Personal Development at Palm Bay
7a personal develpment at palm bay.pdf
At Palm Bay, “every minute matters”. We tenaciously support our children to develop into healthy, independent, confident and articulate young people who are well prepared for the next stage in their education. Pupils leave Palm Bay as creative individuals who possess a strong social conscience and moral compass.
Personal Development is woven into all aspects of school life. At Palm Bay we take pride in providing an environment for all pupils to thrive and mature into well-informed, globally-minded young people.
Everything we do at Palm Bay is centred on developing our set of core values. Throughout their “Palm Bay Journey” our children develop these core values which underpin life at Palm Bay. Our core values help steer how we behave, grow, learn and treat each other - known to all children as “The Palm Bay Way”.
Alongside these core values are our school rules: Be Ready, Be Respectful and Be Safe. This motto ensures that there is a simple and common understanding of how everyone should be treated and behave.
Character Development and Personal Achievement
At Palm Bay, we have made a whole school commitment to the teaching and development of character traits, attributes and behaviours which underpin achievement and success.
Through our broad and exciting curriculum, we focus on teaching pupils to be their best selves, to take pride in their work, and to be positive members of their local and global communities.
We create resilient and tenacious children who love learning, think critically, respect each other and have the necessary attributes that will ensure that they thrive in the modern world.
Our regular values assemblies teach pupils about essential core values and enable pupils to explore issues relating directly to rules, behaviour and bullying.
Through our values assemblies we also teach British Values of the rule of law, tolerance of those of different faiths, mutual respect, individual liberty and democracy. Palm Bay children develop an awareness of their responsibility as a citizen of the modern world and have secure and developed moral foundations on which to further build.
Our weekly Celebration Assembly gives every child the chance to experience success and achievement - whether as ‘Star of the Week’, best class attendance or wider achievement.
PSHE and RSE - The Lifewise Curriculum
Our PSHE provision promotes emotional wellbeing, resilience and self-esteem and is an integral component of Personal Development at Palm Bay. Children are taught to have respect for themselves, their peers and the wider community. Pupils learn key life skills - such as decision making, good communication, active listening and self-regulation strategies. We encourage honesty and respect in all our lessons whilst being sensitive to the needs and feelings of others. Through the Lifewise curriculum, we provide pupils with a deepened knowledge of their health and wellbeing, including mental and physical health.
Lifewise lessons are purposeful and empowering; preparing learners for the next stage of their education whilst opening doors to a greater knowledge and understanding of the wider world.
Today’s children and young people are growing up in an increasingly complex world, living their lives seamlessly on and offline. This presents many positive and exciting opportunities, but also challenges and risks. In this environment, children and young people need to know how to be safe and healthy and how to manage their academic, personal and social lives in a positive way. Our Lifewise curriculum gives our children the knowledge and understanding that they need to make informed choices and to be a positive influence in the communities to which they belong.
Our Lifewise curriculum prepares children for life in modern Britain by: equipping them to be responsible, respectful, active citizens who contribute positively to society. It incrementally develops their understanding of fundamental British values; structuring their understanding and appreciation of diversity; celebrating what we have in common and promoting respect for the different protected characteristics as defined in law.
We promote equality throughout the curriculum with positive role modelling. We avoid stereotypes, challenging negative attitudes, and using very clear language around how to treat each other. We are proactive rather than reactive and explicitly teach our children about racism, homophobia and sexism.
Our PSHE and SRE curriculum reflect the diversity of society. It is reviewed regularly to ensure it is rich and relevant. Parents are encouraged to have an active participation in reviewing and refining the Relationship and Sex Education Policy and schemes of work.
SMSC
Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development (SMSC) is about everything we do at Palm Bay. We help and support all pupils to build their own personal values, have positive relationships with others and become responsible young citizens in society. SMSC development supports pupils to be kind, thoughtful and caring and to be able to live and learn alongside people with different beliefs, cultures and lifestyles. Our provision for pupils’ Spiritual, Moral, Social, Cultural and Emotional development (SMSC), builds on our values of our education. An important part of SMSC is to support our pupils to engage with British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and respect for different faiths and beliefs. We want our pupils to be reflective about their own beliefs, but also show interest and respect for the beliefs and faiths of others. We encourage pupils to reflect, not just on their own behaviour and the choices they make, but also on the skills needed to remain calm and focused on their learning. Focusing on personal insight, values, meaning and purpose - beliefs that help provide perspective on life may be rooted in a religion, but equally may not. Creativity and imagination is important at Palm Bay, as is a sense of fascination, awe and wonder.
Pupil Voice and Peer Leadership
At Palm Bay we create meaningful roles for pupils to allow them to develop leadership skills and learn the importance of responsibility. We are committed to listening to all of our pupils and empowering them to feel part of and able to positively influence our whole school community.
The current leadership roles at Palm Bay are:
- Smart School Council (all pupils)
- Active Play Leaders
- PE Leaders
- House Captains
- Digital Leaders
- Young Arts Leaders (YALS)
- Eco Team
- Reading Ambassadors
Smart School Council
A school council where every pupil’s voice should be involved.
- We run simple, easy class meetings
- We put all of our pupils in the driving seat
- Communication Team
- All of our pupils help create change
- Group of pupils who create change
- Democracy in Action
- This might be creating a club, campaign or activity to create change
Extracurricular Sport
At Palm Bay we provide: high-quality physical education and 50 annual extra-curricular sporting events that inspire all pupils to feel confident to participate and succeed in competitive sport and other physically-demanding activities. We provide; opportunities for all pupils to become physically confident in a way that supports their health and fitness; opportunities to compete in sport and other activities while fostering inclusivity and kindness, understanding that ‘sport is for all’.
Palm Bay children develop a lifelong love of Sport and Physical Activity.