Personal Development
Personal Development Curriculum Rationale
At Rosebrook Primary School, our Personal Development Curriculum is designed to equip our pupils with the knowledge, skills, and character traits necessary to thrive both during their time at our school and in their future lives. Recognising the unique challenges and vulnerabilities faced by our pupils, we have carefully crafted a bespoke curriculum that draws upon the best of both the Commando Joe’s Character Education Programme and our own tailored PSHCE (Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education) provision.
The National Curriculum for Personal Development encompasses a broad range of areas, including relationships, health, and living in the wider world. Our curriculum not only meets these statutory requirements but goes beyond them to address the specific needs of our school community. By incorporating elements of Forest Schools and a comprehensive Behaviour Curriculum, we are able to provide a truly holistic approach to personal development that is both aspirational and responsive to our pupils’ contexts.
Our school serves a community facing high levels of deprivation, with a significant proportion of pupils eligible for Pupil Premium funding and a high number of pupils with SEND, including those with EHCPs. Many of our pupils enter the school with below age-related expectations, particularly in communication and literacy skills. In this challenging context, our Personal Development curriculum is designed to be a powerful tool for building cultural capital, fostering resilience, and developing the essential life skills our pupils will need to succeed.
The Commando Joe’s Character Education Programme provides a structured framework for developing key character traits: Resilience, Empathy, Self-awareness, Positivity, Excellence, Communication & Teamwork (RESPECT) which align seamlessly with our school’s DREAM values, ensuring a cohesive and consistent approach to personal development that is embedded throughout the school.
Complementing the Commando Joe’s Programme, our bespoke PSHCE Curriculum addresses the specific safeguarding and contextual risks faced by our pupils. Drawing upon the latest guidance from Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), this component of the curriculum equips our pupils with the knowledge and skills to recognise and respond to online and offline threats, including criminal and sexual exploitation, domestic abuse, and substance misuse. By taking a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to safeguarding, we are able to empower our pupils to make informed decisions and keep themselves safe.
The inclusion of Forest Schools and a comprehensive Behaviour Curriculum further enhances our Personal Development offer. Our bespoke, thoughtfully developed Forest Schools Programme provides opportunities for our pupils to develop SMSC skills, as well as physical and emotional, through hands-on, experiential learning in a natural environment. Meanwhile, the Behaviour Curriculum ensures that our pupils understand and embody the school’s DREAM values, fostering a positive, supportive, and inclusive learning environment.
In Summer 2024, the work of our Young Tree Champions was recognised nationally; Rosebrook was one of only 2 schools in the country to be awarded OUTSTANDING Beacon School status.
We also encourage pupils to work on the “50 things to do before you leave Rosebrook” passport. Some examples are: visiting an art gallery, going to the theatre, performing in a show and many more! The idea behind the passport is to ensure our pupils are given every opportunity to develop cultural capital.
Collectively, these elements of our Personal Development Curriculum work in harmony to build cultural capital, develop strong character, and equip our pupils with the knowledge and skills they need to thrive. By weaving these strands together, we are able to provide a comprehensive and aspirational programme that aligns with the school’s vision and addresses the unique needs of our community.
Whole School Aims
Our Personal Development Curriculum is a fundamental component of our school’s vision and values, which are captured in the powerful words of Michelle Obama: “We can be whatever we dream.” This motto reflects our unwavering commitment to instilling a sense of ambition and belief in our pupils, empowering them to overcome barriers and reach their full potential.
The DREAM values that underpin our school’s ethos – Determination, Respect, Enthusiasm, Ambition, and Growth Mindset – are at the heart of our Personal Development Curriculum. By fostering these qualities in our pupils, we are nurturing the essential character traits that will enable them to thrive, not only during their time at Rosebrook, but throughout their lives.
Vision
The overarching intent of our Personal Development Curriculum is to ensure that all of our pupils leave Rosebrook Primary School well-equipped with the knowledge, skills, and personal qualities needed to succeed in secondary school and beyond. By addressing the unique challenges and vulnerabilities faced by our pupils, we aim to build their resilience, self-confidence, and sense of agency, empowering them to make positive choices and contribute actively to their communities.
This curriculum is a key component of our school’s improvement priorities, as we strive to address the gaps in pupils’ personal development and ensure that all of our pupils, regardless of their background or starting point, are able to reach their full potential. By providing a comprehensive and aspirational programme that develops the whole child, we are laying the foundations for our pupils to become happy, respectful, and successful citizens.
Addressing Inspection Feedback
The most recent Ofsted inspection in 2019 highlighted the need for Rosebrook Primary School to ensure that the “very recently introduced scheme of work for pupils’ personal development is implemented across the school, so that pupils have a secure understanding of local risks, and that they are equipped with the skills needed to deal with them.”
Our comprehensive Personal Development Curriculum directly addresses this feedback, providing a structured and cohesive programme that equips our pupils with the knowledge and skills to recognise and respond to the contextual risks they may face. By incorporating the latest guidance from KCSIE and taking a proactive approach to safeguarding, we are ensuring that our pupils have a secure understanding of local issues and the tools they need to keep themselves safe.
Furthermore, the inspection report noted that while the schemes of work in core subjects were “planned precisely so that teachers can build pupils’ knowledge and skills step by step,” the foundation subjects, “lack precision in some key concepts.” Our bespoke curriculum, which draws upon the best of both the Commando Joe’s Programme and our own tailored PSHCE provision, addresses this gap, ensuring a clear and coherent progression of knowledge and skills across all areas of personal development.
By aligning our Personal Development Curriculum with the school’s improvement priorities and directly addressing the feedback from the previous Ofsted inspection, we are confident that we are providing a comprehensive and effective programme that will support our pupils in reaching their full potential.