Personal and Social Education (PSE)
Please click to view or download a pdf file of the PSE Syllabus in detail
The Personal and Social Education department always starts with the assumption/premise that all pupils, whatever their academic ability are gifted in some way.
In some pupils gifts are apparent from an early age and are clearly visible. Others have to be empowered to believe they have a gift, to learn to accept help in identifying ‘it’ and in gaining the confidence to allow their particular gift to flourish. Some gifts may remain dormant until after their school years have ended – i.e. those who have the gift of being the most amazing mother etc and for some pupils it can often be to gain an understanding that their talents are to come in the years ahead.
The Personal and Social Education Syllabus from Upper III – Upper V is concerned with everything that is to do with the ‘self’. Pupils are encouraged to look at themselves and hopefully with guidance develop the confidence to look honestly at their lives and personalities and are able to look deep within themselves for their particular gift. Most children do not exude confidence in their teenage years and continuous work has to take place before many will start to look at themselves with any degree of competence and realism.
St. Mary’s girls are very quick to say what they can’t do but find it more difficult to consider what they can do well. However, by the end of Upper IV the vast majority have grasped this concept and can say what their own individual strengths are, or could be.
It is difficult to highlight what is covered within the syllabus but suffice to say from the first lesson to the last lesson the underlying theme that is at the forefront of every comment is to do with empowering the girls in the class to become nicer people, kinder to others, better listeners, more understanding, aware of the community, protectors of those who are weaker, more tolerant of those who are different, proud of what they do well, looking for areas for improvement etc. the list could go on forever. Linked with this is the insight that is gained when a pupil finds what it is they are good at and realising that it is a strength and if nurtured could become a gift and that these gifts can be academic, musical, sporting, dramatic but equally they could be a good listener, a carer, a socialite, a talker, an optimist, a shopper etc.
The easiest way to highlight this is to take one Upper IV topic that throws up a lot of strengths in all pupils at St Mary’s –
In looking for a career it needs to be something that an individual feels comfortable with, enjoys, and is good at. It is not a good idea to select a career that is based on all the things an individual dislikes or cannot do very well!
We look at various strengths and talents and explore each individual’s positive qualities collectively e.g.
- the listener
- the talker
- the carer
- the one good with little children
- the one who wants to be a mother
- the organised one
- the socialite
- the shopper
- the musician
- the one good with money etc.
- the one who has a superb sense of humour
We have no idea with our beginnings what the end result will be and we have no idea of the impact of our any of our words or where small beginnings will lead a child throughout their lives. We have no idea at which point a thought becomes an interest, an interest turns into a strength and a strength will turn into something that can be enriched and later will clearly become a GIFT. Because we do not know at what point and in what order these things occur we have a great responsibility to encourage all children to do their best at all times and in all things and to be aware that GREATNESS AND SUCCESS, TALENTS and GIFTS are always at the end of a great deal of hard work, dedication and determination as well as the result of many hours in unrecognised and unseen application.
PSE is concerned with the whole child, and in preparing that child for life as an adult. The subject forms part of the core curriculum at St. Mary’s. The course evolves throughout a six year programme. From Upper III – Lower IV all pupils attend one 35 minute lesson per week. In Upper IV – Upper V all pupils attend one 35 minute lesson per week for one half of each term. This enables Upper IV – Upper V to be taught in smaller groups thereby allowing more time for individuals to contribute to discussions. The Careers programme runs alongside and is intertwined with the PSE programme as directed by the Head of Guidance in Upper IV – Upper V. At St. Mary’s time is available for Careers in Lower V & Upper V in addition to the time allocation for PSE.
It encourages the continued development of the school’s stated overall aim of educating girls ‘in an environment which both develops Christian values and prepares them for any walk of life’.
The PSE programme is an integrated course and is seen as an important and valuable way of making the underlying Christian values more explicit whilst at the same time ensuring that girls are both informed about and ready to face the realities of a world which does not always espouse those values.
Miss Walker is always very happy to discuss the PSE programme with you should you wish for more information. The PSE programme is valued as a means of supporting both the individual and the family in an increasingly uncertain world. We all want a common outcome and that is to enable each individual pupil at St Mary’s to be happy and fulfilled, and in the end to be the best person that they can possibly be; intellectually, socially, emotionally and physically. The child arriving at St Marys is a blank canvass, a work of Art in progress.
