The PSHE Association has published a new Programme of Study for Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education. The British Humanist Association (BHA) has welcomed the document for clearly and comprehensively setting out what schools should teach as part of a strong, broad and balanced curriculum.
The document covers Key Stages 1-4 and is split into three core themes, namely ‘Health and wellbeing’, ‘Relationships’ and ‘Living in the Wider World’ (covering Economic wellbeing and being a responsible citizen). Sex and Relationships Education (SRE), which is a particularly important component of PSHE, is covered by parts of both of the first two themes. In addition, the document is supported by guidance for teachers on developing a PSHE curriculum from the Programme of Study.
The document’s publication comes not long after the Government published the new national curriculum, which contained disappointingly little progress on PSHE and SRE.
BHA Head of Public Affairs Pavan Dhaliwal commented, ‘We welcome that in the absence of any central progress on improving PSHE, the PSHE Association has seized the initiative and produced its own comprehensive Programme of Study for schools to follow. Ofsted’s recent report on PSHE, Not yet good enough, found an extremely strong correlation between schools being graded outstanding overall and being graded outstanding in PSHE specifically. However, as the name of the report suggests, many schools are not teaching adequate PSHE. We hope this Programme of Study goes some way to changing that.’
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For further comment or information contact Pavan Dhaliwal, Head of Public Affairs, at pavan@humanists.uk or on 0773 843 5059.
Read the PSHE Association’s press release: http://www.pshe-association.org.uk/resources_search_details.aspx?ResourceId=495
Read more about the BHA’s campaigns work on PSHE and Sex and Relationships Education: http://humanists.uk/campaigns/schools-and-education/school-curriculum/pshe-and-sex-and-relationships-education/
The British Humanist Association is the national charity working on behalf of non-religious people who seek to live ethical and fulfilling lives on the basis of reason and humanity. It promotes a secular state and equal treatment in law and policy of everyone, regardless of religion or belief. The BHA contributes to debate on a wide range of ethical issues from stem cell research to sex education. The BHA is a member of the National Children’s Bureau Sex Education Forum (SEF) and the Children’s Rights Alliance for England.