PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

» The Personal Development Team
» Curriculum Intent
» Personal Development Roadmap
» Religious Education and PSHE
» Cross Curricular Links
» News
» Mindfulness and Wellbeing

The PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT Team

ALL form tutors.

Curriculum Intent

COGNITION CURRICULUM

In the Personal Development Curriculum (PSHE) the cognition curriculum is covered in many different ways. For example, reciprocation is covered in Year 7 and 8 when they have lessons which explicitly focus on teamwork and developing businesses. Most lessons require students to work in pairs or groups to share information.

Resilience is taught in a number of ways. Students complete baseline assessments in most lessons to assess their own skills and then they work throughout the lesson to improve. Some of the topics discussed in Personal Development are also sensitive (bullying, homophobia, knife crime etc.) and students have to learn to listen and respect others showing their resilience by managing sometimes strong feelings and emotions.

Students learn resourcefulness through group discussions where they are often given the resources that they need but need to figure it out for themselves. They also ask each other for support before asking the teacher. Tasks are differentiated allowing students to use their prior knowledge from previous tasks to help them with their answers. Students are also given a bank of resources/contacts at the end of each lesson if they want to go elsewhere for support for example at the end of the lesson for year 8 about healthy coping strategies students are directed to websites and helplines for additional support if they need it.

Reflectiveness is seen in every lesson through plenaries and baseline assessments. Students reflect on their progress and at the end of each term students are directed to reflect on what they have learnt. There are often tasks throughout a term which asks them to reflect on what they have learned and asks students how they would apply it to real life situations. For example in Autumn 1 of Year 7 students learn about friendships and the good qualities a friend should have and in Spring 1 students have a lesson on living in a diverse society. Students can reflect on the good qualities of a friend and compare them to what qualities people living in a diverse society would need.

Recall is used in some lessons. Students recall the rules for Personal Development lessons and the British values that we have focused on before. Students also need to recall the protected characteristics when we discuss stereotypes, prejudicial language and living in a diverse society (these topics come up in every year group multiple times).

Culture curriculum

In Personal Development, learning is adapted based on both local and national trends to ensure lessons and assemblies remain relevant and impactful. Where appropriate, guest speakers are invited to support the learning experience. For example, we have welcomed Food Bank representatives to discuss the link with human rights, delivered sessions on knife crime to Year 10 students, and hosted Thames Valley Police to raise awareness about drugs with Year 9s. Students regularly engage with case studies and real-life examples, such as e-safety and healthy relationships, which encourage discussion and reflection. Personal Development also incorporates elements of careers education, with students accessing Unifrog to explore career opportunities in their local area, take part in webinars, and connect with external agencies that provide training and support.

Core Curriculum

Personal Development must cover Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education. We cover this whole school while also covering Living in the Wider World. We follow the government approved Personal Development Association thematic approach from KS1 through to KS5. We also supplement and support our curriculum with external speakers, visitors and assemblies.

We adapt our curriculum to suit the needs of our students. This is informed by our safeguarding team, the needs of the local context and the national agenda.

Personal Development Roadmap

Click HERE.

Religious Education and PSHE

Religious Education is also embedded within the Personal Development curriculum to help students explore moral, ethical, and cultural issues from a range of perspectives. Through discussion of different faiths, beliefs, and worldviews, students develop respect, tolerance, and understanding of diversity within society. These lessons encourage critical thinking, reflection on values, and consideration of how belief systems influence decision-making and behaviour in everyday life.

CROSS CURRICULAR LINKS

Personal Development education is a vital part of the Aylesbury Vale Academy curriculum and is effectively integrated into our subjects. Click HERE for the full cross-curricular breakdown.