Personal Development
Empowering individuals to grow in self-awareness, responsibility and life-long learning.
Our Personal Development Curriculum intends to:
Enable pupils to make effective choices.
Teach pupils to be mindful of British Values.
Develop pupils into positive citizens of modern-day Britain.
Our personal development curriculum intends (through our Golden threads) to encourage pupils to:
Make thoughtful choices that positively shape the future whilst understanding and accepting that their choices will have consequences.
Act responsibly towards others and contribute meaningfully to society through ethical and compassionate behaviour.
Encourage character development by recognising strengths, areas for improvement, values, and aspirations for personal growth.
Why Learn Personal Development?
Personal Development (PD) equips pupils to live healthy, safe, productive, capable, responsible and balanced lives. It encourages them to be enterprising and supports them in making effective transitions, positive learning and career choices and in achieving economic well-being. A critical component of PD education is providing opportunities for children and young people to reflect on and clarify their own values and attitudes and explore the complex, and sometimes conflicting, range of values and attitudes they encounter now and in the future. Personal Development education helps pupils to cope with the changes at puberty, introduces them to a wider world and enables them to make an active contribution to their communities.
The curriculum for personal development is led by DSL (All-Through) and Year Leaders in the secondary phase, and by the designated Subject Lead in the primary phase. Working with leaders across all phases ensures a consistent approach and a spiralling curriculum which builds on prior learning in a manner which is both age and developmentally appropriate for pupils. All teachers are supported to deliver PD lessons in appropriate way through a CPD programme and individual support by Year Leaders / Assistant Year Leaders and Subject Leaders. Specialist teachers are used to deliver some aspects of the curriculum.
Working with parents, carers, and the wider community to create a safe, inclusive, and happy environment where pupils develop a strong knowledge of self. We help them understand their strengths, make responsible choices, and recognise the consequences of their actions. By providing opportunities to explore careers, set goals, and build essential skills, we support pupils in planning for their future.
We also foster a sense of responsibility to others and society, encouraging empathy, community engagement, and global citizenship. This holistic approach prepares pupils to lead fulfilling, purposeful lives beyond school.
Curriculum overview
This aspect of our curriculum is delivered by class teachers with specialist input and assemblies where appropriate.
PD offers explicit and implicit learning opportunities that are based on ‘Golden Threads’ that form the backbone of the PD curriculum across all key stages. PD is integral to all we teach and is delivered through a mixture of discrete lessons and within other curriculum areas. We understand that parents are the primary teachers of their children and we work in partnership to ensure our curriculum is complimented by what is taught at home.
During Key Stage 1 pupils learn about themselves as developing individuals and as members of their communities, building on their own experiences and on the early learning goals for personal, social and emotional development.
In EYFS and KS 1 each class uses a large personal development 'floor book' to evidence our learning. Each half term has a different focus for learning; these can be found on our long-term plans.
During EYFS and Key Stage 1, pupils learn increasing independence and physical and social awareness, as they move through the primary phase. Pupils are given opportunities to develop effective relationships, assume greater personal responsibility and manage personal safety, including online. Personal Development helps introduce pupils to a wider world and enables them to make an active contribution to their communities.
