Our Personal Development

Personal Development

 

“Children are at the centre of all we do”

We encourage everyone in our school community to live life well reflecting Christian attitudes and values and working in partnership with families as part of a wider, caring community. 

The hallmarks of a Christian life lived well are –

· Love · Joy · Self-control · Peace · Kindness · Patience · Generosity · Gentleness · Faithfulness

 Galatians 5:22 – 23

 

At West Heslerton, our aim is to teach children how to navigate through life safely, happily and healthily. Children are growing up in a world that is constantly changing and it is the duty of all the staff at school, in partnership with the parents, to teach the children transferable life skills. We teach children about the world around them, relationships, emotions, reproduction and health, as well as transferable skills to help with life. We consistently promote the British values and our school values.

 

We are committed to providing a purposeful and empowering curriculum that fully prepares learners for the next steps in their school career and the wider world. We want our children to aspire, achieve and believe that it is essential that they understand the world they live in by giving them the belief that they are capable of achieving great things.

 

Our Personal Development gives the children the knowledge and understanding they need to be safe and healthy, manage their academic, personal and social lives in a positive way, make informed choices, be rational and objective members of society and to be a positive influence in the communities that they belong to. 

 

These are the key areas of Personal Development:

 

Our comprehensive PSHCE curriculum covers many areas of personal development.  Following the North Yorkshire PSHCE scheme of work we teach the following:

• Me and My relationships
• Keeping my safe
• Keeping myself safe online
• My healthy lifestyle
• Me and my future
• Becoming an active citizen

(See progression document and curriculum intent for detailed information)

Relationships, sex and health education

• PSCHE scheme of work and reinforced in everyday school life.
• ‘Busy Bodies’ resource for Years 5/6.
• The Street (see below)
• Zones of regulation   displayed in all classes with strategies for pupils to use and also with specific pupils if needed
• Nurture is an integral part of our school.  We use the six principles of nurture: safety, wellbeing, language, transitions, learning and behaviour. We use Boxhall profiling as a tool to identify areas of development and implement relevant strategies to address these. Our Well Being Lead oversees this.

 

Wider Safety

• PSCHE scheme of work and reinforced in everyday school life.
• Rail, road, farm, water, fire safety etc taught through Forest School, visitors and visits
• Online safety taught through PSHCE scheme of work, Computing and special events (eg Safer Internet Day)
• Fire Drills, Stay Safe Drills practised regularly and whistles used daily
• Awareness of medicines, drugs and other harmful substances taught through PSHCE scheme of work, visits and visitors
• Managing own risks in range of contexts – taught throughout the curriculum: outdoors, indoors, online etc.
• The Street

 

Economic Understanding

• PSCHE scheme of work and reinforced in everyday school life.
• Opportunities for application (visits)
• Visitors (eg Money Matters)
• The Street

 

Understanding of technology and media

• PSCHE scheme of work and reinforced in everyday school life.
• Computing curriculum
• Opportunities for application – visits (eg STEM Fair)
• The Street

 

Citizenship

• PSCHE scheme of work and reinforced in everyday school life.
• Opportunities to take part in a range of activities locally and nationally
• Enhanced by visits and visitors
• The Street

 

Development of character

• Developed through application of values/virtues taught as part of Collective Worship
• Selfbelief, motivation, self-control, coping skills, resilience, persistence developed throughout school life

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wider opportunities –

• Quality Extracurricular activities led by qualified specialists and open to all children, including:
  • • Forest School
    • HSS (Gymnastics)
    • Multi-skills
• Residential trips (Y3/4 – East Barnby, Y5/6 – London)
• undertake and promote various other wider opportunities or signpost parents to these if applicable

 

Fundamental British Values  (Democracy, Rule of Law, Individual liberty, Respect and Tolerance)

• PSCHE scheme of work and reinforced in everyday school life.
• The Street
• Symbols displayed in each classroom and the hall

 

