How Our Workshops Support the PSHE Curriculum Without Even Trying
Educational and Fun Activities
Written by Charlotte Wilson
9 May 2025
🕓14 min
In the evolving landscape of education, Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education has become a cornerstone of how schools prepare children for life beyond the classroom. It covers a vast and vital range of topics—from emotional wellbeing and healthy relationships to decision-making, self-confidence, and responsible citizenship. But while PSHE is essential, it’s often tricky to teach in a way that feels both meaningful and engaging.
That’s where enrichment activities—particularly hands-on science workshops—can become unexpected allies. While our workshops are usually booked to ignite excitement around STEM subjects, they consistently end up reinforcing PSHE principles in the most organic and powerful ways. It turns out that mixing curiosity, creativity, and collaboration doesn't just teach science—it teaches life skills too.
Let’s explore how science workshops, without even trying, deliver lasting value aligned with the PSHE curriculum.
1: Building Communication and Teamwork Through Hands-On Exploration
One of the central aims of PSHE is helping children develop strong interpersonal skills—how to work together, express themselves, and listen to others. In our science workshops, these skills are constantly being exercised. Whether students are working in pairs to build a simple machine or in small groups to predict and test an experiment, the process naturally fosters cooperation. PSHE places a strong emphasis on interpersonal skills, and our workshops naturally support this from the very beginning. From the moment children walk into the workshop environment, they’re encouraged to engage with peers. Whether they’re hypothesising about what might happen in an experiment or sharing results after a group activity, communication is essential.
Pupils learn to articulate their ideas, challenge suggestions respectfully, and reflect together on outcomes. There’s no rigid script—just an environment where communication becomes essential for success. They negotiate roles, share equipment, and troubleshoot setbacks together. It’s teamwork not taught through a worksheet, but experienced through real-world challenge.
Even children who are typically quiet in class often find their voice during hands-on activities. The shared sense of purpose gives them a reason to speak up, and the low-pressure setting builds confidence without forcing performance. In this way, our workshops provide a safe stage for social-emotional growth.
2: Promoting Resilience and Growth Mindset
Another key PSHE goal is nurturing resilience—helping children manage setbacks, try again, and develop a mindset that embraces learning from mistakes. Science, by its very nature, is an ideal playground for developing these skills. In our workshops, things don’t always go perfectly the first time—and that’s by design. Whether they’re building structures or experimenting with chemical reactions, students are encouraged to hypothesise, test, and revise. They’re gently guided to see that failure isn’t final—it’s feedback. Every educator knows the importance of resilience in childhood development. PSHE highlights it as a key learning outcome, yet many students still struggle with the idea of getting things “wrong.” Our science workshops help shift this mindset. By design, many activities involve experimentation, and with that comes trial, error, and unpredictability.
This trial-and-error process helps children move away from the fear of getting things wrong. They start to see the value in persistence and begin to understand that success often comes after several failed attempts. This is emotional resilience in action—developed not through instruction, but through experience.
And when a final experiment works—when their circuit lights up or their catapult fires farther than expected—the sense of pride and confidence is deeply authentic. They’ve earned it through their own problem-solving and perseverance.
3: Encouraging Emotional Literacy and Self-Belief
One of the most underrated benefits of interactive workshops is their ability to boost emotional literacy and personal confidence. Children need opportunities to feel successful—not just academically, but personally. When a child participates in a science activity and realises, “I can do this,” it shifts something internally. Engaging in a high-energy science activity where a child sees their idea succeed or their effort acknowledged by a peer can be transformative. It boosts their self-image. They think, “I did that,” and that moment becomes part of how they see themselves. This builds genuine, experience-based confidence, not the kind that fades after a sticker or a certificate.
Many of our workshop participants leave with more than new knowledge—they leave believing they are capable learners. And that matters immensely in PSHE, where self-image and self-efficacy are foundational concepts.
Furthermore, science workshops often touch on topics that relate to personal identity and health—like the human body, the senses, or environmental choices. These explorations spark conversations about wellbeing, lifestyle, and even values. When children explore how the body works or how pollution impacts ecosystems, they begin to think about their own choices and their role in the world. This is PSHE territory—delivered through curiosity, not lecture.
4: Fostering Respect, Responsibility and Social Awareness
Science workshops may begin with goggles and beakers, but they quickly become platforms for ethical thinking and environmental responsibility. Many of our sessions encourage children to think critically about real-world problems—like waste, energy, food, and water. These issues connect directly with PSHE’s aims of promoting citizenship and informed choices. Our workshops are also inclusive. We design them to be accessible to children with different needs, backgrounds, and learning styles. This inclusivity itself promotes emotional literacy. Children see that everyone has value, that differences can be strengths, and that collaboration works best when everyone is supported to participate.
When students are challenged to design eco-friendly inventions or solve sustainability problems, they’re not just using STEM—they're stepping into social responsibility. They begin to understand that science can be a tool for positive change and that their actions—however small—can have an impact. During our workshops, these conversations emerge naturally. Children aren’t told to “care about the environment”—they conduct experiments that reveal pollution levels in water, test biodegradable materials, or measure the effect of light pollution. In doing so, they draw their own conclusions about what matters.
Moreover, our workshops are designed to be inclusive. Every child, regardless of ability or background, has a place and a role. This promotes empathy, appreciation for diversity, and respect for differing ways of thinking—all central PSHE themes. The collaborative, inquiry-led format means children learn to value not just the answers, but the perspectives of others in getting there.
5: Making PSHE a Living, Breathing Part of School Culture
The PSHE curriculum often asks schools to find creative, whole-school approaches that embed its values across learning experiences. Our science workshops offer exactly that. They don’t replace PSHE lessons—but they reinforce and enrich them by providing real-world contexts for applying what students learn. Schools that book regular science enrichment activities often report wider benefits: improved student morale, better behaviour during collaborative learning, and stronger engagement in subjects beyond STEM. It’s a ripple effect. When students feel confident and socially aware, they learn better—across the board.
They give teachers a way to make abstract PSHE goals tangible. After a workshop, it's easier to have meaningful class discussions about teamwork, failure, fairness, and environmental care—because the students have lived it. They've built things, tested ideas, failed and tried again, and contributed to a shared purpose.
For headteachers and PSHE coordinators, this kind of learning experience is gold. It supports mental wellbeing, social growth, and personal development in ways that feel authentic, not forced. And because the focus is on fun, students don’t even realise they’re building essential life skills—it just happens, naturally.
Conclusion
When we set out to create science workshops, our goal was simple: to spark excitement about STEM. But what we’ve learned over the years is that these experiences do so much more. They create confident communicators. They nurture resilient learners. They foster teamwork, empathy, and ethical thinking. Our science workshops offer exactly that. They ignite a passion for discovery while quietly and consistently reinforcing the key values of PSHE. They build resilience, communication, empathy, responsibility, and a sense of personal power.
In short, they deliver many of the core outcomes of the PSHE curriculum—without the pressure, without the stigma, and without even trying. The science may be what brings children to the table, but the personal growth they experience is what they carry with them long after the goggles come off.
🎉 Ready to book a workshop that supports STEM and PSHE in one unforgettable session? Explore our science enrichment experiences for primary schools across Croydon and South London—and see just how easily confidence, curiosity, and citizenship can come together. Would you like this blog turned into a newsletter or PSHE lead handout as well?
