ABSTRACT
Imagine a primary school where the focus is on developing academic excellence. At Key Stage 1 the children are drilled in phonics and aspects of numeracy while staff insist that all must write simple, punctuated sentences before the end of the Reception year. Whole-class teaching is the norm throughout the school with no time or opportunity for group or paired work. Experimentation, investigation and exploration are discouraged as they are time-consuming and a more efficient didactic approach is preferred. Thankfully, this rather Dickensian version of primary schooling is relegated to the history books in most establishments. True, the pressure of end-of-key-stage assessment has meant that ‘teaching to the tests’ has become a moral dilemma, but most teachers firmly believe that there is more to education than literacy and numeracy and to deprive children of a varied, balanced curriculum is doing them a disservice. Against such a backdrop, Personal, Social and Health Education and Citizenship (PSHE&C) provides children with life-enriching, developmental opportunities and experiences that may not be found elsewhere in the curriculum.