Inclusion and equality of opportunity

• PSCHE scheme of work and reinforced in everyday school life.
• Necessary adjustments are made to enable everyone to access the full curriculum
• Differences are celebrated – RE/PSHCE/School ethos/celebration assembly/everyday school life
• Equality Act covered in PSHCE (explicit teaching of 9 protected characteristics)
• No form of discrimination is tolerated
• The Street

 

Careers information

• PSCHE scheme of work and reinforced in everyday school life
• The Street
• Visits and Visitors

 

SMSC:

Spiritual – explore beliefs and experience; respect faiths, feelings and values; enjoy learning about oneself, others and the surrounding world; use imagination and creativity; reflect

Moral – recognise right and wrong; respect the law; understand consequences; investigate moral and ethical issues; offer reasoning views

Social – use a range of social skills; participate in the local community; appreciate diverse viewpoints; participate, volunteer and cooperate; resolve conflict; engage with the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, liberty, respect and tolerance

Cultural – appreciate cultural influences; appreciate the role of Britain’s parliamentary system; participate in culture opportunities; understand, accept respect and celebrate diversity

SMSC can be found:

• Across our curriculum
• In the wide range of experiences we provide
• The Street
• Our whole School ethos – permeates everything we do!!!

 

How we see personal development in school

We teach personal development in a wide range of ways throughout the children’s school lives. For example:

• It is taught in discrete lessons (please see curriculum documents)
• It is taught with crosscurricular links in other lessons
• Staff members consistently model how to be a good citizen who uphold the school values
• Assemblies (whole school and special visitors) and Collective Worship
• Visits and Visitors – (eg. Crucial Crew, Emergency Services, STEM Fair, Bikeability, East Barnby, London including Houses of Parliament, Kevin Hollinrake MP)
• The Street
• Specialist staff (Forest School)
• Online safety lessons
• Celebrating positive learning attributes at weekly assembly
• Huge array of after school clubs
• Well thought through transitions throughout the school and beyond
• Focusing on mental and physical health
• Regular Pupil Voice
• The six principles of nurture: safety, transitions, learning, behaviour, wellbeing, language.  Boxhall profiling is used to identify and address needs
• Celebrating different languages, cultures and religions
• Outdoor activity as a  Forest School
• Supporting charities and raising awareness (eg Fairtrade, Children in Need, Macmillan Cancer Research, Comic Relief, Foodbank)
• Local community links (Harvest – local residents; Church activities; events with local schools eg Malton Community Sports Competitions/Forest School and Albanwise)
• Take on responsibilities in school – monitor roles
• Public speaking – Leading aspects of Collective Worship, Sharing Learning in Assembly, Whole School Productions, part of wholeclass deliveries to audience (parents etc)

 

 

Personal Development is a fundamental part of the Early Years Foundation Stage.  As well as participating in whole-school approaches above also have this focus as part of their curriculum:

 

 

The Street

We use ‘The Street’ as a strategy to facilitate whole school knowledge and skills in personal development. 

The Street aims to:

• engage with British Values
• teach about faith celebrations
• discuss Current Affairs
• facilitate investigations of moral and ethical issues, give reasoned views
• comply with the Equality Act and Protected Characteristics
• share cultural events, influences and opportunities
• develop an increased understanding, acceptance and respect for all
• celebrate diversity
• challenge stereotype
• allow debate
• help pupils communicate clearly and confidently
• help pupils articulate reasoned responses
• share reallife events
• ensure neutrality and impartiality by staff

 

How this is done:

• Whole school assembly as part of the 3 week Collective Worship Rota introducing wide range of cultural events, faith celebrations, reallife events and allowing for incorporation of current affairs (see separate overview)
• Additionally, there is also a focus on different people and dwellings.  These incorporate  and reflect the diversity of the wider world
• These focuses are then taken back into classrooms to develop a greater ageappropriate understanding
• Display in the hall showing The Street, and identifying the current focus
• Updates from the Street are on the Newsletter to share with parents and the community