Calls for DfE to improve 'failing' PSHE education

The calls follow publication of a report by the education watchdog that reveals only 60 per cent of primary and secondary schools are delivering good or better PSHE teaching.

The study of 50 maintained schools and an online survey of almost 200 young people led it to recommend the DfE help schools improve their provision.

Ofsted found sex education was often not age-appropriate. In primary schools, teachers placed too much emphasis on friendships and relationships, leaving pupils ill-prepared for the physical and emotional changes of puberty.

The subject, which is non-statutory and will remain so following a government review published in March, covers topics including sex and relationships, alcohol misuse and mental health.

Joe Hayman, chief executive of the PSHE Association, said the report’s findings give fresh backing to his call for the DfE to promote the practice in schools.

“We call on the DfE to heed our request to make a more explicit link in the national curriculum framework between PSHE and schools' statutory responsibilities,” said Hayman.

Simon Blake, chief executive of sexual health charity Brook, also backed the call for the DfE to provide stronger leadership on the subject.

“PSHE education provides a strong foundation for pupils’ health, wellbeing and their wider lives and is why the DfE must provide strong leadership on this issue,” said Blake.

Jonathan Romain, chair of the Accord Coalition for Inclusive Education, added: “The government has done little to improve the standing and provision of PSHE, and may now even undermine it by reducing the modest amount of sex education that is currently required to be taught as science in the national curriculum."

But a DfE spokesman said teachers were responsible for providing good PSHE teaching, “not politicians in Westminster”.

"The quality of PSHE teaching is not good enough,” he said. “Our curriculum reforms have given teachers the freedom to tailor their teaching so it meets the needs of their pupils.

“We are funding the PSHE Association to work with schools to develop curricula and improve the way it is taught.”