Overview
Our personal development curriculum is carefully designed and sequenced to ensure that all pupils thrive academically, socially and emotionally. We recognise that personal development and the academic curriculum are inseparable, working together to provide a complete and meaningful education for every child.
Through a planned programme of Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education, enriched by the wider life of the school, pupils develop the character, confidence and aspirations they need to succeed. We are committed to ensuring that every child feels safe, supported and inspired to learn, regardless of background or starting point.
The curriculum builds cultural capital by broadening pupils’ experiences and deepening their understanding of themselves and the world around them. We extend beyond national expectations to nurture ambition, resilience and wellbeing, while ensuring that pupils who are socially or culturally disadvantaged are given the knowledge, skills and opportunities they may not otherwise access.
Personal development learning enables pupils to manage the opportunities, challenges and responsibilities they face both now and in the future. Pupils are taught to apply their learning across contexts, make informed choices, and develop into tolerant, open-minded and responsible members of society.
Our provision is structured around five core strands: activist, performer, public speaker, leader and competitor. These strands shape a wide range of opportunities that every child experiences each year, supporting them to develop confidence, teamwork, communication, leadership and a strong sense of right and wrong. Through this approach, pupils leave school as capable, motivated and engaged citizens, ready to make a positive contribution to their community and beyond.
We include the statutory Relationships and Health Education within our whole-school Personal Development Programme.
Reception
- Keeping safe with strangers and trusted adults
- Online safety basics
- Personal hygiene and healthy routines
- Recognising and naming emotions (Zones of Regulation)
- Understanding families and friendships
- Identity, difference and respect (including disability, race, gender)
- Developing confidence, independence and self-awareness
Year 1
- Staying safe at home, outside and on roads
- Healthy routines: hygiene, diet and exercise
- Understanding and expressing emotions
- Online safety and screen time balance
- Friendships: kindness, rules and boundaries
- Families and roles within families
- Respect for difference (religion, disability, gender)
Year 2
- Recognising danger and knowing how to seek help
- Germs, hygiene and physical health
- Self-regulation and managing emotions
- Online communication and safety
- Personal space and consent (age-appropriate)
- Respect, friendships and trust
- Understanding identity and protected characteristics
Year 3
- Medicines, drugs and keeping safe in the community
- Grooming awareness and trusted adults
- Oral hygiene, sleep and healthy lifestyles
- Understanding fear and emotional responses
- Online safety: passwords, privacy and adverts
- Relationships, boundaries and saying no
- Inclusion, tolerance and discrimination
Year 4
- Safe and unsafe places; personal responsibility
- Physical fitness and sleep hygiene
- Worry, anxiety and emotional regulation strategies
- Puberty and body changes
- Online wellbeing and digital balance
- Assertiveness and respectful relationships
- Identity, difference and empathy
Year 5
- Being streetwise and responding to emergencies
- Puberty, reproduction and body confidence
- Managing complex emotions and peer influence
- Online safety: fake news, echo chambers and digital literacy
- Healthy relationships and consent
- Equality, rights and protected characteristics
- Developing responsibility and leadership
Year 6
- Antisocial behaviour, consequences and the law
- Physical health choices (including smoking and substances)
- Mental health, self-esteem and body image
- Social media impact and digital identity
- Puberty: physical and emotional changes
- Consent, conflict resolution and family relationships
- Diversity, discrimination and standing up for others