Personal Development

The aim of the Personal Development curriculum is to provide our young people with the knowledge and skills to embrace the exciting opportunities this modern world brings, and to deal effectively with the challenges and risks they may encounter. We want our pupils to clearly understand how to keep themselves (and others) safe and healthy (online and offline), to be accepting of diversity, to show empathy and kindness, and to make a positive contribution to their school, local, and wider communities.

Our Personal Development curriculum also plays a key role in the safeguarding of our pupils; adopting a preventative approach and signposting to people/organisations to offer support, advice and guidance. Our curriculum is also flexible and responsive to dealing efficiently with school, local and wider issues as they arise – providing a safe and supportive environment to discuss complex, sensitive and current topics.

Personal development in our school refers to:

• PSHE (Personal, social, health and economic wellbeing) – including Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE), Physical health and Mental wellbeing education.
• SMSC – Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
• Character education – developing resilience, values, respect for others, engaging in wider opportunities and actively being a good citizen.
• British Values – ensuring young people leave school prepared for life in modern Britain.
• Equality – understanding ‘protected characteristics’ and the importance of inclusion for all.

Our Personal Development Programme extends across the curriculum, incorporating the following resources into the framework of learning and experiences:

• Jigsaw
• No Outsiders
• Local Faith Leaders
• Votes for schools

Policy for SRE Education

When first constructing our SRE programme, we shared the content with our families who were in full support of the approach, content and vocabulary used. We remind our families about the content on newsletters, but it can also be viewed in the Personal Development Policy. Families can still provide feedback or ask questions by completing the consultation form.

To read our Policy for Relationships and Sex Education, which includes the content of our RSHE programme, please go to Our Policies page.

Statutory SRE Education 

From September 2020, it is statutory for all primary schools to deliver Relationships and Health Education, from which there is no right of withdrawal by parents/carers

 Please view our RSE Policy to view the curriculum content which is taught

Additional Sex education and right of withdrawal

Poppleton Ousebank Primary has additionally chosen to deliver Sex Education, beyond the statutory relationships education and National Curriculum for Science, as recommended by the Department for Education. This is delivered at an appropriate level to pupil physical, emotional and sexual development and taking into account SEND and religious backgrounds of pupils, as appropriate. 

If you wish to view the RSE curriculum including what content is taught at what point in the year, please see our RSE policy and the link to the Jigsaw curriculum unit document below, within which this is taught. If you wish to view any resources we use in PSHE, including RSE resources, or to discuss the potential withdrawal of your child from non-statutory sex education, please contact the headteacher.

Relationship and Sex Education – DFE guide for parents

Jigsaw – RSE – Puzzle Map

Jigsaw – Content Overview Map

Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education RSE and Health Education

Helping parents to understand the meaning of ‘British values’

All maintained schools must meet the requirements set out in section 78 of the Education Act 2002 and promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development of their pupils. The 2023 Prevent Duty, highlights the importance of schools actively promoting British Values. They are identified as: democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.

These values are not exclusively or uniquely British, but they represent key aspirations and principles for our own communities and country. It is important that pupils recognise these are expectations for a democratic and inclusive country where there is no place for prejudice and intolerance.

The Prevent Duty in Education can be found here.

Actively promoting the values means challenging opinions or behaviours that are contrary to fundamental British values. Attempts to promote systems that undermine fundamental British values would be completely at odds with schools’ duty to provide SMSC. The Teachers’ Standards expect teachers to uphold public trust in the profession and maintain high standards of ethics and behaviour, within and outside school. This includes not undermining fundamental British values.

Our SMSC provision:

• enables children to develop their self-knowledge, self-esteem and self-confidence;
• enables children to distinguish right from wrong and to respect the civil and criminal law of England;
• encourages children to accept responsibility for their behaviour, show initiative, and to understand how they can contribute positively to the lives of those living and working in the locality of the school and to society more widely;
• enables children to acquire a broad general knowledge of and respect for public institutions and services in England;
• furthers tolerance and harmony between different cultural traditions by enabling students to acquire an appreciation of and respect for their own and other cultures;
• encourages respect for other people; and
• encourages respect for democracy and support for participation in the democratic processes, including respect for the basis on which the law is made and applied in England.

The list below describes the understanding and knowledge expected of pupils as a result of our school promoting fundamental British values.

• an understanding of how citizens can influence decision-making through the democratic process;
• an appreciation that living under the rule of law protects individual citizens and is essential for their wellbeing and safety;
• an understanding that there is a separation of power between the executive and the judiciary, and that while some public bodies such as the police and the army can be held to account through Parliament, others such as the courts maintain independence;
• an understanding that the freedom to choose and hold other faiths and beliefs is protected in law;
• an acceptance that other people having different faiths or beliefs to oneself (or having none) should be accepted and tolerated, and should not be the cause of prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour; and
• an understanding of the importance of identifying and combating discrimination.

What are ‘protected characteristics’ ?

The Equality Act became law in 2010. It covers everyone in Britain and protects people from discrimination, harassment and victimisation.

The Equality Act protects people against discrimination because of the protected characteristics that we all have. Under the Equality Act, there are nine protected characteristics:

• age
• disability
• gender reassignment
• marriage and civil partnership
• pregnancy and maternity
• race
• religion or belief
• sex
• sexual orientation

Exposure and explanation of these characteristics is of course age appropriate and is part of the carefully planned and sequenced PSHE curriculum.