Social, Physical and Health Education (SPHE) is a statutory element of the Irish Curriculum’s from Junior Infants through to sixth class. SPHE fosters the personal development and health and wellbeing of the child. It helps him/her to create and maintain supportive relationships and to become an active and responsible citizen in society and permeates through all school life.

A strong focus on SPHE within school can help to build pupils’ resilience to deal with challenges. It places the child at the centre of the curriculum and through engagement in a broad range of caught and taught activities seeks to equip and prepare young people for life, work and the challenges of being an adult in an increasingly complex society.

SPHE focuses on 3 key themes; Myself, Myself and Others, Myself and the World which concentrate on the development of children’s knowledge, attitudes, skills, relationships, emotional awareness, thinking skills, values, life skills and behaviour that flows both in and outside of the classroom.

These 3 themes are also reflected in Prayer Spaces in Schools key areas. A prayer space and can enhance SPHE provide opportunities for pupils to reflect further upon these area and create space in the school life for pupils to explore their own beliefs and how their values inform how they relate to others and the world around them.

This document gives some examples of the many ways in which prayer spaces connects with the SPHE curriculum .