Personal Development

Personal Development

Intent

Our intent is to deliver a curriculum with Personal Development (PD) at the centre, which develops learning and the aquisition of knowledge and skills, enabling  our children to access the wider curriculum and prepare to be responsible citizens in their own community and as part of the wider world. We aim to do this by nurturing our children to be happy and healthy;  promoting, adopting and embedding a range of skills that allow them to be life-long learners.

Personal development is at the heart of our whole school ethos; supporting our children to acquire the knowledge, skills and undrstanding they need to manage thier lives, now and in the future.  We ensure each area of our curriculum delivers all aspects of the statutory guidance and reflects our specific needs as a school community. . As part of a whole-school approach, PD education develops the qualities and attributes children need to thrive as individuals, family members and members of society. The benefits to pupils of such an approach are numerous: preparing them to manage many of the most critical opportunities, challenges and responsibilities they will face growing up in such rapidly changing and challenging times. It also helps them to connect and apply the knowledge and understanding they learn in all subjects to practical, real-life situations while helping them to feel safe and secure enough to fulfill their academic potential.

Our PD education is part of a whole school approach which promotes effective relationships between all members of the school community. The promotion of pupils’ personal and social development underpins other learning. By helping children and young people to build their personal identities, confidence and self-esteem, and to understand what influences their decisions, they will develop self-understanding, empathy and the ability to work with others -helping them to enjoy healthy and productive relationships in all aspects of their lives.

Implementation

Through our curriculum offer, we teach a well planned PSHRE curriculum which deals with personal, social, emotional and health issues and also upholds our school’s I CAN values.  As a UNICEF GOLD Rights-Respecting School  - children's rights are central to all decision making at policy and practice level - teaching the children the importance of their own development and being a global citizen. 

Personal Development runs through all aspects of our school day:

• PSHRE curriculum 

• SMSC education 

• British Values

• Global Citizenship

• Pupil Leadership

• The wider curriculum

• Extra-curricular activities 

• Educational visits and visitors 

Skills We Learn
Always in an age appropriate way, we help the children manage their lives, now and in the future, and help them to learn every-day, essential, life skills, including:
• The development of self-understanding, empathy and healthy, productive relationships
• Relationships Education
• Eating healthily
• Keeping safe on the road
• How to stay safe on the internet
• The promotion of good mental health
In keeping with our School ethos, the children are encouraged, and frequently reminded, to speak to a trusted adult when they have any concerns or worries.

Anti- Bullying
Another important aspect covered by PD is anti-bullying. The negative effects of bullying can have an impact on a person for their entire life. Lyme Community Primary School promotes an environment free from threat, harassment and any type of bullying behaviour.
Our aims include:
• Ensuring all members of the school community has an understanding of what bullying is.
• Creating an atmosphere and environment where children, parents and staff feel able to tell the school about bullying if it arises and are confident it will be taken seriously and dealt with.
• To put in place clear procedures for dealing with incidents of bullying.
For further information, please read our Anti-Bullying Policy

Useful Links

• https://www.nspcc.org.uk
• https://www.childline.org.uk/
• https://www.pshe-association.org.uk/

Assemblies

Each half term focuses on a value with weekly assemblies linking to this value. All assemblies reference UNCRC articles to ensure that our children have a deep understanding of their rights and how they link to different aspects of their lives.

Each month an assembly will link to the UNCRC article of the month:

There will also be a an assembly each month focusing on a PATHS quote:

Picture News

Each week, our children participate in a Picture News assembly. This gives them the opportunity to discuss current issues and develop themselves as global citizens as well as providing key questions to debate.