Personal Development Curriculum

Intent

At William Harding our intent has been to construct and deliver a personal development curriculum that is academic and beyond which is;

  • developing pupils’ confidence, resilience and knowledge so that they can keep themselves mentally healthy

  • developing pupils’ character, which we define as a set of positive personal traits, dispositions and virtues that informs their motivation and guides their conduct so that they reflect wisely, learn eagerly, behave with integrity and cooperate consistently well with others

  • how well leaders develop pupils’ character through the education that they provide

  • the quality of debate and discussions that pupils have

Key parts of our personal development curriculum are;

  • British Values

  • Sex and Relationships Education

  • E-safety education

  • Healthy lifestyles

  • LORIC

  • Wellbeing sessions

  • Careers Curriculum

  • Volunteering

  • School values

  • SMSC

Implementation

We deliver part of our personal development curriculum through Primary Edge from PIXL. The purpose of these resources is to provide teachers with a progressive suite of session plans and materials to support the teaching of the five attributes of the Primary Edge that our pupils need; Leadership, Organisation, Resilience, Initiative and Communication.

We believe it is essential that the LORIC character attributes are not just taught as discrete lessons, but woven into activities across the whole curriculum. That way, pupils will be able to appreciate how character development plays a meaningful role in enhancing everything they do.

LORIC.PNG

For each attribute, there are 3 sessions (4 for Leadership) for Y1-6. KS1 – Challenger, Lower KS2 – Contender and Upper KS2 - Challenger. Each session may be delivered in its entirety or split into shorter sessions over a half term.

We also deliver character and culture sessions from PiXL. We cover My Mind, My Health, My Life and Mind to be kind (kindness, respect and causing no harm). These elements are covered in weekly wellbeing sessions. The explore a range of personal attributes and how we can use and develop them.

Impact

We hope that from our personal development curriculum William Harding pupils’ character will have been developed so that they reflect wisely, learn eagerly, behave with integrity and cooperate consistently well with others. Fully ready to interact and live within society successfully.

If you would like to find out more about our Personal Development curriculum, please email the office FAO Mrs Skinner

Careers Education

As part of our personal development offer we also provide careers education for all year groups, from Reception upward.

Each term we hold a careers focused learning day. We aim to ensure that our pupils are aware of the types of careers that are available and to have a job to aspire to achieve. We also aim to break down any misconceptions or stereotypes our pupils may have about different careers.

As part of our careers days we provide pupils with the opportunity to hear about careers from those people who have those roles.

Intent

We intend pupils to;

  • Develop an understanding of gender stereotyping in relation to careers and for pupils to challenge those

  • Develop aspirations for future careers

  • Develop an understanding of current careers and careers that may exist in the future

  • Develop an understanding of what the world of work is like

  • Expanding their understanding of realistic careers and skills or qualification needed to enable them to think about their education journey and goals

We also intend to enable parents to share aspirations for pupils and engage the local community.

Implementation

A number of objectives from the Career Development Institute framework for Primary Schools are already met through other areas of the curriculum within the school. The additional objectives will be met through a termly careers day. Additional opportunities will be taken during lessons to develop careers knowledge and during trips or when visitors come in to school.

In addition, elements of our careers curriculum will be covered through our focused learning days such as World Book Day, Black History Month, Mental Health days, DLD day, Road Safety Day etc.

We also have a volunteering programme to support pupils to understand that work and helping others does not have to be a paid career. We raise money each term for a variety of charities. We also have a wide range of pupil leaders and roles in school. These are applied for by pupils and are undertaken on a voluntary basis.

Impact

  • We want our pupils to have developed a good understanding of a wide range of possible careers

  • We want our pupils to have clear goals and a path to achieve them

  • We want our pupils to have high aspirations for their future career

Volunteering

We aim to encourage our pupils to want to help others and make our community a better place. We do this through our volunteering programme.

Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development

At WH our provision for the social development of pupils includes developing their:

  • willingness to participate in a variety of communities and social settings, including by volunteering, cooperating well with others and being able to resolve conflicts effectively

  • developing and demonstrating skills and attitudes that will allow them to participate fully in and contribute positively to life in modern Britain

In school volunteering

We have a number of in-school volunteering roles:

Animal Advocates - looking after our animals

Chicken monitors - looking after the chickens

Attendance monitors - collecting attendance information

Online Safety Ambassadors - promoting online safety

Lunchtime prefects - supporting pupils to follow the school behaviour policy and offering support

Sports Leaders - providing support for sporting events and PE lessons and demonstrating sport skills

Playground Leaders - providing support to other pupils on the playground and organising games

Assembly Team - Setting up the hall for assemblies

Assembly spotters - Supporting pupils in assembly to follow the Behaviour Policy

EAL Champions - Providing support for pupils new to the school who have EAL and tours for new families

JRSOs (Junior Road Safety Officers) - Supporting the Travel Plan Lead to encourage road safety

Librarians - booking library books in and out and keeping the library tidy

School Council - Meeting to discuss improvements in school and charity opportunities

Lunchtime Hall Team - help to set up tables for lunch, ensuring there are water jugs etc.

Lead Learners - Helping within the classroom if pupils need help or helping the teacher

Eco-Warriors - Help to promote environmental issues and sustainability

House Captains - Lead their house during house events

Peer Mentors - Working with the School Councillor to provide support for pupils at lunchtime and mediate if there are disagreements

Organised Volunteering Opportunities

We also provide opportunities for pupils to volunteer as a year group. EYFS and Year 1 volunteer to help within school. Y2 and KS2 volunteer with external organisations. These opportunities allow our pupils to develop an understanding to how to support the wider community.

Our Volunteering Overview can be found here

If you would like to find out more about our Personal Development curriculum, please contact Mrs Skinner via the school office.