Personal development

Personal Development is at the heart of everything we do at Heytesbury and we believe that it should be at the centre of the pupil’s learning journey.

Our school ethos and vision comes from the parable of the mustard seed (Matthew 13: 13-32) which symbolises the potential for growth and positive impact within each child. Our aim is to enable every child to realise this potential, such that they thrive and flourish as individuals, and our Personal Development curriculum is an important way in which we help all pupils to achieve this.

As a Church School, our Personal Development offer is underpinned by our vision and values. It is woven throughout and is a crucial part of everything we do.
We consider Personal Development to cover the following areas:

• Curriculum experiences and visits – to build cultural capital
• Wider opportunities – to develop special talents and interests
• Outdoor learning – to develop understanding about the natural world and sustainability, and build resilience
• Emotional development and mental health – to enable children to be healthy in mind as well as body
• Spiritual development – to go on a journey of personal growth of who we are on the inside and how we behave on the outside
• Community and understanding of others – to build social and moral understanding, and to give to others in different ways
• Citizenship – to develop understanding of rights and responsibilities, inclusion and equality of opportunity, and prepare children for life in modern Britain

Pupils’ personal development grows throughout their time at Heytesbury CofE Primary School. Whilst it is not explicitly taught as a subject, it is embedded through everything we do and is at the heart of all areas of our curriculum and all policies and procedures.

All children experience the same offer and we ensure that any necessary adaptations are made for disadvantaged pupils and children with special educational needs and disabilities. We allocate the necessary funding to ensure that all our pupils are included in all aspects and elements of school life so they feel that they belong and can flourish.

As well as a specific, curriculum-focused offer for each class, many of the opportunities for our children to develop personally are embedded into other areas of school life. The document below shows these opportunities for children throughout their time in our school.