Personal Development
Preparing our children for life in modern Britain
Ash Grove Academy recognises the importance of a positive and respectful school culture, in which our staff know and care about our pupils as individuals. We believe that a whole-school, holistic approach to personal development is the best way to remove barriers to learning, prepare pupils for their adult lives, and teach them to understand how to engage with an ever-changing global society. Our school is a place where we want children to feel safe, happy and engaged with their learning, where they have respect for themselves and for others, and where they aspire to be better and to learn more.
Personal development is embedded within and across school life at Ash Grove. Children learn how to stay physically, emotionally and mentally healthy, and understand why it is important for them to develop and continue with healthy habits as they move up to secondary school and beyond, including recognising and managing online and offline risks. Our Rights Respecting journey means our children understand their right to equal opportunities, irrespective of differences, as well as the need to respect the rights of others, and our PSHE curriculum helps them to recognise that personal choices, values and characteristics guide people's behaviour and aspirations. Helping children to develop a positive sense of self is an integral part of our school ethos. See our PSHE curriculum document for more detail.
We take a ‘tiered’ approach to helping those children who may need some additional support with their emotional health and well-being, whether this is through regular pastoral ‘check-ins’ or through targeted interventions. These include working in partnership with our NHS Mental Health Support Team. More information on the SEMH interventions and support we offer can be found in the Ash Grove Curriculum section of the website.
We provide a range of opportunities to ensure all of our children can take part in extra-curricular activities and after school clubs, including sports, art and music clubs. We put oracy at the heart of what we do, encouraging our children to use both exploratory and presentational language in a range of formal and informal contexts, including our upper key stage 2 children taking part in more formal debates as part of their class presentations to parents and carers. We encourage our children to be reflective learners, to understand that their opinion is important and that they have a voice in society, but also that others may hold differing beliefs or world views that are equally valid. As they move up through school, they are encouraged to recognise moral or ethical issues that may not have a simple or straightforward resolution, and they are supported to consider the consequence or legality of their own and others’ actions. More detail on how we support children to understand the rule of law and other fundamental British Values can be found in the additional tab on this page.
Cultural development is embedded in our school ethos, as our children are encouraged to understand and appreciate the cultural influences and values that have shaped their world locally, nationally and globally. Our curriculum is ambitious for all pupils, and provides our children with a broad range of cultural capital. All children are able to actively participate in a wide range of artistic, musical and sporting opportunities, including educational and cultural trips, experiential learning with visitors in school, and extended residential visits. You can find out more about what we do in the Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development tab on this page.
Further details on our approach to personal development can be found in the additional tabs on this page.
