During the past two weeks the Children’s commissioner called for PSHE to help pupils avoid gangs and DfE minister Robert Goodwill and Lord Nash answered written questions.
Children’s commissioner says PSHE could help teach pupils avoid gangs
Children’s commissioner Anne Longfield has said that pupils should be taught in school how to avoid being lured into gangs or being exploited by older criminals. She said that PSHE education should help raise children’s awareness of when they are being targeted by gangs and build the resilience to resist them. The PSHE Association said in a comment to the BBC that the subject “gives pupils the knowledge and skills to better understand peer influence, and helps them recognise and avoid exploitative relationships, online and offline.”
Written questions
- Baroness Stowell of Beeston asked what provision is made in the National Curriculum for pupils to be taught basic financial literacy, with the purpose of learning how to manage personal finances and household budgets. Lord Nash answered that financial literacy was made statutory in the National Curriculum in 2014 and is now taught as part of citizenship and maths. He also mentioned that many schools include teaching of financial education in PSHE education.
- Stephanie Peacock asked what assessment has been made of the effect of period poverty on young women and girls in schools. DfE minister Robert Goodwill answered that the department has not conducted an assessment about the effect of period poverty on young women and girls in schools, but that no girl should be held back from reaching her potential because of her gender. He pointed out that current guidance to schools on Relationship and Sex Education encourages schools to make adequate and sensitive arrangements to help girls cope with their menstruation.