Personal Development
Personal development is both a subject and a school ethos. It is reflected across our school, through our school motto of Celebrate, Believe, Aspire and in our very foundations ‘As each one does their part, we grow in love’. We know that every child is unique and has so much to offer. We want each child to leave our school feeling confident, unique and proud, equipped with life skills taught through our ‘Switched On’ approach.
Our aim is to teach children, through explicit sessions and collective Worship, how to navigate through life safely, happily and healthily. Children are growing up in a world that is constantly changing and it is the duty of all the staff, in partnership with our families, to teach the children transferable life skills. We teach children about the world around them, relationships, emotions, reproduction and health, as well as transferable skills to help with life. We consistently promote the British values and our school values.
Personal Development is taught (implicitly and explicitly) through a wide range of ways throughout the children’s school lives. For example:
- PSHE sessions following our Scheme of Work.
- It is taught with cross-curricular links in other lessons, such as English, physical education and religious education.
- Staff members consistently model how to be a good citizen and uphold the school values.
- Solving, with support and teaching, our own relationship problems.
- Collective Worship (whole school and visitors).
- Annual First Aid Training Day to learn basic first aid.
- Upper/Lower KS2 Roles and Responsibilities (by application form).
- Specialist staff working with individuals and groups.
- E-Safety lessons in computing and group assemblies.
- Celebrating positive learning attributes with weekly ‘recognition.’
- An array of before and after school clubs.
- Well thought through transitions throughout the school and beyond.
- Focusing on mental, emotional and physical health.
- Pupil Voice groups eg School Council / Eco-Council, Leading Lights.
- Celebrating different languages, cultures and religions.
- Outdoor/Offsite activities.
Believing that we are all unique and with the ability to offer such a diverse range of skills and talents, we aim to support our pupils to develop their interests, resilience and life skills outside of the school.
We continue to ensure our children in Year 5 and Year 6 have the opportunity to learn away from home, embarking on a residential visit. As a school we are passionate that personal development comes from knowing ourselves and being given opportunities to be (safely) independent.
The primary purpose of our Fairthorne Residential is to build personal development in order that our children confidently move forward knowing that they have the resilience to learn from mistakes and persevere. We also focus heavily on the PSHE and relationships, team building and the development of leaders and positive thinking. Intended Outcomes from the residential being:
- Living away from home
- Teamwork
- Taking part in adventurous activities and overcoming fears
- Solving our own relationship problems
We do this through outdoor and adventurous activities:
- Abseiling
- Camping
- Canoeing
- Rafting or improvised rafting
- Shooting
- Archery and a multitude of other activities!
Additionally, we do this through sport and physical activity, having supported pupils to pursue their love of equestrian sports, gymnastics and team games such as netball, on a National level.
We look to nurture the existing interests of our pupils beyond the classroom through local, regional or national opportunities, working with agencies or partnerships to add to the personal development of children whatever their situation.
The Princes Trust
The Prince’s Trust believes that every young person should have the chance to succeed, no matter what their background or the challenges they are facing. We help those from disadvantaged communities and those facing the greatest adversity by supporting them to build the confidence and skills to live, learn and earn.
The courses offered by The Trust help young people aged 11-30 to develop essential life skills, get ready for work and access job opportunities. We support them to find work because having a job or running a business can lead to a more stable, fulfilling life.
Bold Voices
In 2021-22 and 2022-23, we engaged in working alongside Bold Voices, giving children in Years 5 and 6 the optional opportunity to work with peers and students from The Blandford School and Bryanston School. Bold Voices was founded on the belief that all young people have the right to receive an education free from gender inequality and gender-based violence, empowering young people to recognise and tackle these inequalities.
School Games
Since 2018, we have established a group of Sports Ambassadors, that promote physical activity across the school and lead new initiatives to promote activity and ‘giving something a go’. These Ambassadors receive full training in their role by our external sports partnerships. The Primary Leadership Academies provide high quality support, training, and development for primary age pupils to become Bronze Young Ambassadors and develop and grow young people as leaders and volunteers. These pupils are then continually supported by our PE lead to develop their ideas.
We aim to encourage our pupils to want to help others and make our community a better place. A contribution to this is through our school volunteering programme.
