Excellent PSHE teaching and learning
A long time ago, I worked at an adolescent psychiatric unit, where I was part of the rehabilitation unit for young people (11-19) who were experiencing severe mental illness. Whilst the work we were doing was important, I felt like it was too little, too late. I was compelled to do something that could help prevent some of the appalling experiences that had happened.
So, I decided to become a teacher and use education as a way to help 'prevent', rather than be part of the treatment phase. I taught A-Level Psychology, and while doing that, I studied at Southampton University for my MSc in Health Education with Health Promotion. Hands down, it was the most valuable and stimulating learning experience of my life as it led me to PSHE.
I worked for the Department of Health, then a couple of school improvement teams in local authorities, and I found myself training teachers on the healthy schools programme, health-related behaviour, social and emotional aspects of learning (SEAL), and emotional health strategies in the classroom. All this came under the banner of PSHE, with a heavy focus on relationships education.
I've learnt from exceptional people and I hope that I have been able to pass this knowledge and skill on in the thousands of PSHE lesson plans and learning resources that I have written in my career.
I feel so strongly about teaching children to have a healthy relationship with themselves; and to help them find their voice, so that others listen to them. I will keep working in PSHE for as long as I can, fuelled by the desire to equip children with the life skills and the voice that they need to thrive…
Which brings me to what makes excellent PSHE. The age-old question about PSHE continues to be asked should we teach ‘about’ or ‘how’ in PSHE? Obviously, there is room for both: teach about a subject and teach how to navigate it.
Yet I feel really strongly that teaching skills is the most vital part. Facts about drugs, and statistics on knife crime or teenage pregnancy rates are important, naturally. But they don’t really help when people are faced with decisions to make or relationships to navigate in the moment. Teaching the skills of how (backed up by why) is crucial. These skills can then be applied in all kinds of situations, regardless of the context – and the associated ‘facts’.
If I had to come up with just one thing to bolster a great PSHE lesson, it would be to focus on relationships: the students enjoy a healthy relationship with themselves, with others and with their teacher. It sounds so simple: concentrate on creating a safe and positive learning environment and focus on building strong and positive relationships; but it is quite complex and takes consistent effort.
Here are some other ideas:
Overall, remember that a healthy choice for a child might look very different from what you think a healthy choice looks like. It’s vital not to let your adult view colour what is important and relevant to a child. Ensure you look at PSHE through a pupil lens, not your own lens.
So, I decided to become a teacher and use education as a way to help 'prevent', rather than be part of the treatment phase. I taught A-Level Psychology, and while doing that, I studied at Southampton University for my MSc in Health Education with Health Promotion. Hands down, it was the most valuable and stimulating learning experience of my life as it led me to PSHE.
I worked for the Department of Health, then a couple of school improvement teams in local authorities, and I found myself training teachers on the healthy schools programme, health-related behaviour, social and emotional aspects of learning (SEAL), and emotional health strategies in the classroom. All this came under the banner of PSHE, with a heavy focus on relationships education.
I've learnt from exceptional people and I hope that I have been able to pass this knowledge and skill on in the thousands of PSHE lesson plans and learning resources that I have written in my career.
I feel so strongly about teaching children to have a healthy relationship with themselves; and to help them find their voice, so that others listen to them. I will keep working in PSHE for as long as I can, fuelled by the desire to equip children with the life skills and the voice that they need to thrive…
Which brings me to what makes excellent PSHE. The age-old question about PSHE continues to be asked should we teach ‘about’ or ‘how’ in PSHE? Obviously, there is room for both: teach about a subject and teach how to navigate it.
Yet I feel really strongly that teaching skills is the most vital part. Facts about drugs, and statistics on knife crime or teenage pregnancy rates are important, naturally. But they don’t really help when people are faced with decisions to make or relationships to navigate in the moment. Teaching the skills of how (backed up by why) is crucial. These skills can then be applied in all kinds of situations, regardless of the context – and the associated ‘facts’.
If I had to come up with just one thing to bolster a great PSHE lesson, it would be to focus on relationships: the students enjoy a healthy relationship with themselves, with others and with their teacher. It sounds so simple: concentrate on creating a safe and positive learning environment and focus on building strong and positive relationships; but it is quite complex and takes consistent effort.
Here are some other ideas:
- Start where children are: what do they already know, what do they need to know, now and in the future? A great place to start is the PSHE Association Programme of Study for content from KS1 to KS4.
- Plan a ‘spiral programme’. For example, what you teach in Year 1 needs to be followed up in Year 2 and 3 and so on, adding more complexity when children are ready.
- Take a positive and strengths-based, trauma-informed approach that does not attempt to induce shock, guilt or fear. As much as many adults think that the most effective way to teach children about life is to do it by frightening them into submission, research shows that this does not work. Instead, focus on what children can already do, and recognise how children’s past experiences will have an effect on their decision-making abilities and their subsequent choices and actions.
- Provide a safe and supportive learning environment – one where children are listened to genuinely and authentically, where they are encouraged to ask questions, and where they can choose to not participate if that feels better for them.
- Offer a wide variety of teaching and learning styles. Not everyone learns in the same way, so ensure you offer a range of methods, using distancing techniques where possible.
- Provide information that is realistic and relevant and that reinforces positive social norms. For instance, if children are learning about smoking as part of Health Education, ensure they know that most people (in the UK) don’t actually smoke.
- Encourage children to reflect on their learning and the progress they have made, and to transfer what they have learned to say and to do from one school subject to another. If children can notice that they have made progress, they will realise that further progress can be made. Encourage children to adapt what they learn in other subjects and other parts of life to PSHE, and vice versa.
- Link the wider PSHE education curriculum to other whole-school approaches (SMSC, safeguarding and pastoral support), and provide a setting where the responsible choice becomes the easy choice – so that being healthy is the simplest thing to do.
- Provide opportunities for children to make real decisions about their lives. It is pointless offering made-up scenarios to children and encouraging them to respond to them if they are meaningless and irrelevant to their lives. Instead, focus on what children know and do now and support them to make healthier, informed decisions themselves.
Overall, remember that a healthy choice for a child might look very different from what you think a healthy choice looks like. It’s vital not to let your adult view colour what is important and relevant to a child. Ensure you look at PSHE through a pupil lens, not your own lens.