With the summer holidays now here, we would like to thank PSHE practitioners across the country for their hard work over the past year. It has been a busy year for PSHE education, and we will continue to build on this momentum during the year ahead.
We have enjoyed a year in which we’ve welcomed more members and training delegates than ever, welcomed over 150 members to our annual conference and expanded our staff team in order to provide more support to our members. While we still face significant challenges to ensure children and young people get the PSHE education they deserve, it is encouraging to have the support of such a vibrant and committed PSHE community.
Here is a quick overview of just some of the things we’ll be working on over the summer to help you in the new school year:
- Education Committee Inquiry into PSHE and SRE: Written submissions to the Education Select Committee Inquiry into PSHE and SRE have now been published, including our own. We look forward to submitting further evidence to the Committee on your behalf over the coming months.
- Guidance on the teaching of consent: We are currently looking at your feedback on our guidance on the teaching of consent, and look forward to publishing an updated version as soon as schools return in September. We will continue to factor in feedback from those who are piloting it in the Autumn term.
- Changes at the Department for Education: As you will know, a number of changes have been announced at the Department for Education, including the appointment of Nicky Morgan as Education Secretary. Responsibilities are yet to be confirmed for some appointments. We will update members via social media when these are published and continue to work with the DfE on your behalf.
- New website and database: We have also commissioned a new database and website, to provide more tailored support to our growing membership; and to help practitioners access online support and resources more quickly and easily. We look forward to launching these over the summer so that you can enjoy the benefits when you return in September.
- Calendar of events: Please see our handy calendar of national and international events and campaigns of relevance to PSHE education which may help in your planning for September.
- Raising awareness of FGM: We have worked with DfID and the Home Office to put together a special page on our website helping teachers to recognise the warning signs of FGM. We intend to build on this by providing further information and resources that our members can use in the classroom.
- Teenage Cancer Action Week: We are working with Teenage Cancer Trust on cancer awareness PSHE resources to support its Action Week from 22 to 28 September. We'll have further updates in September and in the meantime you can access the 'What is Cancer?' resources here once you register your details with the Teenage Cancer Trust.
This is only a small flavour of what we’ll be working on over the coming months and we look forward in particular to addressing the requests for support you made through this year’s annual member survey, the results of which can now be read on our site.
Please note that this news article is archived content from our old website and some internal links may not be working. If you need help finding information please get in touch with us at info@pshe-association.org.uk.