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Personal Development

 

<<SPACE>>

Intent

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The Development of the whole child lies at the heart of everything we do. Our Personal Development curriculum is designed to create learners that are confident, resilient and independent, who will continue to thrive in an ever changing world, beyond the gates of Darwen Vale High School. Our ambitious Personal Development programme is driven by our 'Aldridge Attributes' and aims to ensure equality of access for all pupils to everything the world has to offer, regardless of their starting points. We therefore provide expert guidance in careers and further education, to ensure all students have access to university or a real alternative. We support our students to become active citizens who make positive contributions to society through our 'Character Curriculum,' which explicitly teaches our students the 'soft skills' to flourish inside and outside of school. When crafting our bespoke Personal Development curriculum, we have consulted local data sources in order to meet the needs of our specific community, ensuring no child is left behind. As a result of this, we take special care to ensure our curriculum is tailored to our local priorities by working closely with all stakeholders, the safeguarding and behaviour teams, and consulting local health data. For example, we liase weekly with Mr A Bradley our Designated Safeguarding Lead to ensure that we, as the Personal Development team, are responding to issues that are arising promptly. Recent examples include sessions on 'sexting.'

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Personal Development is overseen by Mr F Redfern (Interim Assistant Principal - Personal Development) and can be broken down into three key strands:

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  1. Character Curriculum (Vale Values/Assemblies/World Calendar) led by Miss J Gardner

  2. Enrichment Activities (Clubs/100 Things at Vale/Student Leadership) led by Mr D Smalley

  3. CEIAG (Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance) led by Mr N Miele​

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Each Strand serves to meet the school's priorities in terms of Personal Development which are:

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  1. To ensure our students are good citizens

  2. To understand the importance of democracy, individual liberty, the rule of law and mutual respect and tolerance in modern society

  3. An understanding of the factors impacting equal opportunity and have the skills and knowledge to mitigate against unequal opportunity

  4. To celebrate difference

  5. To provide access to the Personal Development curriculum for all learners

  6. To develop positive characteristics: resilience, confidence, kindness, reflection

  7. To be aware of the factors that impact physical and mental health

  8. Safeguarding: keeping our children safe from child-on-child abuse and other offline and online dangers

  9. Promote an understanding of healthy relationships

  10. Equip students with knowledge and and understanding of the next steps in education and careers

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