Year 7 – Personal Development

Overview

All pupils will participate in designated hour-long Personal Development lessons once per two weeks, incorporating the following content:

Autumn/Winter:	Spring/Summer:
PSHE: Adapting to changes and healthy lifestyles Positive Self Concepts and Adapting to Changes: Our pupils will explore the emotional effects of their transition to a new school and how to handle these changes with confidence. Friendships: We will explore the fluid nature of friendship in the context of transition to a new school, the emotional impact this may have, and how to establish and maintain healthy friendships. Bullying: We will explore the nature and impact of bullying, including coercion and within different types of relationships, reiterating the school’s anti-bullying stance. Changing adolescent bodies: Pupils will consider how their bodies will change during puberty, and the impact hormonal changes may have on their emotions, behaviour, and relationships. Healthy lifestyles: We will investigate the impact of the following on our body, mind, and spirit, now and into our future! – Diet and nutrition – Exercise – Sleep factors – Oral hygiene Ensuring that young people are set up to live a healthy lifestyle is a key concern in Tameside. Pupils will therefore complete a short written assessment at this point. Staying safe: Linking to living a safe and healthy lifestyle, pupils will look at medical issues that may have an impact on them as they grow up. This lesson includes content about the impact of FGM on physical and mental health.	Citizenship: Community, rights, and responsibilities Living in a community: We will look at the nature of ‘community’, the needs of communities, and our roles and potential within our own local community. Rules, rights, and responsibilities: Our pupils will consider the importance of rules, entitlements, and expectations, and the social values that they drive and demonstrate in the UK. The UNCRC: We will explore and appraise the rights of children contained in the UNCRC, and consider what can be done to promote and protect them. Having a voice: Our pupils have the opportunity to understand their potential role in democracy as an 11/12 year old, and consider the value and impact of their involvement. Character development and social action: Following on from the theory, pupils will be given an extended opportunity to put child-centred social action into practice, to make a difference within our community. This opportunity will enable pupils to demonstrate employability skills in line with our school Character Development Pillars of Participation, Community Service, Leadership, and Scholarship.

Autumn/Winter:

Spring/Summer:

PSHE: Adapting to changes and healthy lifestyles

Positive Self Concepts and Adapting to Changes:
Our pupils will explore the emotional effects of their transition to a new school and how to handle these changes with confidence.

Friendships:
We will explore the fluid nature of friendship in the context of transition to a new school, the emotional impact this may have, and how to establish and maintain healthy friendships.

Bullying:
We will explore the nature and impact of bullying, including coercion and within different types of relationships, reiterating the school’s anti-bullying stance.

Changing adolescent bodies:
Pupils will consider how their bodies will change during puberty, and the impact hormonal changes may have on their emotions, behaviour, and relationships.

Healthy lifestyles:
We will investigate the impact of the following on our body, mind, and spirit, now and into our future!
– Diet and nutrition
– Exercise
– Sleep factors
– Oral hygiene
Ensuring that young people are set up to live a healthy lifestyle is a key concern in Tameside. Pupils will therefore complete a short written assessment at this point.

Staying safe:
Linking to living a safe and healthy lifestyle, pupils will look at medical issues that may have an impact on them as they grow up. This lesson includes content about the impact of FGM on physical and mental health.

Citizenship: Community, rights, and responsibilities

Living in a community:
We will look at the nature of ‘community’, the needs of communities, and our roles and potential within our own local community.

Rules, rights, and responsibilities:
Our pupils will consider the importance of rules, entitlements, and expectations, and the social values that they drive and demonstrate in the UK.

The UNCRC:
We will explore and appraise the rights of children contained in the UNCRC, and consider what can be done to promote and protect them.

Having a voice:
Our pupils have the opportunity to understand their potential role in democracy as an 11/12 year old, and consider the value and impact of their involvement.

