Personal Development is a journey that begins right from the day we are born. Here at Brightwalton, in partnership with parents and the children, we want to continue the truly unique development of every child, helping them to build their own strength of character that lets their individuality shine through.

Personal Development is interwoven through our whole curriculum. We want the children to be able to use the skills they develop, in all areas of the curriculum and their daily life.

At Brightwalton, the personal development of our children is based upon our core values of Service, Perseverance, Wisdom, Friendship and Trust. We believe that these values, together with our PSHRE curriculum will prepare each child for life in a world that is constantly changing and challenging. During their time at Brightwalton, every child will start to develop the skills  they will need to flourish in society. 

How Personal Development is built through our values at Brightwalton

Service:

• Children are given responsibilities throughout the whole school, from the younger children helping to look after their classroom and personal belongings to the children in Year 5 and Year 6 having specific leadership roles.
• Every year group has a child who is a member of the school council. Meetings occur regularly where the children have a chance to voice their own opinions, suggest ways to improve the school or support others in the wider community.
• All children are encouraged to support the wider community through fundraising and specific acts, for example cleaning the church and donating to food banks.

Perseverance:

• Our wide and varied curriculum offers the children challenges that they need to overcome.
• Independent learning skills are developed through encouragement to take a risk and show resilience when things don’t go to plan. This builds the motivation to succeed.
• We are a small village school, but we regularly compete against much larger primary schools in a variety of sporting and academic events.

Wisdom

• Children are encouraged and supported to use the knowledge they have to make good choices.
• Our behaviour policy is based around “therapeutic thinking”, hereby helping the children to think about and learn how their behaviour can affect themselves and those around them.

Friendship

• Through collective worship and the wider curriculum, all children develop respect and compassion for others in our local and wider communities.
• We create a welcoming environment by educating about different cultures and lifestyles, growing tolerance and empathy for all.
• The school house system encourages children of all ages to work together, support each other and develop friendships.

Trust

• We trust our children to do what is right even when no adult is visible.
• Through PSHRE we teach children how they can recognise those who are safe to trust.
• Relationships Education teaches children the value of trust.

The children have numerous other opportunities for personal development and growth, many of which provide valuable lifelong skills. These include:

• Swimming lessons for 6 terms

• E-safety  - this teaches the children about how to keep themselves safe online
• Road safety sessions
• Bikeability  - a course teaching the children about keeping safe when they are riding their bike
• First Aid training for the older children
• Cooking
• Leadership training for children in Years 5 and 6
• Mental Wellbeing strategies such as calming, breathing, mindfulness and relaxation
• Celebration Worship celebrates individual and team achievements both in and out of school
• School day trips to enhance and contextualise learning
• School residential trip to experience challenging and team building activities
• A wide variety of school clubs - sport, music, stories etc
• An enquiry based R.E. curriculum that informs the children about other faiths and cultures 
• Our trained Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) in school can support children who might be experiencing some emotional difficulties such as with friendships
• Visitors to school who can inspire and engage the children, opening their eyes to the many opportunities available to them as they grow up
• Transition routines to support the children as they move on to the next phase of their education