As the government prepares to make personal, social, and health
education compulsory, a new educational
trial shows how these subjects can be taught
successfully. The results of a trial that has just been completed
show that the Healthy Minds curriculum increases
pupils’ satisfaction with their lives as much as
when an adult finds a life partner. The new
curriculum will be launched at a House of Commons reception
hosted by Layard, on Thursday 29
November at 7:00pm.
Healthy Minds is a four-year curriculum that provides materials
for a lesson each week from years 7 to 10 and covers standard
topics, plus resilience skills, social media awareness, mental
illness, parenting and the practice of mindfulness. To use these
materials, teachers need five days training for each year’s
materials that they will teach.
The trial of the curriculum was conducted in 34
state schools in England over the last five years. It
was organised by Bounce
Forward, a national charity that specialises in
practical resilience training for schools. The results have been
analysed by researchers the London School of Economics and show
striking average improvements compared with a control group. For
example, a typical pupil whose global health is
initially ranked as average rises to the 60th
percentile– by 10 whole points out of 100.
The authors hope that the results from this trial
will revolutionise mental wellbeing in
schools, so that PHSE can be taught well to all pupils
by any competent well-trained teacher. In evidence to the
government’s consultation, they also strongly recommend that PSHE
should become an option in which teachers can specialise in their
PGCE. The Healthy Minds curriculum could be an element in any
such course.
