Personal Development
What is personal development?
A wide range of additional opportunities enrich learning taught through our carefully designed St Mary's Curriculum. Through our Christian values we help pupils develop their character, to know that individual differences should be valued, to be resilient, reflective, to have empathy and respect for one another. We help pupils understand and deepen their knowledge of the British values of democracy, individual liberty, the rule of law, mutual respect and tolerance.
Through our taught curriculum for Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RHSE), we teach pupils to recognise and manage online and offline risks. We teach them about healthy relationships and that sexual harassment of any kind is not tolerated. Our curriculum threads weave their way through every part of what we do at St Mary's and support pupils to be ready for their next stage in education.
Our Co-curriculum
Specialist clubs
Our curriculum extends beyond the National Curriculum and includes a wide range of experiences and opportunities within and beyond the school day. Our specialist club programme is designed to link with and enhance the school curriculum for all age groups from Reception to Year 6. All clubs are run by experienced and qualified staff who have a passion to inspiring pupils and helping them develop new skills. Our programme is a broad offer and includes sports, art, music, gardening and many more, ranging from dance to chess. We aim to have a club for everyone.
Residential visits
Residential visits in years 4 and 6 build children's independence and provide opportunities for learning within different contexts and settings.
Trips and visits
Trips and visits take place throughout the school year, in all year groups, linked to our curriculum. When appropriate, we also invite external speakers to deliver talks and workshops.
Collective Worship programme
A programme of Collective Worship based on our Christian values helps to promote pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and provide clear guidance for pupils on how to grow up to be the best person they can possibly be. As well as the Collective Worships based on our Christian values, pupils also take part in:
- Safeguarding collective worships'
- Celebration collective worships
- Music performances
- Pupil-led collective worships
PE and Sport competition and healthy lifestyles
We provide pupils with a wide range of PE and Sport opportunities beyond the school day. Through our sports squads, pupils compete in a range of competitions, sports festivals and fixtures. After school clubs such as Netball, Football, Hockey, Cricket, Tag Rugby, Athletics and Dance further provide opportunities for pupils to develop sporting skills, healthy lifestyles and positive attitudes.
Music
Pupils take part in a wide range of musical activities beyond the St Mary's Curriculum.
Forest School is designed to provide opportunities for outdoor learning in a natural environment. As a school, we are very fortunate in having our own forest school rea and teachers trained to deliver the Forest Schools programme. All pupils from Nursery to Year 6 benefit from having regular forest school sessions.
Pupils as Leaders
Pupils have many opportunities to become a leader in school. These include Head girl and Head boy, elected house captains and sports captains, eco warriors, junior road safety officers and leadership roles such as peer mentors, play leaders, and librarians.