Character development and social action:
Following on from the theory, pupils will be given an extended opportunity to put child-centred social action into practice, to make a difference within our community. This opportunity will enable pupils to demonstrate employability skills in line with our school Character Development Pillars of Participation, Community Service, Leadership, and Scholarship.

SRE

As part of their series of Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education lessons, our pupils will take part in Sex and Relationship Education (SRE). In Year 7, SRE content focuses mainly on explaining and preparing pupils for the physical and emotional changes associated with puberty. The content covered relates to: the changing nature of friendship throughout puberty; physical changes during puberty; hygiene; the appropriate terminology for sexual parts of the body; and the emotional impact of puberty including the impact this may have on relationships, including relationships with adults. The purpose of these lessons is: to prepare pupils for the physical and emotional changes of growing up; to give them the knowledge and skills to make informed and healthy choices; to build confidence and skills to deal with situations they may encounter; and to help them to stay safe and know where to ask for help if needed. Within this, pupils will also take part in a lesson which teaches about Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). They will be taught that FGM is illegal in the UK and that it is also a criminal offence to take a UK citizen abroad for the purpose of FGM. This will be taught in an age-appropriate way in the context of knowing about bodily changes during puberty, being able to use the correct language, keeping safe and feeling confident to ask questions and discuss in a mature and appropriate way. We believe that this will be an important addition to the Year 7 SRE programme.

At times, carefully chosen external visitors and speakers may contribute to the SRE programme. In these cases, lesson content is agreed in advance and visitors are always supervised by a member of school staff. Any materials distributed by external agencies will be available for you to view through our school website prior to the element being taught.

If you have concerns or would like to discuss RSE or PSHE further, please make an appointment to speak with our Assistant Headteacher, Mr Thompson.

E-Safety / PREVENT

The following Personal Development content is delivered and assessed through the Computing curriculum:

Internet safety and harms

Inappropriate content:

SMART rules (Safe, Meet, Acceptable, Reliable, Tell)
Harmful content, what harmful content is and what age ratings are
Who the BBFC and PEGI are and why certain products have age ratings
The impact of viewing inappropriate content

Fake news:

Why is the news important and can we trust everything that we see online?
The differences between disinformation, misinformation and opinion
How and why false information is shared
That the viral spread of content can be seen as a stamp of authenticity
The CRAAP rules for spotting fake false information
How can false information be harmful?
How to report any concerns and find help online

Careers

Year 7 will participate in careers education during form time through the nationally recognised STEPs Careers Programme. During this time pupils will have the opportunity to reflect on their accomplishments and personal qualities, understand the transferable relationship between ‘life skills’ and ‘work skills’ and gain an age-appropriate understanding of labour market information and changes in the world of work. The importance of careers education and building upon our personal qualities is reiterated through assemblies presented by our resident careers adviser, Ms Amdurer.

Super Learning Days & Curriculum Enrichment

All pupils have the opportunity to attend carefully selected workshops to enhance their understanding of PSHE/RSE, Citizenship, Careers and E-safety. In Year 7 this will typically involve:

PIE (Pursuing Individual Excellence) sessions on positive attitudes, including experiences of wellbeing activities and creating a personal wellbeing plan.
Conflict resolution drama workshops, working through how conflict can develop in relationships, tactics that can be implemented in order to resolve it and how actions can impact others.
Global Policing visit looking at choice and consequences, responsibilities in the community, knife crime and water safety.

Pupils participate in democratic processes through the nomination of form captains and the nomination of a school charity.

Our school library contains a great selection of recommended reading relating to Personal Development. Pupils who engage in opportunities for independent enquiry related to Personal Development through the school library or through engagement in extracurricular clubs are recognised for their efforts with Personal Development subject badges and access to external visits, such as our London Parliament trip organised by our House of Lords link teacher, Mrs Tong.

Staff Contacts

Mr Thompson, Assistant Headteacher (Personal Development and Curriculum)
Miss Mahboob, Personal Development coordinator
Ms Amdurer, Careers coordinator and adviser (CEIAG)
Mr Panter, E-safety/PREVENT coordinator