An update on our PSHE campaigning and public affairs activity

top-stripe

We continue to work hard on your behalf to raise the profile of PSHE education at a national level and we wanted to update you on our progress. This is an exciting time with lots happening, so please follow our website and social media feeds to keep right up to date on progress relating to the following key activities:

Support for Children and Families Bill amendment for statutory PSHE

Members may have seen an article in today’s Guardian outlining opposition plans for a Children and Families Bill amendment which would make PSHE statutory. We are supporting this campaign and are calling on our members to get involved by emailing your MP using this handy form set up by our friends at Terence Higgins Trust.

This proposal will be debated this Tuesday, 11 June so we only have a few days before the vote – so please do contact your MP as soon as possible to show your support, and keep up to date on the amendment through our website and via our Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn feeds.

Submission to the Youth Select Committee 'curriculum for life' inquiry

We have just submitted to the Youth Select Committee’s annual inquiry which this year focuses on how school can prepare pupils for life. The Youth Select Committee is set up by the British Youth Council to enable members of the Youth Parliament, young mayors and youth councillors to hold an inquiry into a key issue for young people. This year, the Committee will look at the role of the education system and the national curriculum in equipping young people with the necessary skills to negotiate life’s challenges and opportunities. The Committee takes evidence in the Houses of Parliament in the same way as Parliamentary select committees and is staffed by Parliamentary officers. We were delighted to make this written submission and our Chief Executive, Joe Hayman, will be giving evidence to the Committee in person on 28 June.

Letters to Elizabeth Truss MP and Sir Michael Wilshaw

Along with a number of partners in the sector, we wrote last week to Elizabeth Truss MP, the Under Secretary for Education and Childcare and Sir Michael Wilshaw, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools. These letters followed on from Ofsted’s recent report on PSHE education, which stated that the subject was ‘not yet good enough’. One of the key recommendations in the report was for the Department for Education to make clearer statements about the importance of PSHE education and we wrote to Elizabeth Truss to support this point; the report also identified worrying trends relating to child abuse and exploitation and our letter to Sir Michael Wilshaw called on Ofsted to recognise schools that demonstrate good practice in addressing these important issues through PSHE education. We will of course update you about any responses we receive.

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.

Raising the profile of PSHE education - update on our current campaigning and public affairs activity