Personal development

Personal development in school is the means by which all young people are supported in their spiritual, moral, physical, emotional, cultural and intellectual development according to their needs, and regardless of their social and/or economic backgrounds. It promotes their wellbeing and enables them to develop their potential as healthy, enterprising and responsible citizens in our society.

An effective curriculum that supports personal development is one of the main ways in which a school can demonstrate its contribution to the Every Child Matters (ECM) outcomes:

• be healthy
• stay safe
• enjoy and achieve
• make a positive contribution
• achieve economic wellbeing.

These outcomes are reflected directly in the curriculum aims – for young people to become successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens – and this makes ECM a fundamental feature of the curriculum. The personal, learning and thinking skills are also integral to the personal development of young people and the roles they take on in life – as family member, friend, neighbour, partner, parent, employee, employer, citizen and member of communities.

An effective curriculum will include a planned and coherent approach to personal development and ECM and be reflected in the ethos and values of the school. Every member of the school staff can contribute to personal development and therefore to the wellbeing of each young person in the school.

The whole curriculum – learning both within and outside classrooms, across and beyond the curriculum, and in all subjects – should promote high expectations, attainment and the personal development of all pupils.

ECM and subjects

All subjects contribute to the personal development of learners; guidance on how each subject contributes to the ECM outcomes is provided. (See the links below).  

The curriculum includes two new programmes of study within the area of personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE): personal wellbeing, and economic wellbeing and financial capability. These programmes of study make a special contribution to personal development and bring together in a coherent way personal, social and health education, careers education, enterprise and business education, work-related learning and financial capability. Both programmes of study are non-statutory, but include some statutory elements.

All young people should have opportunities to participate in a wide range of compelling learning experiences where they can try new things and meet new challenges. Examples include:

• performance – through drama, choirs, orchestras, public speaking, sports
• taking responsibility – undertaking leadership and support roles in events and activities, such as outdoor and adventurous activities, playground leaders, peer mediation and buddy programmes
• collaboration and participation in events – such as mini-enterprise activities, environmental or local history projects, clubs and visits, community action, student council, students are researchers, school newspaper
• encountering challenging and unfamiliar contexts – such as residential and community-based work, work-related learning and working with professionals and experts.

ECM and subjects: key stage 3

Art and design
Citizenship
Design and technology
English
Geography
History
ICT
Mathematics
Modern foreign languages
Music
Science
PSHE - Economic wellbeing and financial capability
PSHE - Personal wellbeing
Religious education

ECM and subjects: key stage 4

Citizenship
ICT
Mathematics
PE
Science
PSHE
RE

This framework shows how the curriculum contributes to the achievement of the five Every Child Matters outcomes. The social and emotional aspects of learning (SEAL) programme can also make a significant contribution.

The whole curriculum should help young people who:

• enjoy and achieve – develop the capacity to enjoy learning and succeed in it
• stay safe – learn how to stay safe and manage risk
• be healthy – understand how to maintain a healthy lifestyle
• make a positive contribution – form relationships and participate in society
• achieve economic wellbeing – acquire the skills, knowledge and understanding relevant to adult and working life.

Enjoy and achieve – develop the capacity to enjoy learning and succeed in it

Through becoming self-aware and self-managing (personal, learning and thinking skills: self-managers) young people will:

• develop a positive sense of their own identity and self-esteem
• be able to enjoy life and be positive about its challenges (aims: confident individuals)
• use their imagination and creativity to develop new ideas, insights and new ways of doing things (personal, learning and thinking skills: creative thinkers)
• learn to assess their skills, achievement and potential to set personal goals, negotiating and planning ways to meet them (personal, learning and thinking skills: reflective learners)
• understand that achievement is life-long and that there are different ways to succeed
• aim to achieve personal excellence, enjoy learning and be motivated to achieve their best (aims: successful learners).

Stay safe – learn how to stay safe and manage risks

Through learning how to make informed and responsible choices, young people will:

• understand how to identify risks, minimise them and deal with them in different situations (personal, learning and thinking skills: self-managers) be able to make safe choices (aims: confident individuals)
• develop the confidence to take on new experiences and ideas safely (aims: confident individuals)
• identify the dangers in new and different choices in a changing technological world (aims: responsible citizens)
• develop skills, such as negotiation and assertiveness, to resist unhelpful pressure (personal, learning and thinking skills: effective participators).

Be healthy – understand how to maintain a healthy lifestyle

Young people will understand:

• how to look after their physical, emotional and sexual health (aims: confident individuals)
• that they can and should make positive choices and take sensible actions and avoid harmful choices (aims: confident individuals)
• the consequences that some decisions might have on their health and that of others and how to deal with illness, in themselves and others (personal wellbeing).

Make a positive contribution – form relationships and participate in society

Young people will:

• understand the multiple roles individuals play (personal, learning and thinking skills: effective participators)

• develop the skills and strategies to form effective relationships in a variety of roles (aims: responsible citizens)
• know how to make a difference in a group, community or society (citizenship)
• know how to work effectively with a range of people of diverse cultures and backgrounds (personal, learning and thinking skills: team workers) understand the consequences of anti-social behaviour (aims: responsible citizens).

Achieve economic wellbeing – acquire the skills, knowledge and understanding relevant to adult and working life

Young people will be able to:

• understand the qualities and skills needed for adult and working life (aims: responsible citizens)
• handle uncertainty and respond positively to change (personal wellbeing)
• make reasonable risk/reward assessments and act upon them in a variety of contexts, both personal and work-related (personal wellbeing and economic wellbeing and financial capability)
• understand about the global economy, the way business works and that there are different kinds of business (citizenship and economic wellbeing and financial capability)
• manage their own money and be questioning and informed consumers of financial services (citizenship and economic wellbeing and financial capability).