We have a number of in-school volunteering roles:
- Online Safety Ambassadors – Promoting online safety.
- Lunchtime Peer Mediators – Supporting pupils to follow the school behaviour policy and offering support. Working with the School Councillor to provide support for pupils at lunchtime and mediate if there are disagreements.
- Sports Ambassadors – Providing support for sporting events and PE lessons and demonstrating sport skills, encouraging physical activities and ‘giving it a go’.
- Playground Leaders – Providing support to other pupils on the playground and organising games.
- Collective worship Team – Setting up the hall for assemblies.
- Librarians – Booking library books in and out and keeping the library tidy.
- School Council – Meeting to discuss improvements in school and charity opportunities.
- Lunchtime Hall Team – help to set up tables for lunch, ensuring there are water jugs etc.
- Lead Learners – Helping within the classroom if pupils need help or helping the teacher.
- Eco-Council– Help to promote environmental issues and sustainability, arranging a litter picking rota.
- House Captains – Lead their house during house events, lead tours for new families or visitors, support open days, lead some Collective Worships.
From time to time, we also provide opportunities for pupils to volunteer as a year group. Year 5 have worked with local businesses to improve our school grounds by building raised beds for vegetables and herbs that we offer to our community. Our EYFS and Year 1 children volunteer to help within school, taking messages around the school. These opportunities allow our pupils to develop an understanding to how to support the wider community.
Good Mental Health and Wellbeing
‘It takes a village to raise a child but it takes strong families to raise a village.’ This quote fits perfectly with our ethos and commitment to supporting our families. We recognise that life presents unpredictable challenges, and, that all of us may need support at some point in our lives. We also recognise, and it has become apparent due to the pandemic, that children can be affected by those challenges and the life changes that come with them.
We also know that asking for help is often very difficult; we all want to appear to be coping and managing ourselves, and we don’t always know the type of support that is available. As a school we would like to remove the barriers and make it as smooth as possible for anyone who needs support to receive it as soon as possible. Early help is vital in preventing problems becoming bigger or becoming unmanageable and therefore, affecting our little people.
Life’s challenges can be supported through our Social & Emotional Support Pathway.
- Bereavement and Loss.
- Divorce or Separation.
- Children’s Mental Health e.g. anxiety, anger.
- Child’s Physical Health e.g. sleep, bed wetting or eating difficulties.
- Parenting Ideas and Strategies and more.
Drop Ins
Drop Ins with Mrs. Gill Gatehouse Trauma Informed Schools Practitioner & Family Link Worker are available.
In the first instance you can arrange a Drop In with Mrs. Gatehouse through your child’s class teacher or via the school office. Drop Ins are held from 8:45 am until 9:15 am most mornings or you can catch Mrs Gatehouse on the crossing into school.
Drop In meetings are completely confidential. Support can be offered there and then in form of parenting tips or sign posting to specialist organisations. At the Drop In, an assessment of needs can be made for parent, children or the family as a whole. If it is decided that some extra support for your child’s psychological safety (social and emotional needs) is appropriate, Mrs Gatehouse can offer a range of services.
Our school staff aim to pr
omote psychological safety at all times and one of the ways we do this is by using play and positive language with our children. The use of a phrase can be the difference between how a child understands our meaning and therefore how they act on our words. Each term we hold Parenting information workshops for:
Language and Communication & Play
Further ways to promote psychological safety is by using play and being playful thus, strengthening attachment (bond). Our playful approach can help prevent toxic stress (melt downs) building up in our children, helping to keep them calm and therefore able to learn and socialise. As many parents have found, the pandemic and the busy lives we lead, have increased the stress levels in all of us.
We have access to the School Nursing Team who offer resources and support for children’s well-being and many common childhood ailments from fussy eating, sleep guidance to bed wetting.
On other occasions, a Team Around the Family Meeting (TAF) can be arranged to support families during difficult times. This is when professionals with specialist expertise and experience, including Locality Family link workers, can come together and find the most timely and effective support for your family’s needs.
In times of bereavement, it may be comforting to know that we can also refer families to Mosaic Bereavement Services; to The Family Counselling Trust and many other alternative provision providers through the Dorset Families Matter organisation.
Leading the fight for a future where all young minds are supported and empowered, whatever the challenges.