What is Personal Development?
Personal development covers activities that improve awareness and identity, develop talents and potential, build human capital and help a person engage in society, enhance the quality of life and contribute to the realisation of dreams and aspirations.
At Luddendenfoot Academy, we believe wholeheartedly in supporting the development of the whole child, placing emphasis not only on academic success but also on each child’s personal development. Keeping our children safe and supporting our children’s mental health and well being is at the heart of everything we do.
Our Intent
Our intent at the Polaris Multi-Academy Trust prepares our pupils for their adult lives, teaching them to understand how to engage with society and providing them with plentiful opportunities to do so.
We believe that every pupil is unique and that our school is in a prime position to support our pupil’s personal development and develop character. We have a dedicated team who work tirelessly to ensure every pupil receives the best support. In essence, to make them good citizens.
Our personal development curriculum develops knowledge, skills and understanding that pupils need to play a full part in society as active and responsible citizens. Pupils learn about politics, parliament and voting as well as human rights, justice, the law and the economy. They also learn the skills of active citizenship. Teaching is brought to life using real issues that are relevant to the children at school or in the wider community/nationally.
What character traits are important to us?
In supporting children to become active citizens, the development of their character is key. There are hundreds of character traits that make a person unique. As a school community, we have identified six character traits that are important to us and that we want to develop in our children in order to prepare them for adult life and support them in becoming active citizens.
Our school community have chosen six key character traits. We believe it will enable pupils to become active citizens.
The Curriculum
At the core of our personal development curriculum sits our PSHE curriculum where children are taught about how to manage themselves, relationships, how to keep safe and how to become good citizens. The children are then provided with ample opportunities to put their learning into practice during everyday school life.
Our curriculum teaches our children to;
- respect themselves and others
- look after and value their environment
- follow their class community rules
- celebrate and give back to their community
We strive for pupils to be the best version of themselves (be Motivated, have Integrity, be Respectful, Resilient, Openminded, and Reflective – MIRROR).
Motivated
Motivated
Motivation is an important life skill. The reason it’s important is that every person on this earth is unique and has a purpose. To steward your purpose well, you have to be motivated to work towards your goals which helps your dreams become a reality.
Integrity
Intergrity
Integrity means following your moral or ethical convictions and doing the right thing in all the time, even if no one is watching you. Having integrity means you are true to yourself and would do nothing that demeans or dishonours you.
Respect
Respect
Receiving respect from others is important because it helps us to feel safe and to express ourselves. Being respected by important people in our lives growing up teaches us how to be respectful toward others. Respect builds feelings of trust, safety, and well-being.
Reflective
Reflective
Reflecting helps develop skills and review their effectiveness, rather than just carrying on doing things as you have always done them. It’s about questioning the way you do and why you do it and deciding whether there is a better, or more efficient, way of doing things.
Openminded
Openminded
The quality of being willing to consider ideas and opinions that are now new or different to your own.
Resilience
Resilience
It’s what enables children to emerge from challenging experiences with a positive sense of themselves and their futures. Children who develop resilience are better able to face disappointment, learn from failure, cope with loss, and adapt to change.