Intent

For Year 5 and Year 6 pupils, Sex Education is also taught by their class teacher and the school nurse. The Relationships and Health Education parts of the curriculum follow the statutory guidance: Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education, Department for Education 2020. Through our Personal Development Curriculum however, we ensure that we integrate, but do not limit our curriculum to this statutory content. All statutory elements have been and continue to be influenced by consultation with staff, governors, pupils and families. Our Sex Education curriculum follows the above guidance but remains non-statutory and is taught separately by the school nurse in Years 5 and 6. Parents and carers have the option to withdraw their child from these lessons.

At Thomas Jones, we recognise that personal development is much more than just our Personal Development curriculum and the development of children’s understanding, attributes, sense of self and values are approached in all aspects of the school day. From the nursery class upwards our school ethos and values are palpable. Children are taught to be ‘kind and friendly’ to one another, to voice their opinions in a respectful manner, to care for one another and their environment and to explore their emotions and behaviour and the impact of these. Children are enabled to explore their sense of self and belonging within the school community and wider community within a nurturing environment.

Our Personal Development curriculum is designed to develop key concepts, skills and attributes. Although the specific content of the curriculum will evolve as the world changes, these concepts are timeless. It is not enough to simply teach pupils about the issues covered within the core themes. It is vital that pupils have the opportunity to explore their attitudes, values and beliefs about these issues and to develop the skills, language and strategies necessary to manage such issues should they encounter them.

For our community, we have a sustained focus on healthy diet, dental care, peer pressure, physical and mental wellbeing and economic security as local data highlights these are specific areas of need. Data to support this has been drawn from a range of sources: Analyse School Performance (ASP – including the Inspection Data Summary Report IDSR), local authority data (Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNA)) and Public Health England, Child and Maternal Health data sets (CHIMAT).

• The school’s deprivation indicator is 0.35 compared with 0.21 nationally (ASP data).
• When employing IDACI deciles, 53% of the school community is drawn from the 10% most deprived wards nationally (LA data).
• Children under 20 living in poverty is 20.1% compared with 16.6% nationally (JSNA).
• Prevalence of obesity in Year 6 pupils is  9% compared with 23.4% nationally (CHIMAT)
• The percentage of children with one or more decayed, missing or filled teeth is 26.6% compared with 23.3% nationally.7 (CHIMAT).
• Hospital admissions for mental health conditions- 2021/22 were 109.5 compared with 75 locally and 99.8 nationally (CHIMAT) (Up from 87.2 in 2019/20).
• The population vaccination coverage for 2021-22 is 77.8% compared with 89.2% nationally (CHIMAT)

At Thomas Jones, our Personal Development education addresses both pupils’ current experiences and preparation for their future. We have therefore provided a ‘spiral/cyclical curriculum’ meaning that the specific learning builds for pupils as they move through the school, gradually expanding and deepening their knowledge, skills and attributes with prior learning revisited, reinforced and extended throughout the school. Thereby ensuring that crucial elements are embedded in the children’s long term memory by the time they leave us ready for secondary school. This is grounded in the established evidence base for effective practice in PSHE education.

Also see Personal Development Policy

Citizenship Curriculum

Alongside the ethos and values of Thomas Jones that aims to equip pupils as respectful, empathetic and responsible members of society who are able to contribute positively, the non-statutory citizenship curriculum is also covered in our Personal Development curriculum. At Thomas Jones we are proud of our diverse community and its reflection of modern British society. All children are celebrated as individuals and as members of our school and wider community. Oracy is integral and through the teaching of subject specific vocabulary and an emphasis on articulation, pupils develop an ability to voice their opinions clearly.

During key stage 1 of our Personal Development curriculum pupils ‘learn about themselves as developing individuals and as members of their communities/society, building on their own experiences and on the early learning goals for personal, social and emotional development. They learn the basic rules and skills for keeping themselves healthy and safe and for behaving well. They have opportunities to show they can take some responsibility for themselves and their environment. They begin to learn about their own and other people's feelings and become aware of the views, needs and rights of other children and older people. As members of a class and school community, they learn social skills such as how to share, take turns, play, help others, resolve simple arguments and resist bullying. They begin to take an active part in the life of their school and its neighbourhood.’

During key stage 2 of our Personal Development curriculum pupils develop their understanding of self and their place within society and what the terms society and citizen mean. They learn about ‘the wider world and the interdependence of communities within it. They develop their sense of social justice and moral responsibility and begin to understand that their own choices and behaviour can affect local, national or global issues and political and social institutions. They learn how to take part more fully in school and community activities. They learn how to make more confident and informed choices about their health and environment; to take more responsibility, individually and as a group, for their own learning; and to resist bullying.’ Citizenship Curriculum, DfE

Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development, Fundamental British Values and Prevent Duty

Alongside our integrated curriculum and continued whole school focus on children’s social and emotional development our Personal Development curriculum further develops children’s Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development (SMSC). Children are explicitly taught to understand, accept, respect and celebrate diversity. They learn to respect the faiths, feelings and values of others, appreciate diverse viewpoints and reflect upon these. They are taught about the law, learn how to recognise right from wrong, understand consequences and are afforded time to investigate moral and social issues, offering their own viewpoints. They also develop skills to cooperate and participate with others and resolve conflict.

Our Personal Development curriculum is designed to specifically promote the Fundamental British Values of democracy, the rule of law, liberty, respect and tolerance. Children learn about the role of and to have respect for public institutions and services in Britain including Britain’s parliamentary system. The role of democracy and the democratic process is explored in depth to ensure pupils leave us with a good understanding of how this impacts daily life. Pupils develop skills and attitudes in these areas that will allow them to participate fully in and contribute positively to life in modern Britain.

 Schools have a legal duty to prevent pupils from becoming radicalised. At Thomas Jones we actively implement our Prevent Duty across the school and also through our Personal Development curriculum. All teachers assess the risk of children being drawn into terrorism through relevant lessons and discussions in class and ensure that they challenge any extremist ideas which can be used to legitimise terrorism. Teachers ensure that they create an open platform for discussion through lessons, where pupils feel confident to raise any concerns or queries and know that they will be heard. Our curriculum actively promotes safeguarding and teaches pupils how to stay safe, how to protect themselves from harm and how to take responsibility for their own and others’ safety.