Personal, Social, Health and Economic PSHE education

1
Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE)
education
PSHE Association Conference 10th June 2009

• Lynda Lawrence
• Curriculum Unit

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• Background
• October 2008 Ministers announced their intention
  to make PSHE statutory with an independent review
  to investigate the best way to take this forward
• April 2009 Publication of Macdonald Review,
  alongside the Primary Curriculum Review and draft
  RE guidance
• Summer 2009 public consultation on the
  recommendations, closing on 24 July
• Autumn 2009 (subject to outcomes of consultation)
  legislation introduced to put recommendations
  into effect

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• 3 major areas of concern acknowledged by
  Ministers in launching review
• That making PSHE statutory would increase
  pressure on the curriculum
• That a statutory programme of study for PSHE
  would cut across the existing rights of school
  governing bodies to determine their own approach
  in sensitive areas such as SRE
• The position of a very small minority of parents
  who already withdraw their children or those who
  might want to in the future

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• Implementing the Macdonald recommendations
• Recommendations accepted in principle, subject
  to public consultation
• Establishing a statutory status for PSHE in both
  primary and secondary phases, with core
  entitlement set out within programmes of study at
  secondary and area of learning at primary
• Governing bodies to retain the right to determine
  their schools approach to SRE, to ensure that
  this can be delivered in line with the context,
  values and ethos of the school, but consistent
  with the core entitlement to PSHE education
• The duty to maintain an up-to-date SRE policy,
  meeting the needs of pupils and reflecting
  parents wishes and the culture of the community
  they serve, retained
• The existing right of parental withdrawal to be
  maintained
• The consultation is also seeking views on whether
  to change the name of PSHE education within the
  secondary National Curriculum

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• Recommendations accepted and where work has begun
  now
• Investigation of options for ITT and CPD
• Research to establish and report on models of
  delivery and their effectiveness in improving
  outcomes
• Work to find appropriate and innovative ways of
  assessing pupil progress
• Providing enhanced support for schools and
  teachers including supplementary resources and
  guidance and dissemination of good practice,
  including how schools can involve external
  organisations and visitors
• Developing a strategy to raise the profile of
  PSHE education amongst school senior management
  teams
• Work to consider further ways of promoting pupil
  and parent engagement

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• Priorities for DCSF
• To work with contributing policy teams across
  DCSF to ensure the effective and coherent
  implementation of the recommendations of the
  Macdonald Review
• To work with strategic and delivery partners,
  teachers and those supporting them in schools to
  ensure that timely and appropriate support is in
  place to build on existing high quality good
  practice and to share this widely

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• Current activity
• Review of the outcomes from the consultation and
  their implications for legislation
• Support for the work to implement the Primary
  Curriculum Review
• Work with QCA on a project to look at assessment
  in PSHE education
• Information gathering on current delivery models
  and training and development opportunities for
  teachers, to inform the development of a
  workforce strategy
• Working with partners to collect feedback on what
  more is needed
• Developing a two-way communications strategy with
  partners to take us through initially to
  September 2010