The Future of PSHE

Joe HaymanOctober 2014

Presentation to cover:•The current position•The conditions for change:

– Evidence– Pupil and parent attitudes to PSHE– Growing calls for change

•The future

The current position

Section 78 of the Education Act 2002:“every state-funded school must offer a balanced/broadly-based curriculum which:- promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils;- prepares pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life”

Schools also have statutory responsibilities in relation to:• safeguarding and wellbeing (Children Act 2004)• equalities (Equality Act 2010)• community cohesion (Education Act 2006)

Added to this, in September 2013 the Department for Education reminded schools of their statutory obligation to publish their school curriculum by subject, including their provision for PSHE education.

The preamble to the new national curriculum framework states that “all schools should make provision for PSHE, drawing on good practice”.

But should is not the same as must.

The Conditions for Change: Evidence

There is growing evidence to suggest that health education, and the skills and attributes acquired through PSHE education more broadly, have a significant impact not only on health but also on pupil attainment, employability and future life chances.

Health education, delivered as part of a whole-school approach, has been proven to have a significant impact on health behaviours by a recent review of Health Promoting Schools (Langford et al, 2014).

A recent BMJ editorial (Bonell et al, 2014) notes that “education and health are synergistic… students in better health do better academically”. It identifies countries such as Finland, Singapore and Sweden which have better academic success than us and a greater emphasis on pupil health.

This ‘synergistic’ relationship between health and academic performance was reinforced by the Chief Medical Officer in her most recent annual report, which refers to PSHE education as a “bridge between education and public health”.

There is growing evidence of the links between good health, SEL, soft skill development and academic success: • A DfE commissioned report (Gutman and Vorhaus, 2012) found that pupils with higher levels of emotional wellbeing go on to have higher levels of academic success.

• A study of emotional resilience programmes in 22 UK schools (Challen et al, 2011) found short-term improvement in pupil attendance and attainment rates, particularly amongst those eligible for FSM and pupils who had been performing at below national average in maths/English.

• A study by US economist James Heckman (2008) looking at the impacts of life-long learning in a range of educational settings highlighted the relationship between socio-emotional skills, physical development, mental health and attainment.

A series of reports in recent years also emphasise the importance to pupils’ life chances of the skills and attributes PSHE education seeks to develop:

1. The Demos ‘Forgotten Half’ report noted that skills such as communication, teamwork and application are as important as academic ability in predicting future earnings (Demos, 2011).

2. The ‘First Steps’ report from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI, 2013) called for a more “rounded and grounded” education system, concluding that “personal behaviours and attributes – sometimes termed ‘character’ – play a critical role in personal effectiveness”.

3. The 2013 CBI/Pearson Education and Skills Survey identified ‘communication skills’ and ‘self-management’ as among employers’ top priorities from schools (CBI/Pearson, 2013).

4. The 2014 British Chambers of Commerce Skills and Employment Manifesto calls for intensified efforts from schools to help pupils to develop ‘soft employability skills’ (BCC, 2014). The BCC has just this week reiterated this call.

There is strong evidence that these skills can be developed through classroom learning: an analysis of over 200 SEL programmes by Durlak et al (2011) demonstrated improved social and emotional skills, attitudes, behaviour and an 11% improvement in attainment.

The Education Endowment Foundation’s Teaching and Learning Toolkit, states that SEL programmes have a significant impact on attitudes to learning, social relationships in school and attainment itself (EEF, 2014).

The Conditions for Change: Pupil and Parent Attitudes

A YouGov survey commissioned by the PSHE Association in May 2014 shows that 90% of parents agree that children and young people should receive lessons that prepare them for life and support their health and emotional wellbeing alongside academic study. This number holds up for SRE.

470,000 young people were involved in making ‘a curriculum which prepares us for life’ the UKYP’s priority campaign in England in 2014. The campaign calls for better PSHE education in schools, recognising its importance to young people.

Teachers see the importance too. 88% of respondents to a recent NUT survey said PSHE should be made a statutory subject. Three major teaching unions have recently called for statutory status and all recognise its importance.

Leading figures/organisations see the value:•Chief Medical Officer•Children’s Commissioner •Public Health England•Campaigners •Journalists•Opposition parties

Conditions for change:The evidence base and strong parent, pupil and teacher support creates a ripe set of circumstances for improving the status of the subject – and politicians from across the spectrum are getting interested

The future

This is the most exciting time for the subject in years. But higher profile means higher expectations, more scrutiny, new dilemmas. It also means the likely end of ‘splendid isolation’, the ‘amateur model’ and our narrative of ‘potential’.

Some challenges ahead:

1. The innate value of the subject, teacher creativity and compulsory status

2. Higher expectations and greater accountability: accreditation for pupils and external monitoring of delivery

3. Involvement of wider stakeholders, such as unions, parents, academies, faith school reps, academics, and employers

4. Greater emphasis on evidence-base, research and pedagogy in ITT, CPD and in the classroom

5. Greater focus on skills, attributes and maybe values in addition to knowledge; greater emphasis on the world of work

6. Integration with each individual schools’ curriculum design; no longer an add-on

A final message: Welcoming new challenges and facing them together

Joe HaymanPSHE Association Chief Executive020 7922 7950Joe@pshe-association.org.uk www.pshe-association.org.uk