Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Education

In this section:

Implementation of statutory relationships education, relationships and sex education and health education (RSHE)

Schools should refer to the DfE statutory guidance to inform their delivery.

In addition, below are resources designed to support you in your work within schools around implementation of relationships education, relationships and sex education and health education. It includes the latest links to RSHE resources and trusted national organisations.

The PSHE Association have provided three steps to successfully implement changes to RSHE:

  1. Consulting with parents and pupils, and developing policy
  2. What to teach and how to teach it
  3. Sustaining success

Key areas of RSHE

The introduction of statutory RSHE in September 2020 focuses on mandatory education in the following areas:

  • Drugs, alcohol and tobacco
  • RSE (relation education including puberty at primary level and sex education at secondary level)
  • Mental health and wellbeing
  • Being safe, online safety/internet harms
  • Physical activity

Nationally and locally there is a wide range of support to design, implement and deliver high quality PSHE across schools including:

  • A variety of whole-school RSHE/PSHE packages from numerous providers to support curriculum planning, assist mapping and facilitate ‘knowledge organising’ including:
    • Planning, teaching and evaluation guidance and tools
    • Multi-professional networking opportunities for shared expertise, including on social media and in meetings
    • Subject auditing and subject development tools
    • CPD for school staff in a variety of PSHE areas
    • Information for governors
  • Portsmouth specific PSHE framework written in collaboration with a wide variety of city professionals from services such as Educational Psychology, Hampshire Constabulary, Prevent, PSCP, CAMHS, MABS, Public Health and educational professionals. Written in line with the DfE statutory guidance on mandatory PSHE.
  • Signposting toolkits for each specific area of PSHE
  • Locally developed slides regarding local services which can be added to the lessons you are delivering

Vigilance needed on anti-choice RSE funded from the US

It has been identified that US anti-choice campaigners have provided funding to an anti-choice organisation providing ‘RSE’ in the UK. For those who aren’t aware, here’s a quick reminder of what the RSHE statutory guidance requires. Any teaching should provide medically and legally accurate, impartial information on all options, including keeping the baby, adoption, abortion and where to get further help.

To help schools fulfil this statutory duty, the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists published an abortion care factsheet providing up to date medical and legal information about abortion care.

Why PSHE is important

Priory School

Personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education gives pupils the knowledge, skills, and attributes they need to keep themselves healthy and safe and to prepare them for life and work in modern Britain.

When taught well, PSHE education helps pupils to achieve their academic potential, and leave school equipped with skills they will need throughout later life. High quality PSHE can contribute to strengthen a safeguarding culture.

Teachers may need support to deliver high quality PSHE or relevant topic matter. Strengthening knowledge around these topics and skills to deliver the session within the teaching workforce can be useful e.g. pastoral leads, or others.

The Public Health response to the Education Strategy consultation makes clear the links between PSHE and physical health to outcomes for children and young people.

Useful links to guidance and resources

PHE School Zone

PHE School Zone

Check out the PHE School Zone and subscribe for updates to be the first to know about free resources and get ideas for cross curricular links.

To subscribe to the national newsletter, visit the PHE School Zone website and scroll to the bottom of the page.

PSHE Association

The PSHE Association is constantly building its bank of quality assured resources and range of guidance. There is a range of free items, however PSHE Association membership is required for access to the full range of resources and tools.

The site also provides a variety of other useful support for schools including a range of planning, policy writing, parent engagement, evaluation and auditing guidance tools. The organisation also provides support opportunities, workshops and CPD options.

Sex Education Forum

The Sex Education Forum produces a helpful range of advice and guidance resources.

They have also developed a poster explaining the need for good quality relationships and sex education (RSE) in schools. The statements on the poster are based on research evidence and supported by a wide range of partners, including NSPCC, Barnardo’s, The Children’s Society and NCB, and education unions ASCL, NASUWT, NEU, NAHT and UNISON. They are also supported by an increasing number of MPs and Peers.

Schools are invited to download and use the statement to make their own commitment to good quality RSE. Whether the school’s RSE is already well established, or needs further improvement, the poster can be displayed, shared with parents, staff and governors and used as a springboard to develop the quality of RSE provision the school is working towards. For educators and organisations who support RSE, you can can download your own poster of support. Both versions of the poster are available on the SEF website.

Free RSE inset day offers in Portsmouth

Solent Sexual Health Promotion have a range of free training which can be tailored to your schools’ needs and can be delivered virtually, face to face or blended packages.

  • RSE skills and confidence: Upskilling session regarding sexual health matters, sexuality, consent, confidentiality, and the law
  • LGBTQ+: Increase awareness and understanding of LGBT+ people and matters, those uncertain about their sexuality or gender identity, to explore resources available to support your work.
  • RSE 1
  • Access to sexual health (SH): How best to supporting pupils to access SH

For more information, please contact [email protected] or [email protected]

Other recommended sites

There are many useful websites for schools, young people and parents to refer to. Here are a few which come highly recommended (and some can also be followed on social media for updates):

Other local sites with PSHE support include:

Toolkits

Single slides with local information

Engaging with parents and carers

The Secretary of State for Education, Rt Hon Gillian Keegan has written a second letter to schools setting out the government’s position on the expectation that teaching materials used within the RSHE curriculum should be able to accessed by parents.

Further details can be found in the following press release and blog post:

Information for school governors in relation to PSHE

The National Governors Association (NGA) worked in partnership with the PSHE Association to develop specific guidance for governing boards in relation to PSHE. They highlight the crucial link between PSHE education and safeguarding, health and wellbeing in schools. The PSHE Association give best practice advice for meeting the statutory RSHE requirements and they too outline the importance of a supportive governing board.

The national RSHE guidance on the statutory requirements also provides recommendations for governing boards or management committees.

The NGA provides more information for members in relation to relationship education and RSE.

For additional support, The Key for School Governors provides guidance on how to:

Local PSHE support for 2022/23

Since the launch of the RSHE statutory guidance there has been vast developments in the range of nationally and locally available quality assured resources and packages available from specialists. Therefore the focus on the support locally intends to support networking, partnerships and sharing of locally relevant information (including to support access to learning development opportunities to school staff and resources to support class delivery).

[email protected] remains Portsmouth City Council’s mailbox to direct queries relating to PSHE topics. The team monitoring this mailbox will support queries to be directed to local or national specialists in the topic that it relates to. The team may also be able to help signpost to other individuals or teams who have relevant experience.

Quality assurance: external providers in relation to PSHE

The weekly PEP bulletin for schools is not an advertising space. It is a space which can be utilised to share key updates about important updates and opportunities that must:

  • Meet the ethos of the Portsmouth Education Partnership
  • Be free or subsidised by public funding (e.g. by the local authority)
  • Have been procured by the public sector following a quality assurance process 
  • Heavily recommended by multiple schools, especially if other schools have been calling for peer recommendations
  • Be in line with the national guidance in relation to guidance from gov.uk

Where appropriate it is recommended that external providers indicate which elements of the RSHE statutory guidance for RSHE that resources and lessons link to. This supports the schools curriculum planning and evidence.

Contact

Portsmouth City Council has set up a PSHE mailbox to enable workforce leads within Portsmouth City Council to manage your enquiries around PSHE, including statutory relationships, sex and health education.

To get in contact, please email [email protected].