PSHE – Health Education
The “H” in PSHE stands for Health Education. This section looks at health and hygiene, accidents and safety measures, and balanced diets and exercise. For older children it also focusses on addictions, sexual health and contraception. Mental health is also covered but this is an overlap with personal education.
Staying safe is a major part of this section. With younger children this covers topics such as stranger danger or crossing the road. For older children online safety and hazards. It also explains how many of the rules we have to follow are there for our own protection. Most of the quizzes have a link at the bottom to the relevant BBC Bitesize page.
Diet and exercise are perhaps the two most important parts of health education, as they have such a dramatic effect on our quality of life and our health.
As you would expect, children are taught about the importance of eating a balanced diet and also ways in which we can incorporate exercise into our lives
Hygiene is also covered in this section. Not enough people realise how washing our hands or cleaning our teeth can affect our health and that of others so children are taught how important personal hygiene really is.
Puberty is a major part of anybody’s life so children faced with that prospect need to be informed of what to expect. They will learn how their bodies change as they grow older. For older children this section also includes sexual health and contraception.
Mental health and emotional wellbeing are aspects of health education, though there is some crossover with personal education here. Even in the modern world, many people regard mental health issues as something strange that should be feared. But a third of us will suffer from some form of mental disorder at some point in our lives.
Finally we come to addictions. Alcohol, tobacco and drugs are all mind-altering substances. Some are legal while others are not. Children are taught how these affect people’s health, and how they make them feel. They are also given strategies to avoid caving in to peer pressure and the consequences of substance abuse from a health and legal point of view.
