What is PSHCE?
PSHCE education is a school curriculum subject in England that helps children and young people stay healthy, safe and prepared for life – and work – in modern Britain. PSHCE education also helps pupils to achieve their academic potential.

What does PSHCE stand for?
PSHCE stands for personal, social, health, citizenship education. 
 

Do schools have to teach it?
Most of PSHCE education became statutory in September 2020 under the Children and Social Work Act.

The Act introduced compulsory Relationships Education in primary schools and compulsory Relationships and Sex Education in secondary schools. Health Education (both mental and physical) became statutory from key stages 1 to 4. This brought all schools more in line with independent schools who were already required to teach PSHCE. This statutory content – now often summarised as ‘RSHE ’– covers the majority of PSHCE education.

What impact does it have?
A DfE evidence review highlighted the subject’s importance to children and young people’s wellbeing and knock-on effects on academic achievement, stating that ‘The evidence shows that personal, social, health, citizenship education can improve the physical and psychosocial well-being of pupils. A virtuous cycle can be achieved, whereby pupils with better health and well-being can achieve better academically, which in turn leads to greater success’.

A major evidence review by Pro Bono Economics also found that PSHCE supports academic attainment by removing barriers to learning. These are the reasons that PSHCE is taken very seriously at Chilwell School. We are entirely committed to improving the life chances and aspirations of our students. We do this by ensuring that all students, regardless of their starting point or background, have access to a broader curriculum that provides numerous opportunities in sports, performing arts, the world of work and volunteering. In addition, our extensive enrichment programme supports the development of students into well-rounded and valuable citizens.

Our PSHCE and RSE programmes provide emphasis on developing the whole child, and the Chilwell values – Care Share Believe Achieve underpin this. These closely correlate with the Fundamental British Values of Democracy, the Rule of Law, Individual Liberty, Tolerance and Respect. Students learn how to keep themselves and others healthy during tutorial sessions and assemblies, with topics such as first aid, mental health awareness, and online safety featuring prominently. We carefully select all topics within the PSHCE and RSE curriculum to encourage student awareness and understanding of the nine protected characteristics set out in The Equalities Act 2010.

To read our full relationship and sex education policy please follow the link.