PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AT GLENBROOK
INTENT
At Glenbrook to support pupils’ personal development the overarching aim of our curriculum for Personal, Social, Health Education (PSHE) is to enable children to develop the skills, knowledge and attitudes they will need to manage the opportunities, responsibilities, experiences and challenges they will face as part of their development as they grow into adulthood and to have a positive self-image of themselves, their families, their heritage and to feel empowered to be who they are now and in the future. Personal Development, through PSHE promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of children and it is our aim that delivering the PSHE curriculum will enable our children to become healthy, independent, responsible members of society. It provides pupils with the support required to develop respect, empathy, emotional regulation and resilience as key skills to support their lifelong development and positive engagement in their communities. At Glenbrook PSHE is taught alongside Relationships and Sex Education (RSE). RSE equips children with essential lifelong skills for building and sustaining enjoyable, respectful, positive, appropriate relationships. It teaches about valuing and looking after ourselves and each other, different family types, sex and sexual health in an age-appropriate and sensitive sequence of lessons. We aim to ensure that all children acquire the information and the development of skills necessary to form positive beliefs, values and attitudes.
EYFS
Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED) is a prime area of ‘Development Matters in the EYFS’ and the PSED Early Learning Goals. Therefore, this is taught and is embedded throughout the curriculum. At Glenbrook we understand that building, developing and maintaining positive relationships with families, is as important as it is with pupils and that PSED is vital to this process. We ensure that we start this process with home visits and continue to develop it through our PSHE and RSE curriculums. In addition to this we continually strive to provide opportunities for Personal Development alongside those in the curriculum. We carefully consider the texts we use for in-class and home learning, resources that we use and activities that we provide within continuous provision to support PSED, for example creating emotion masks. We aim to develop pupils’ awareness of self-need through keeping healthy, for example having dentist visits to school and role play and activities and texts linked to healthy eating. Wherever appropriate we include EYFS in whole school Personal Development initiatives, such as Democracy Day and Safer Internet Day
KS1 & KS2
At Glenbrook in Key Stage 1 and 2, Personal Development is taught in line with the National Curriculum through our PSHE and RSE curriculums. We further provide opportunities for PD through class ‘circle time’ sessions, which are in response to class need, for example ‘How I’m feeling and how to manage those feelings’, exploring feelings and emotions through the
use of Zones of Regulation and in preparation and transition sessions such as challenging body image stereotypes prior to swimming lessons. We, wherever and whenever possible, seek to provide opportunities for developing awareness and skills that will support pupils as they proceed through life and will also educate them to be responsible and conscientious citizens of the wider community. We do this through: workshops such as ‘Growing against Gangs’ sessions and road safety workshops; Transport for London Safety and Citizenship presentation; anti-racism workshops; awareness weeks and days, such as Autism Acceptance Week and NSPCC Number Day, “Speak Out. Stay Safe” and First aid online and in person workshops.
In addition to what we offer to specific year groups we provide whole school activities and initiatives such as extra curricular clubs, celebration assemblies, Glenbrook Values, School Council, Peer Mediators, Parliament Week including Democracy Day and Debating sessions and Class Ambassador awards.
IMPACT
The impact of our PSHE, RSE and PD curriculum is that our pupils are confident and engaged with their learning. Pupils are able to confidently manage school council and peer mediator roles. They are able to speak to and model the qualities of our school values, which are Honesty, Kindness, Respect and Creativity. They value the school, resources and the school community. They are able to successfully take part in and contribute towards parent tours. They are able to confidently meet with and speak to visitors, including counsellors, their MP, governors and parents.
MENTAL HEALTH & WELL-BEING
We are a Trauma-informed school which creates a safe and nurturing environment, helps children to manage their emotions, and promotes connection and empathy. As a staff team we understand the relationship between children's cognitive development and the impacts of trauma and recognise the importance of building supportive and trusting relationships. Our trauma informed approach aims to remove barriers to learning and the development of all children.
Blue Zone
Sick
Sad
Tired
Bored
Moving Slowly
Green Zone
Happy
Calm
Good to Go
Focused
Ready to Learn
Yellow Zone
Frustrated
Worried
Silly/Wiggly
Anxious
Excited
Red Zone
Mad/Angry
Mean
Yelling/Hitting
Out of Control
I need time and space
PUPIL EMPOWERMENT
Pupil empowerment is the process of giving children the knowledge, skills, and opportunities to take control of their own learning and development.
It involves fostering a sense of responsibility among children, enabling them to actively participate in the decision-making process that affects their education and school environment. The children are equipped with the skills to make impactful decisions and are taught critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Our children not only make a difference inside our school but they strive to help their wider community by taking part in annual social action projects too.
At Glenbrook pupil empowerment is at the heart of what we do, every child is involved and able to share their voice. It is the pupil empowerment team's job to ensure that every child's voice is carefully and meticulously represented in meetings. They often gather feedback which is then shared with their teachers, senior leaders, and outside agencies. Diversity and inclusivity are fundamental to our approach when selecting the children to represent our school.
Our pupil empowerment team is made up of both school councillors and peer mediators. The school council team consists of; class representatives from years 4,5 and 6 and then elected leadership roles. Peer mediation is a selection of year 5 and 6 children. Both teams have to apply for their role and attend an interview before being considered for the position. The teams work closely together on most projects and occasionally lead on their own individual action plans. In addition to this, the children have their own differentiated roles and responsibilities within each team.
GLENBROOK VALUES
The Glenbrook Values were chosen by our children. The Pupil Empowerment Team, which consists of the School Council members and the pupil Peer Mediation team met with staff and following discussions created a PowerPoint presentation the explained what values are, where we get them from, and why we need them. The Pupil Empowerment Team then presented this to each class. The children watched a short video about values in general and were provided with examples of values and an explanation of what they meant.
Each class was then asked to select 4 values they thought represented them and their class. We collated the results from each class and created a list that the children then voted on to decide on the 4 Glenbrook values.
The children chose Kindness, Honesty, Respect and Creativity. Each week in assembly, one of our values is celebrated. Classes vote for children that particularly display the week’s value and the child is then celebrated in our whole school assembly for how they demonstrated the value in their behaviour and actions. Children often explain why the child has been voted for.
