Personal Development at Palatine

Thinking about each child as an individual and supporting their whole development is at the core of education at Palatine. Our key value is that children are at the heart of everything we do. Our curriculum vision states that pupils will be challenged, stimulated, motivated and equipped. This includes thinking about how we support the whole child within the four areas of need and supporting them to be ready and equipped with the skills they need for their next stages of education and life as an adult. Supporting pupils personal development is a vital part of this.

What do we mean by Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural development and what does it look like for us at Palatine school?

Spiritual Development is when we explore beliefs and experiences; respect faiths, feelings and values; enjoy learning about oneself, others and the surrounding world; use imagination and creativity; reflect

We do this through our learning within the world curriculum finding out about what makes us our own communities’ special and what is special about others and the communities they are part of. This includes finding out about different families, different beliefs and how different people live. We learn about how we are feeling and how others are feeling and learn to respect and recognize this through our zones of regulation strategies and SEMH curriculum.

Moral Development is when we recognize right and wrong; respect the law; understand consequences; investigate moral and ethical issues; offer reasoned views.

We do this through our SEMH curriculum within the strand of managing feelings and behavior and understanding making good choices. We support pupils to take ownership of their own behavior through our personlised strategies which support pupils to be able to regulate. Within our engineers hub we learn more about wider moral and ethical issues such as learning about refugees within our Journeys topic. Pupils are supported to develop their communication to express themselves through our communication curriculum and total communication approaches which enables pupils to advocate for their own views. Pupils take on roles within the junior leadership team and school council to provide their views and partake annually in our whole school summer evaluation of the school.

Social Development is when we use a range of social skills, participate in the local community, appreciate diverse viewpoints, participate, volunteer and cooperate; resolve conflict; engage with the British values of democracy, the rule of law, liberty, respect and tolerance.

We do this through developing our social learning within our communication and SEMH curriculums. Pupil’s social development is also facilitated through our joint community sessions such as playtimes, dinnertimes, access to school facilities like soft play and sensory rooms where pupils have opportunities to work together. Pupils are given opportunities to go into the community through educational visits and trips that support pupils to know the boundaries of how to operate within the community safely. Our British values are embedded and this is outlined within our British values statement.

Cultural Development is when we appreciate cultural influences, ours and others heritage; develop our knowledge and skills to live in modern Britain; appreciate the role of Britain’s parliamentary system, participate in culture, sporting, artistic and musical opportunities, understand, accept, respect and celebrate diversity.

We do this through supporting pupils with their pathways to adulthood and this is outlined within the pathways to adulthood document. Pupils learn about their own and others cultures and ways of living through our topics and World curriculum. Diversity is supported and celebrated. Cultural celebrations are part of our learning and experiences. Pupils have many opportunities to partake in cultural (through education visits and experiences), sporting (through our physical development provision, clubs and inclusion in WSSSC), artistic (through our creativity curriculum) and musical opportunities (through visits from orchestras, musicians and extra curriculum clubs like choir.

Learning in SMSC is promoted across the curriculum no matter which route to learning pupils at Palatine are using. Pupils who are not yet engaged in subject specific learning will be using a targeted approach to learning within the 4 areas of need and learning within SMSC will be promoted through this (i.e by having targeted learning within communication, physical development and Social, Emotional and Mental Health development). Some pupils will be using the ImPACTS curriculum as their targeted approach and pupils using this will be developing the themes of SMSC through their learning area ‘ Personal, Social and Emotional Wellbeing’ which is facilitated through two key areas – ‘ Towards Self Help’ and ‘ Towards Self-Advocacy’ We support all pupils at Palatine to have experiences that enrich their learning i.e. through educational visits, visitors to the school, provision through our stunning starts for each topic and specifically within our whole school topic where the school community comes together to learn about a common theme.

Pupils are prepared to move onto their next phase of learning through being supported to develop learning attributes that support them and developing a wider understanding of the skills they will need to be independent, healthy, have purpose and enjoy life.

