Self-harm: Curriculum

(asked on 24th October 2016) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of curriculum content on self-harm; and if she will bring forward legislative proposals to make teaching about self-harm compulsory as part of the national curriculum.


Answered by
Edward Timpson Portrait
Edward Timpson
This question was answered on 27th October 2016

We want to provide all young people with a curriculum that prepares them to succeed in modern Britain. The majority of schools and teachers already recognise the importance of good PSHE education and know that healthy, resilient and confident pupils are better-placed to achieve academically and be stretched further.

Schools and teachers have the freedom to decide what to cover as part of their PSHE lessons, based on the needs and views of their pupils. Schools are encouraged to teach pupils about mental health and emotional wellbeing as part of a developmental PSHE education curriculum.

To support schools in developing their PSHE curriculum, we have funded the PSHE Association to produce guidance and age-appropriate lesson plans to teach about mental health, including self-harm. The guidance is available at: https://www.pshe-association.org.uk/curriculum-and-resources?ResourceTypeID=3.

We recognise that we need to look again at how schools deliver high quality PSHE and we are considering all options.

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