for pupils to know about PSHE and Citizenship issues; they need to participate in them. This is especially true when pupils are exploring issues, attitudes and values relating to diversity and racism.

Fundamental to PSHE and Citizenship is the need to discuss sensitive, controversial and challenging social and moral issues, and to make sense of them in the context of pupils' own life experiences. A safe learning environment should be provided: pupils must develop their own ground rules rather than be presented with ones produced outside the class. They then need to test out their rules in discussion and group activities, amending them as necessary. The Teacher's guide in the scheme of work for citizenship at key stage 3 has more details about establishing ground rules for a learning environment that supports pupils in:

• discussing views that may be contrary to their own
• giving and receiving relevant suggestions and criticism
• promoting appreciation, courtesy, concern, respect, responsibility and understanding

When exploring issues relating to diversity of race, religion and culture, these elements need to be in place:

• a range of teaching strategies: these are needed to provide the necessary breadth of effective learning opportunities. They will include an emphasis on active learning, enquiry, discussion and participation in PSHE and citizenship activities. Use should be made of visits and visitors, media sources and real school and community activities
• a combination of approaches to curriculum provision: allocated curriculum time for PSHE and citizenship should be complemented by teaching the subject through other curriculum areas and through whole-school activities and events
• intended learning outcomes: these must be developmental and sequential to ensure continuity and progression as topics/themes are revisited throughout the key stages
• relevance to the planned provision: any PHSE and citizenship teaching should address the needs (immediate and future) and interests of pupils in the context of their social, moral, cultural, political and economic environment. This contributes towards pupils developing positive attitudes to teaching, school and society in general
• access and inclusion: all pupils should have opportunities to participate in the activities and experiences on offer at the school, including subjects on the timetable and extra-curricular activities.

Teaching PSHCE in a global context

PSHCE help pupils to appreciate:

• Cultural Difference: There are diverse ways that people see and represent themselves and their world, and address personal, social, health and citizenship issues.
• Cultural Context: The ideas, beliefs and values that people put forward reflect the time and place in which they are working or studying.
• cultural change: Following on from the idea of context, cultures are not static: they evolve within the context in which they were originally formed and as a result of population migrations (both voluntary and enforced by circumstances).
• Cultural Interpretation: Our perception of our identity depends on a number of factors including: where we come from; our lifetime's experiences; and how we feel about these. These perceptions influence how we respond to and understand the work of others and how we respond to the time and place in which we live. The PSHCE curriculum must facilitate this self-examination and raise awareness of the experiences of others through a wide variety of media
(Reproduced by kind permission of SWAD Speakeasy Trainers Manual and Sally Horton)

The guidelines for teaching this particular discipline change as society changes and the challenges children and young people face change along with it.

To give you a basic grounding in what PHSCE aims to achieve, we have reproduced the Key Stage aims for PHSE and Citizenship, as they were in 2008. Since they were written they been expanded to add to their outcomes. So if you want the full listings we suggest you check the National Curriculum booklet for primary schools which is available in the National Curriculum section or check out the Ofsted guidance for upper/secondary schools which is available via the link below. Don't forget if you haven't got Abode reader you can download it direct from the BEST Advice Homepage.

Ofsted Guidance on PHSCE