Update from Jono: November 2024

Jono here, from the PSHE Association. I hope you and your colleagues are well.

Here’s a quick update from me on recent developments and a few things to look out for this half term.

Firstly, a huge thank you to those of you who took the time to complete our annual survey last month. As always, it was great to see so much positive feedback about our work and the difference we are helping you to make in your setting. Your insights, across a range of areas will help to shape our membership offer going forward — improving PSHE education for every child, and supporting the amazing people who lead and teach it. People like you.

One thing the annual survey did raise, however, is that some schools have removed or added content based on draft RSHE guidance published for consultation in May.

And this is of significant concern, given some of the content schools may have removed will leave young people at risk, and some of the topics added do not yet have the resources and guidance necessary to teach them safely and effectively.

Until the consultation responses have been reviewed and the guidance is finalised it’s important to remember that the 2019 RSHE guidance remains in force. It seems unlikely that any update will appear until well into next year, so for now, you and your school colleagues should avoid using any teaching resources that explicitly follow the draft guidance as they may include or omit content in a way that contradicts current statutory requirements.

You can read more on this in our November policy update, alongside other updates on the curriculum and assessment review, recent reports from the DfE and the latest statistics around smoking, drinking and drug use.

So what else is new this half-term?

Well, we’re excited to announce the launch of our fully resourced suite drug and alcohol education lessons for key stage one through to key stage four. There are twenty-two lessons available in total, along with accompanying teacher guidance and knowledge organisers. These update our existing lessons on this topic, which, according to research by the NHS, are among the most used resources in the country for covering smoking, drinking and drug use with young people.

We’ve worked closely with experts at the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and other organisations to ensure the information and statistics are accurate and up to date. And all lessons have been fully redesigned to enhance the user experience for teachers and pupils.

We can’t wait to share them with you before the month is out.

Also look out for our EYFS friendship and bullying activity pack for children aged 4-5, which has been developed to support learning in the reception classroom in the prime area of personal, social and emotional development as part of the Early Years Foundation Stage framework.

It provides early learning experiences to support children to build relationships and friendships, supporting their future learning in PSHE education. The pack is the ideal precursor to our existing key stage one lessons on this topic.

This is our first dedicated pack for EYFS colleagues and we have more planned in this space over the coming months so keep an eye out.

And what about CPD opportunities for this half-term?

We’re kicking off later this week with face to face courses in London on teaching PSHE confidently and effectively. And it’s not too late to book your place if you fancy joining us. This foundation course will cover the essentials of PSHE education, an in-depth exploration of principles of best practice in the classroom, and planning, adapting, and delivering high-quality and engaging lessons.

As with all of our face to face CPD courses, our Subject Specialists will be on hand to share best practice and answer your burning questions, plus you’ll have a chance to meet and share ideas with other delegates in the room.

Don’t worry if you can’t join us this time around. We run our face to face training on a termly basis, in locations across England. And we have lots of other online CPD options available on everything from effective PSHE education in SEND settings to engaging with parents.

This half-term is also your last opportunity to attend our shorter Twilight CPD courses in their current live format before we announce exciting updates to our training package from next year. Course topics for this half-term include: tackling online harms, teaching confidently about puberty, assessment, and teaching PSHE education at key stage five or post-sixteen.

Visit our training and events page for more details and to book your place.

And finally, a quick update from Fully Human, our research and development arm.

Last week we published an article by Tom Giles, creative coder, producer and generative artist exploring how the liberation the early architects of the internet promised us has been actively hampered by the technology they designed. Read in full to find out how we got here and the underpinning philosophy that has driven us apart online instead of bringing us together.

We also heard from Dr Elly Hanson, Fully human Co-Founder and Clinical Psychologist, in part two of a three part series looking at more and less human approaches to sex in our age of hyper-charged online consumerism. The latest instalment focuses on questions around sexual objectification — like why violence is tolerated in pornography and why victims of sexual harassment and abuse are so often treated as if, quote unquote, ‘they were asking for it’. As Elly suggests, These issues are increasingly a part of the tapestry of young people’s lives, so it’s vital we interrogate the wider forces at play as well as potential ways forward.

Subscribe at fullyhuman.org.uk to receive our free fortnightly newsletter and join the revolution.

That’s all from me for now but I’ll be in touch again soon with more news and insights from the official subject association for PSHE education.