These are outlined within our Preparing for Adulthood at Palatine school Overview

British Values

British values permeate through the school’s curriculum and supports the development of the ‘whole child’. We recognise that this development is most successful when those values and attitudes are promoted by all the staff and provide a model of behaviour for our pupils.  Children and staff are supported with a code of conduct to ensure all members of our school community know what is expected of them.  We also offer many opportunities throughout the curriculum to explore different aspects of ‘British Values’ through a broad and balanced opportunities. 

Democracy

Democracy is promoted throughout our communication curriculum. The ability to understand and communicate are the most important areas of learning. We ensure that pupils are given a ‘voice’ to communicate. This ‘voice’ could be using words, objects, photographs, pictures, symbols, signing, eye pointing or body language. Some children also use high tech communication aids to enable them to communicate and share their voice. We empower our pupils by giving them opportunities to make choices about the things that they believe to be important. By valuing each ‘voice’ and by listening and responding to that voice we demonstrate that we support democracy and liberty.

We have an active School Council with representatives from all classes as well as a Head boy and Head girl who are voted for each year. Our school council meets regularly and will discuss issues that are raised within their classes as well as whole school issues.

Rule of Law:

Pupils are helped to learn to manage their behaviour and take responsibility for their actions. Staff are committed to providing a consistent and predictable environment within the school and beyond. We can help many pupils to understand the connection between actions and consequences. This type of environment enables pupils to feel safe and secure; this in turn, promotes the optimum conditions for learning to take place.

Individual Liberty:

Pupils are encouraged to become good and valued citizens. We do this by supporting each pupil to become as independent as possible. We endeavour to demonstrate that everyone has rights; this includes the right to say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to ideas or activities. Many of our pupils will be able to take responsibility for particular roles and to understand that with certain rights comes certain responsibilities. Learning to do things independently is an important part of learning. 

We support others by participating in charitable events such as Red Nose Day/Comic Relief and Children in Need, we also hold an annual ‘Dance/Wiggle’ day to raise funds for a charity who support us throughout the year.  This helps children to have a sense of pride in what they are doing and allows them to see themselves as part of a wider community.

Our nurture groups and emotional literacy support programme allows children to monitor their feelings and request time to see a designated person.  This fosters an independence to support children in recognising and managing feelings. 

Mutual Respect:

We promote each pupil’s inclusion in activities, settings and locations that are appropriate to meet their individual needs. Within school, pupils work with a range of people and interactions with others are always positively promoted. This may include working with external coaches, theatre groups or therapists. The curriculum is personalised and planned with the child at the centre and may include transitioning within the range of resources and places on the site and going into the community to meet with a range of people in a variety of situations which include community events and shared participation with other schools.

Tolerance of different faiths and beliefs:

We are part of a school and local community where each person is respected and valued equally without regard to ability, gender, faith, heritage or race.

Cultural appreciation and development forms part of our curriculum. We place great emphasis on providing encounters and participation in events and celebrations to broaden all pupils’ experiences and awareness of others.

Our Assemblies help all pupils to find out about themselves and others linking their lives to the communities in which they belong and our curriculum ensures coverage of many different faiths and beliefs.

Pupils are encouraged to experience British Culture through our curriculum themes. For example, pupils have visited many local places. As part of History topics children learn about British historical events. As a school, we take part in sporting activities, both in school and within the local community, which helps to instil ‘fair play’ and promote a ‘team spirit’.

Although some of our pupils may find it difficult to articulate their feelings and concerns; staff are attuned to changes in demeanour and well-being that may indicate anxiety. If they are concerned about a pupil our accepted practice links to the Child Protection Policy which entrusts a duty of care to all staff to actively protect and promote the welfare of children.

The staff work closely with parents, carers and other professionals to ensure that the pupils at Palatine Primary School are happy, well cared for and enabled to learn the skills they need to live a fulfilling life as part of their community.