Personal Development

Our vision

At Alderman White, we recognise that teaching Personal Development is a privilege. Personal Development combines the statutory content from PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic) education with our Career provision at Alderman White School. Please note that as Religious Education is not a mandatory GCSE qualification at Alderman White School, much of the RSE (Relationships and Sex Education) content is covered in PD lessons.

Our curriculum is an ever-evolving, context-based, spiral programme of learning through which our students acquire the knowledge, understanding and skills they need to manage their lives now and in the future. As part of a whole-school approach, our Personal Development education develops the qualities and attributes our students need to thrive as individuals, family members and productive members of society. These qualities and attributes are embedded strongly into our school INSPIRE values. Our Personal Development education equips students with the knowledge, understanding, skills and strategies required 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 our curriculum is providing opportunities for our students to reflect on and clarify their own values and attitudes and explore the complex and sometimes conflicting range of values and attitudes they will encounter now and in the future.

Personal Development helps students to build their confidence, resilience and self-esteem, and to identify and manage risk, make informed choices and understand what influences their decisions. It enables them to recognise, accept and shape their identities, to understand and accommodate difference and change, to manage emotions and to communicate constructively in a variety of settings. Developing an understanding of themselves, empathy, and the ability to work with others will help our students to form and maintain good relationships, develop the essential skills for future employability and better enjoy and manage their lives.

At Alderman White, we know that our Personal Development curriculum can help to reduce or remove many of the barriers to learning experienced by students, significantly improving their health and well-being and therefore, their capacity to learn and achieve. Our Personal Development curriculum makes a significant contribution to students’ Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) development, their behaviour and safety and the school’s statutory responsibility to promote students’ well-being. In addition, the learning provided through a comprehensive PSHE curriculum is essential to safeguarding students.

As a result of our PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic)/RSE (Relationships and Sex Education)/Citizenship/Careers programme, students will:

• Learn how to live safe, happy, healthy, fulfilling lives now and in the future.
• Learn how to build positive, respectful and healthy relationships, including friendships, relationships within the family and sexual, intimate relationships.
• Learn how to be responsible citizens who understand they have rights and responsibilities that help them make a positive contribution to society.
• Understand the importance of treating others equally and develop an appreciation for diversity.
• Learn how to manage their finances and how to achieve economic wellbeing.
• Reflect on their own values and attitudes to a range of topics.
• Learn about British values and the impact they have on their lives.
• Learn about careers and future opportunities.
• Understand the importance of building certain character traits such as resilience and determination.

Our curriculum and learning journeys for our students are not fixed and will change and be adapted based on student voice, our local context and to meet the needs of our students. We will also respond to major local and global events or circumstances that we feel we need to cover to ensure our students remain safe and well.

By the end of KS3, our students will have had the opportunity to learn about issues relating to Living in the Wider World, Finance and Budgeting, Careers, Relationships, British Values, Personal Identity, Health and Well-being. This will lay the foundations for our spiral, age- and stage-related curriculum at KS4.

By the end of KS4, students at Alderman White should have a thorough and well-rounded knowledge and understanding of Personal, RSE, Social, Health, Citizenship, Careers and Economic issues relevant to them in a range of contexts. They will also have developed skills to engage in positive debate, knowing their own opinions.

Personal Development is not an examined subject. Progress is measured within lessons through questioning and discussion. Self-assessment and peer-assessment allow students to review their own level of progress.

 Curriculum Implementation

All students will cover current events and fundamental life skills as part of the curriculum, such as road safety and world news. The students will study 5 themes within their Personal Development Lessons. These themes meet the statutory guidance set out in the Keep Children Safe in Education and help work towards achieving the Gatsby benchmarks (more information on this can be found in the “Careers and post-guidance” section of the website:

Year 7 curriculum implementation:

Our students’ journey begins by developing knowledge and skills that focus on personal development, living in the wider world with an emphasis on finance and being able to budget. Relationships and health and well-being are also focus points, as this is an important transition year.

Year 8 curriculum implementation

We build on the learning in year 7 to raise student’s awareness of more difficult challenges in terms of relationships, health and wellbeing and living in the wider world. We have prioritised relationships and well-being mid-way through the year. Linking Citizenship issues within the wider PSHE curriculum allows students to gain a well-rounded view of issues relating to rights and responsibilities. Statutory RSE includes STIs, safe sex and consent.

 Year 9 curriculum implementation

Students in year 9 are at a crucial checkpoint, so time is devoted early in the year to supporting them in making their specialism choices for KS4. Students are also at a new point in their maturity and our curriculum is adapted to support them through the cycle of changes and challenges they may face. From managing stress, anxiety and understanding self-harm, discrimination and LGBTQIA+ equality to family conflict, peer influence, body image and media – our aim is to give students an arsenal of strategies to help navigate those challenges. We will also revisit consent through the topics of CSE and peer pressure, as we consider this an important element of RSE.

 Year 10 curriculum implementation

In year 10 we start preparations for leaving school and developing financial awareness. As our students mature, we are able to address issues that may prove more challenging and hard-hitting. We cover a broad and balanced curriculum, which aims to provide students with better knowledge and understanding of PSHE/Citizenship/RSE issues. We also revisit some key questions from Religious Education.

 Year 11 curriculum implementation

At the start of year 11, we devote time to ensuring our students have plans for post-16. We encourage them to research a range of options and to develop personal statements and become familiar with completing application forms. There is also strong focus on relationships, health and well-being in year 11 as we consider the requirements of statutory RSE alongside the needs of our students. With time dedicated to these areas of our curriculum, we can ensure that all students are provided with the opportunity to engage with the learning appropriately. As GCSE exams come closer, time in lessons is dedicated to revision and revision strategies, dealing with stress and maintaining good physical and mental health.

A more in-depth version of the topics covered in each of the units is attached below:

Attachments:

Key Themes in Detail