Our approach is underpinned by a belief in building and championing teachers’ agency and expertise.
You may have noticed that we’ve expanded our library of lesson plans quite substantially in recent years.
This is partly in response to demand from the sector, but also because we recognise the need for trustworthy, classroom-ready lesson plans for time-poor teachers — especially those who may be new to the subject or lacking in confidence or experience.
Though we take great pride in our lesson packs (from working with leading experts and using up-to-date evidence, to road-testing the lesson plans in real classrooms and finessing the design) this is just one important aspect of our work as the official national body for PSHE education.
And when you join the PSHE Association, you’re gaining access to far more than our library of over 500 fully-researched, evidence-based lesson plans covering the breadth of PSHE education, including statutory RSHE (although admittedly, membership is worth it for this alone!).
You also become a part of a vibrant community of professionals who are shaping the subject in real time to ensure every child and young person benefits from an education that prepares them for life’s challenges and opportunities.
We have members in every corner — from small rural primary schools to inner-city colleges and just about every category you can think of in between (including overseas) — so we understand the range of challenges faced by teachers and schools of all stripes.
Whether you need to audit your current provision against the updated statutory RSHE requirements or access high-quality live training on key PSHE topics and subject leadership, it all starts with membership.
And great PSHE education starts with you.
Our approach is underpinned by a belief in building and championing teachers’ agency and expertise.
Because no one knows your pupils like you do. And you should be highly sceptical of any product or service that markets itself as doing ‘all the work’ or presents itself as a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution.
We work hard to make life easier for you, while still recognising that high-quality PSHE education, and your pupils’ experience of the subject, hinges on teacher input and expertise.
That’s why all our guidance materials, lesson plans and training courses keep the teacher at centre stage and encourage adaptation and innovation, with notes and practical advice on how best to achieve this in the classroom.
And though we write the nationally recognised Programme of Study for PSHE education, we place just as much emphasis on ‘how’ to teach the subject safely and effectively as ‘what’ to teach.
We’ve worked closely over the years with teachers and schools to develop an extensive range of guidance and practical tools covering how to set up your curriculum, how to lead, how to teach tricky topics and more.
We’ve also built relationships with providers in the ITT and Early Career sector to help upskill the workforce from the ground up (including a special concessionary individual membership rate for ECTs, student teachers and teaching assistants in their first year).
Our commitment to upskilling is also the driving force behind our flagship School Plus membership package — ensuring whole staff teams can access class-leading PSHE training via our library of on-demand courses for a fraction of the cost of commercial alternatives.
You can’t stop a teacher when they want to do something. They just do it.
J.D. Sallinger
You can be assured that everything we publish for our community is from our own pen, whether that’s lesson plans and guidance handcrafted by our team of Subject Specialists, or bespoke replies to member queries on anything PSHE/RSHE related.
While there are some clear functional uses of AI for all of us, we believe that finely-honed algorithms, data processing and AI lesson generators are no match for teachers’ skills, expertise and professional judgement when it comes to the PSHE classroom.
Sadly, there is increasing pressure on schools to adopt products and services that enforce the use of these technologies in ways that can leave pupils concerned about the erosion of their cognitive and creative capabilities and risk undermining teacher agency.
But as J.D. Salinger once wrote: "You can’t stop a teacher when they want to do something. They just do it."
That’s why we’re backing teachers and doubling down on what our members tell us is important to them: practical and trustworthy support that upskills staff and empowers and protects pupils.
Our high-quality lesson plans are of course central to this, but we go much further in providing a comprehensive package and supportive community for our members.
All this serves the ultimate beneficiaries of this work — children and young people — so they are prepared to tackle life’s challenges and opportunities.