What does Personal Development mean? Why is it important?
The wider personal development of a child, beyond the academic education they receive, aims to instil a number of key characteristics and values which will help them now and in their adult lives.
Personal Development is defined by the CCEA as:
'Encouraging each child to become personally, emotionally, socially and physically effective, to lead healthy, safe and fulfilled lives; To become confident, independent and responsible citizens, making informed and responsible choices and decisions throughout their lives,’
What does this look like at Bude Infant School?
At our school we recognise the importance of developing “the whole child” so that our pupils are best prepared for every day and later life. These skills extend beyond the academic, but span vocational, moral, cultural, social, ethical and personal aspects of daily life and routine.
Personal Development is an integral part of Bude Infant School’s daily life, interwoven into everyday practise through our ethos, our whole school language, our behaviour policy and our expectations. As a school we feel that this is so important that we have also appointed a Personal Development Lead, Anne Garrad who is also our PSHE Lead and an Academy Trust wide Character Education Champion.
We believe that by setting foundations for infant children to grow up being inclusive and tolerant and to celebrate our similarities and differences, will help these children to fly the flag for diversity and acceptance in later life. Children will learn that everyone, irrespective of appearance, family structure, culture, personal preferences or ability adds value to society. We all have feelings which can be preserved or hurt by how we treat each other.
We believe that is a core responsibility to provide an offer for children which gives them the best chance for success now, and in the future. We want our children to be accepting, inclusive, ambitious, independent, confident and resilient as they grow up. We also want our children to know that mistakes are a key part of our learning journey – at any age.
We also weave the strands of Personal Development into our taught curriculum, through a sequenced and planned PSED curriculum which is taught weekly. Our assemblies are also tailored around key areas of moral/cultural/vocational life.
We are proud of the opportunities we provide our children and how we celebrate achievements from home. Though many aspects of Personal Development are an integral part of our school ethos and our daily life, we also believe that it’s all the elements that makes our school special and unique. It cements our sense of belonging in the local community and beyond and gives us aspirations for a brighter future.
