Social Personal and Health Education
Social, personal and health education (SPHE) provides particular opportunities to foster the personal development, health and well-being of the individual child, to help him/her to create and maintain supportive relationships and become an active and responsible citizen in society. Through an SPHE programme that is planned and consistent throughout the school, children can develop a framework of values, attitudes, understanding and skills that will inform their decisions and actions both now and in the future. Since SPHE has a moral and a spiritual dimension, its development and implementation are influenced significantly by the ethos or characteristic spirit of the school.
The learning and teaching climate that prevails in the classroom, the methodologies and approaches used and the relationships that the children experience and witness in the school, all contribute to their social, personal and health development. Similarly, many of the themes and topics addressed in the various subjects have a social, personal or health perspective, as will many of the incidental happenings that occur in the everyday life of the school. There are also particular issues that are intrinsic to SPHE that need to be explored and examined in some detail.
An effective and meaningful SPHE programme will cater for all these dimensions by providing learning opportunities in a combination of three ways: in the context of a positive school climate and atmosphere, through discrete time (a specific time on the timetable) and through an integrated approach across a range of subject areas. Implementation in this way will enable the teacher to adopt a coherent approach to the programme, take cognisance of the learning experience in the home and make use of the most appropriate learning and teaching strategies.
As children progress through an SPHE programme, they will encounter a wide range of issues. These will include substance misuse, relationships, sexuality, child abuse prevention, prejudice and discrimination. The SPHE curriculum is structured in such a way that these issues are not explored in isolation; rather the emphasis is on building a foundation of skills, values, attitudes and understanding relevant to all these issues, with specific information provided where necessary.
The Stay Safe and Relationships and Sexuality Education Programmes are part of the Social personal and Health Education Curriculum which primary schools are required to implement. The Stay Safe Programme may be viewed at
www.staysafe.ie and the RSE Programme may be viewed at www.pdst.ie/
The learning and teaching climate that prevails in the classroom, the methodologies and approaches used and the relationships that the children experience and witness in the school, all contribute to their social, personal and health development. Similarly, many of the themes and topics addressed in the various subjects have a social, personal or health perspective, as will many of the incidental happenings that occur in the everyday life of the school. There are also particular issues that are intrinsic to SPHE that need to be explored and examined in some detail.
An effective and meaningful SPHE programme will cater for all these dimensions by providing learning opportunities in a combination of three ways: in the context of a positive school climate and atmosphere, through discrete time (a specific time on the timetable) and through an integrated approach across a range of subject areas. Implementation in this way will enable the teacher to adopt a coherent approach to the programme, take cognisance of the learning experience in the home and make use of the most appropriate learning and teaching strategies.
As children progress through an SPHE programme, they will encounter a wide range of issues. These will include substance misuse, relationships, sexuality, child abuse prevention, prejudice and discrimination. The SPHE curriculum is structured in such a way that these issues are not explored in isolation; rather the emphasis is on building a foundation of skills, values, attitudes and understanding relevant to all these issues, with specific information provided where necessary.
The Stay Safe and Relationships and Sexuality Education Programmes are part of the Social personal and Health Education Curriculum which primary schools are required to implement. The Stay Safe Programme may be viewed at
www.staysafe.ie and the RSE Programme may be viewed at www.pdst.ie/