Personal Development
Intent
Our curriculum is designed for our community and wider society. We are driven to give the children of our school community the best start to their personal, academic and working life.
Our aim is to ensure that all our children are safe, responsible and respectful young people, preparing them for secondary school and beyond. We have carefully considered the local context and have coherently planned our curriculum and wider offer to teach them to become successful and responsible citizens of the future.
We want our pupils to communicate confidently in our ever-changing world. We focus on developing pupils’ moral, spiritual, social and cultural understanding so that they are well-prepared for life in modern Britain. We carefully plan the essential knowledge that pupils need to become educated citizens in an ever-changing world. We aim to introduce them to the best that has been thought and said and intend to stimulate an appreciation of human creativity and achievement.
Our PSHE and RSE curriculum helps pupils to understand how to keep themselves safe. Pupils can explore and debate issues which affect our local community and wider society. These include internet safety, CSE, CCE and knife crime. We want pupils to be aspirational and make good choices. We want them to understand what they need to do to reach and succeed in the careers to which they aspire.
Pupils know how to keep physically and mentally healthy, eat healthily and maintain an active lifestyle. We help our pupils to be active by providing many different opportunities during and after school.
Our academy provides an inclusive environment where all learners enjoy their education. We planned our curriculum and learning opportunities, so all pupils have access to a broad and balanced curriculum.
All pupils experience a rich Personal, Social, Health Education and Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural curriculum, including British values and Relationship and Sex Education. We teach these aspects of the curriculum through The Jigsaw Spiral Curriculum.
Jigsaw PSHCE Curriculum
Jigsaw is designed as a whole school approach, with all year groups working on the same theme (Puzzle) at the same time. This enables each Puzzle to start with an introductory assembly, generating a whole school focus for adults and children alike. Jigsaw aims to help children know and value who they really are and how they relate to other people in this ever-changing world.
There are six Puzzles (half-term units of work) each with six Pieces (lessons). Every year group studies the same Puzzle at the same time, allowing for whole school themes. Each year group is taught one lesson per week and all lessons are delivered in an age and stage-appropriate way so that they meet the children’s needs.
The Thrive Approach
At Goldthorpe Primary Academy, we embrace ‘The Thrive Approach’ to improve and support children’s personal development, their mental health and ultimately ensuring they are ready to learn. All staff are trained in the Thrive Approach which includes a holistic, whole school approach, running alongside our PSHCE curriculum, as well as an intervention for those children identified as needing additional support.
The Thrive Approach draws on the latest research into brain science, child development theory and attachment theory. It helps us to understand how babies’ and children’s brains develop, and how parents, teachers and other professionals can best support this development by providing the best experiences for the children at each stage.
