PSHE essential information for parents and carers

How schools support children's health and wellbeing through the curriculum and what parents and carers can do at home.

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Parents and carers want the best for their children, and most parents/carers state that their child's health and happiness is the most important thing to them.

With all the heath-related messages available to us these days, it can feel confusing to know how to support children with their health and wellbeing.

How do schools support children's health and wellbeing through the curriculum

At school, the personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) curriculum teaches children the skills and knowledge that they need about health and wellbeing through the subject of PSHE.

This curriculum subject focuses on improving knowledge, skills and understanding, and its function is to keep children and young people healthy and safe, and prepare them for life and work. It helps to equip them with knowledge, understanding and practical skills, appropriate to their age and maturity, in order to live healthy, safe, fulfilled and responsible lives.

PSHE also enables children and young people to reflect on and clarify their own values and attitudes, and explore the complex and sometimes conflicting range of values and attitudes they encounter now and in the future. All PSHE lessons should begin with setting a group agreement (sometimes also called ground rules), which ensures a safe and positive learning environment is in place for everyone.

Just like for any other subject, PSHE is taught in a way that is appropriate for children depending on their age and their stage of development. Teachers are fully trained to support children with their learning in PSHE and will differentiate appropriately; to an extent, teachers will also be able to anticipate spontaneous issues that could arise in PSHE lessons. Schools have a PSHE Subject Leader who monitors and evaluates the PSHE curriculum, and reports on progress to senior leaders in school, and to parents and carers too. An overview of the PSHE curriculum should be on a school's website.

Some children with additional needs and disabilities will benefit from lessons and activities that are adapted to suit their requirements. Teachers will ensure their individual needs are taken into consideration when planning lessons and will adapt them as necessary. Parents/carers are encouraged to speak to their child's teacher if they have any questions on how learning will be delivered.

There are parts of PSHE that are statutory, meaning that all schools have to teach them to all pupils. The statutory elements are sometimes referred to as relationships, sex and health education (RSHE). For primary schools, relationships education and health education are statutory. For secondary schools, relationships education, relationships and sex education, and health education are statutory. The Science curriculum also covers some of this important information, and it is also a statutory subject.

The Department of Education's guidance for parents and carers for primary-aged children and for secondary-aged children on the statutory parts of PSHE is a useful document to read if you would like to know more about what your child will learn at school and how you can be involved in this process.

Statutory guidance ensures that all schools consult with parents and carers and have an appropriate policy in place. This may be called a PSHE policy, and Relationships and Sex Education policy or a Relationships Education policy.

Note: independent schools already have a statutory duty to deliver PSHE.

If you are interested in finding out more about PSHE and what this looks like for your child, or if you have any questions, contact your child's school using the school's preferred method of communication.

What can parents and carers do to support children's health and wellbeing at home

The teaching and learning that is done at school can be reinforced at home, so that children are getting consistent messages from adults in their lives.

Children's physical and mental health are both important areas to focus on and some of the practical things that children and young people need include sufficient sleep, a balanced diet, movement and exercise, play, and rest and relaxation time. Guidance about what children need can be found in reliable websites like Healthier Families and Better Health NHS.

It's also important to think about other areas of life. Providing a safe and supportive home environment, where children and young people feel loved, nurtured, valued and listened to, is vital for them to thrive. For this to happen, parents/carers themselves need to feel safe and supported first, so that they can provide this sort of environment for children.

There are lots of simple and effective measures that parents/carers can do with and for children to help support their health and wellbeing, as well as what they are learning in PSHE. Some ideas include:

Playing games with children – board games, movement games, word games – to support them with social skills like taking turns, and with other areas of child development.
Talking with them and listening to what they say. If children feel like they can talk to parents/carers about the small stuff, they are more likely to trust them when it comes to the big stuff.
Doing fun things together. This might be day-to-day activities like walking the dog or singing in the car, or it might be going to a park or the cinema.
Sharing different views in an accepting environment. We all have different views and values, and sharing what and how we think can be a useful way of demonstrating difference and diversity to children. This supports them to accept themselves and others in a non-judgemental way.

Schools and parents/carers cannot be expected to be experts in every area of life, so being able to find help when you need it is crucial. The Healthy Surrey web pages have a wide range of support services available for Surrey residents. The Children and Young People's Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Service, Mindworks Surrey, is a useful source of support. The NHS website and more specialist websites like Young Minds provide information and places to find support for parents and carers who would like to know more.

More information

For more specific support on PSHE-related topics for parents and carers

Further information for families

Acknowledgements

Thank you to the following people and organisations for their valuable input:

Ash Grange Nursery and Primary School
Early Help Partnerships – Parenting Co-ordinator, Surrey County Council
Family Voice Surrey
Furzefield Primary School
Learners Single Point of Access (L-SPA), Surrey County Council
Race equality and minority achievement (REMA), Surrey County Council
Surrey Healthy Schools, Surrey County Council
Surrey Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner

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Logos for Family Voice Surrey, Surrey Additional Needs and Disabilities, REMA, Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey, Surrey Healthy Schools, Surrey County Council