Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE)
Stowe's Personal, Social and Health Education programme encourages pupils to think seriously about a wide range of relevant and important issues, to develop the confidence and skills which are necessary to make responsible choices, and to place all of this within a tolerant and actively caring concern for other people.
All members of the teaching staff, indeed the whole community, are inevitably bound up in this transmission of values, attitudes and ideals, although Tutors are mainly responsible for delivering the PSHE curriculum as part of a planned tutorial programme throughout the School year. Use is also made of external speakers on a regular basis, and the pastoral role of Housemasters / Housemistresses must also be recognised as an aspect of the PSHE provision. The programme is developmental, raises concerns and issues at an age appropriate to the pupils, and is largely centred around the three major areas of Health, Social Issues and Relationships, typical subjects of study include bullying, drugs, smoking and alcohol, sex education and relationships, race and culture, life in the Stowe community, some study skills, rights and responsibilities and consumerism.
The ideal is to turn out self-confident, caring people, who have the information and the ethical framework required to make good calls on difficult decisions. As a subject, it is simply a new way of transmitting the care and values which have always been at the heart of a good education.
Head of Department: P Last