Personal Development & Culture

Our personal development curriculum follows a five-year plan which ensures statutory requirements for RSE (Relationships and Sex Education), Citizenship, CEIAG (Careers Education, Information and Guidance), FBV (Fundamental British Values) and RE (Religious Education) are met. Our taught curriculum offer is called Ethics, Philosophy and Citizenship. In EPC pupils explore 29 topics and within each topic there are key strands repeated throughout the curriculum: Relationships, Health and Wellbeing, Living in the Wider World, Religious, Education, Safeguarding, Citizenship and British Values. Our aim is to equip all pupils, regardless of background or ability, with the social, educational and employability skills necessary to participate fully in and contribute positively to Life in modern Britain.

Topics are sequenced so that they are revisited in more depth as pupils get older. An example of this can be found in the Relationships strand which starts in Year 7 with topics including positive relationships, bullying or banter and what makes a family and ends in Year 11 with pupils learning about abusive relationships, assessing relationships and pregnancy/parenthood.

Year 7 to Year 10 pupils receive one timetabled EPC lesson per week. In addition, EPC will be built into curriculum for Year 11 students. Many elements of the EPC curriculum are taught in other curriculum areas. An example of this is when Democracy is taught in the history curriculum when pupils learn about the Ancient Greeks.

We understand our local context and help pupils develop resilience to negative influences including gang culture, child criminal exploitation (CCE), child sexual exploitation (CSE), and risk-taking behaviours. Pupils participate in external delivered assemblies where challenging issues can be explored in greater depth.

Our pupils play a positive part in their community and wider society.  They can join the academy student council, Junior Leadership Team or become a Careers Ambassador.  We support and fundraise for multiple charities including:  Help for Heroes, The Children’s Air Ambulance and the Delta Academies Trust chosen charity.

Religious education is taught in EPC lessons, assemblies and tutor sessions. Pupils learn about the key beliefs, festivals, and religious practises found in Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, and Hinduism. A key question approach, as referenced in the locally agreed SACRE is adopted where possible to allow pupils to engage in an enquiry-based learning; appraising varied responses to key questions for example, ‘What does science say about God?’ and ‘What happens when we die?” Pupils explore world religions in more detail through learning about different religious beliefs on key topics for example, “Religion and wealth”, “The role of faith”, and “Sexuality and faith”

With income deprivation and unemployment levels in the local area significantly above national averages, we are fully committed to ensuring that our personal development curriculum provides sufficient time to achieve all eight of The Gatsby Benchmarks. Our careers programme is developed in conjunction with our partners at Progress Careers. We have been awarded the Quality Award in CEIAG. We are fully committed to ensuring that our personal development curriculum provides sufficient time to achieve all eight of The Gatsby Benchmarks.

A mixture of tutor time activities, and personalised learning days provide opportunities for work experience, employer contact and Enterprise Education to allow the following targets to be met:

Our RSE curriculum provision gives due regard to the DfE’s statutory guidance on sex and relationship education as well as focusing in more detail on issues most relevant to pupils in our local context. Specific needs, as they arise are responded to and incorporated into our planning. Our 5-year RSE learning journey shows how RSE content is mapped across year groups and curriculum subject areas to ensure full coverage. RSE curriculum content is sequenced to ensure that key issues are revisited in later years and in greater depth. As well as delivering RSE content through EPC lessons, Big Talk education deliver RSE lessons to all students during the Autumn Term covering progressive topics, Intro to RSE, Building on the Basics, Developing Feelings, Sex: Your Decisions, Infections & Protection, New Friends, Pathways to Parenthood, Show What You Know.

So that we can prepare our pupils for Life in modern Britain we ensure that our personal development curriculum reflects the full diversity of the world we live in. This includes teaching about LGBTQ+ people and themes. We do this through tutor sessions, assemblies, and the EPC curriculum as well as running an enrichment club. Pupils learn about sexual orientation and gender identity, same-sex relationships, sexism, misogyny, homophobia, and gender stereotypes. We celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month every March and Gay Pride in June.