Personal Development
Footsteps to Me
At Alderton Junior school, we pride ourselves on our strong focus on Personal Development. We have created a personal development framework that covers 5 key areas:
- I am a Cultural Explorer
- I am a Performer
- I am an Active Citizen
- I am Physically and Mentally Healthy
- I am an Innovator and Creator
Each child takes their Footsteps to Me booklet with them as they move through the school, with different challenges and opportunities to take part in in each year. The children collect stamps for each task that they achieve and write a reflection at the end of each year. Each of the 5 areas covers a range of skills to develop and practise.
Examples of Skills:
| I am a Cultural Explorer | I am a Performer | I am an Active Citizen | I am Physically and Mentally Healthy | I am an Innovator and Creator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| To show respect | To show engagement | To show kindness | To manage risks | To be a fundraiser |
| To be adventurous | To show musicianship | To be responsible | To keep myself safe on line | To be collaborative |
| To be inquisitive | To be expressive | To have financial sense | To learn from mistakes | To show creative thinking |
| To be accepting | To show aspiration | To be actively engaged | To show sportsmanship | To develop technological skills |
As part of our Personal Development curriculum, we also enhance our offer within a broad and balanced curriculum by:
- Ensuring all year groups get first hand experiences through school trips and visits; inviting visiting 'experts' into school to deliver workshops and through ignition events to new topics. For example, we have had pupils use technology to experience life in Stone Age times and to look at bullying in PHSCEe, had a 'Viking Day' with visitors delivering workshops and have had Epping Forest Museum visit to support key learning on Anglo Saxons and the Ancient Greeks.
- Using the outdoor area as much as possible to ensure pupils learn through nature and real life experiences. For example, we make Geography more 'real' through fieldwork including visits to the local area and visiting local rivers and forests; we teach Forest School in Year 3 and have a gardening club as part of our extra curricular offer.
- Developing our play offer through the OPAL programme to promote good physical and mental health.
- Developing personal safety skills through swimming lessons, Bikeability and Road Safety sessions for Year 5 and Risk Avert and Crucial Crew training for Year 6 as part of transition to secondary school. All year groups also receive first aid training.
- Having a responsive PHSCEe curriculum, based on the assessment of pupils needs and monitoring. This has included visits from The Dog's Trust, The Bank of England, The Fire Brigade and Hope not Hate.
- Working hard to support pupils to know how to be mentally healthy. We have a Child Mental Health Practitioner from MiND who delivers Brain Buddies workshops to our pupils.