St Mary's School Calne

Personal Development

The Secretary of State for Education, launching the 1999 review of the National Curriculum, set “a challenging agenda to raise standards in education … to enable young people to reach their full potential and to make a full contribution to their communities ... to develop spiritually, morally, culturally, mentally and physically … to become healthy, lively, enquiring individuals capable of rational thought and discussion and positive participation in our ethnically and technologically diverse society.”

The Personal Development programme at St Mary’s supports this statement through a new programme which will be introduced into the curriculum this September. It will encompass 8 different strands of learning including Citizenship, Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Studies, Health Education, Study Skills and Careers. Contributions towards the Personal Development of pupils are made within the taught curriculum, in the Houses and through the Company and Tutorial system and through extra curricular activities, including Chapel services and whole school events such as Charity and Industry days. Each pupil will have at least one Personal Development lesson a week throughout the school.

The overall aims of the Personal Development programme are:

• To help support each pupil in becoming confident, healthy, considerate, responsible young adults
• To equip each pupil with the knowledge and skills to make informed choices to enhance and enrich their own and others' lives
• To provide opportunities for pupils to reflect on their own learning, performance and achievement and to identify their own personal development targets
• To develop skills of enquiry and communication.

Mrs Sue Foreman (Personal Development Co-ordinator)