Personal Development

Intent Statement

Stemming from our mission statement of every pupil at SEACA experiencing 'life in all its fullness', through our Personal Development curriculum we seek to develop every member of our school community as a well-rounded individual who is equipped with the keys to open doors and the courage to feel they can open them. The Personal Development curriculum equips our pupils with essential knowledge that will enable them to make informed decisions about their health and wellbeing, relationships, career aspirations and their contribution to the local, national and global community. The Personal Development curriculum also develops our pupils' strength of character and builds their self-efficacy. It develops pupils' capacity to make sound decisions when facing risks and challenges and supports our pupils in knowing how and when to ask for help and how to access support.

The Personal Development curriculum at SEACA is built around three core themes: Relationships, Health and Wellbeing and Living in the Wider World. Across these core themes key priorities have been identified, stemming from pupil and parent voice, pastoral and safeguarding patterns and trends and scrutiny of local contextual data to identify pupil need. The priority areas for the 2023-24 academic year are:

• Respectful relationships
• Bullying (including cyber bullying)
• Mental wellbeing
• Being safe

These priority areas are front-loaded in terms of curriculum planning and are continually revisited over the programme of study.

Personal Development Curriculum Map

British Values

The promotion of 'British values' is central to Catholic education because British values have their origin in the Christian values of our nation.

British values are considered to be:

• Democracy
• Rule of law
• Individual liberty
• Mutual respect
• Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs.

At Saint Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic Academy we recognise not only the importance of helping pupils to develop academically but also spiritually, morally, socially and culturally. Our aim is that they are fully prepared for life in British society, to take their role as good citizens, able to make the best possible contribution to the Common Good. Within a framework of Catholic Christian Values, we teach the importance of British Values by going much deeper into the meaning of what it is to live a good life. This provides the context and meaning for understanding why British values are important.

The examples on the document that follows are an indication of some of the many ways we seek to embed British values at SEACA and should be seen as an indication of our approach rather than an exhaustive list.

British Values at SEACA

RSHE

Stemming from our mission statement of every pupil at SEACA experiencing 'life in all its fullness', we seek to educate the whole person; spiritually, morally, emotionally, psychologically and physically towards Christian maturity. Through our RSHE curriculum we seek to equip our pupils with the knowledge that will enable them to make informed decisions about their wellbeing, health and relationships and to build their self-efficacy. We also seek to develop our pupils' capacity to make sound decisions when facing risks and challenges and to support our pupils to develop resilience, to know how and when to ask for help, and to know how to access support.

We recently consulted with all parents about our RSHE policy and received the following responses, all of which will be used to continue to refine our RSHE policy and curriculum.

The Relationships, Sex and Health Education policy is clearly written and easy to understand.

99% of parents responded 'Yes'.

Could any parts of our policy be made clearer?

96% of parents responded 'No'. Of those who responded 'Yes', none indicated which section specifically they felt could be made clearer.

After reading our RSHE policy, do you understand how to submit a request to withdraw your child from the non-statutory components of sex education within Relationships and Sex Education?

94% of parents responded 'Yes'.

The RSHE policy makes it clear what topics my child will learn about regarding Relationships, Sex and Health Education during their time at SEACA.

99% of parents responded 'Yes'.

Parents were then provided with an overview of the key topics and themes covered as part of the RSHE curriculum and asked to rank these according to what they perceieved to be priority topics.

The following 3 high priority topics were identified and will be prioritised in curriculum planning for the 2023-24 academic year:

• Bullying
• Being safe, including online
• Sexual harrasment and violence