Personal Development

Ethos and Approach

At Holy Trinity, we want to enable our pupils to become the best citizens that they can be both now and as they grow into adulthood.

Personal Development of pupils underpins the learning journey children take here at Holy Trinity; it actively teaches, encourages, promotes and embeds a range of skills that allow children to be life-long learners and self-aware, safe and healthy young people.

Our approach is to integrate the personal development of children into every part of school life – both curricular and extra-curricular.

Pupil wellbeing

What is pupil wellbeing?

​Pupil wellbeing is defined as a sustainable state of positive mood and attitude, resilience, and satisfaction with self, relationships, and experiences at school.

​Why is pupils’ wellbeing important?

​Pupils with better health and wellbeing are likely to achieve more academically; effective social and emotional understanding & skills are associated with greater health, wellbeing, and achievement. A positive association exists between academic attainment and a pupil’s health & wellbeing. Just as we can’t view pupil learning & behaviour separately, we must consider both the physical and mental aspects of health when considering a child’s wellbeing.

At Holy Trinity we take a nurturing approach to children and their education and strive to embed pupil well-being throughout our daily practice.

How do we support pupil wellbeing at Holy Trinity?

PSHE & RHSE Curriculum

​Personal Social Health Education (PSHE) education helps pupils to develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to manage many of the critical opportunities, challenges and responsibilities they will face as they grow up and in adulthood.

Our broad and balanced PSHE/RHSE curriculum includes teaching about:

• Identifying and talking about feelings
• Understanding how feelings affect behaviours
• Strategies to manage feelings
• The link between mental and physical health
• Managing the transition to secondary school / key stage 3

British Values

Democracy

• ​We provide pupils with a broad general knowledge of, and promote respect for, public institutions and services
• We encourage pupils to become involved in decision-making processes and ensure they are listened to in school
• We help pupils to express their views
• We model how perceived injustice can be peacefully challenged

Rules of Law

• ​We ensure school rules and expectations are clear and fair
• We help pupils to distinguish right from wrong
• We include visits from the police in the curriculum
• We develop how restorative justice approaches to resolve conflicts

 Individual Liberty

• ​We support pupils to develop their self-knowledge, self-esteem and self-confidence
• We encourage pupils to take responsibility for their behaviour, as well as knowing their rights
• We actively challenge stereotypes

 Respect and Tolerance

• ​We promote respect for individual differences
• We help pupils to acquire an understanding of, and respect for, their own and other cultures and ways of life
• We challenge prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour
• We discuss differences between people, such as differences of faith, ethnicity, disability (including all protected characteristics)

SEMH interventions

Pupil mental health is high on the agenda for schools; we believe that equipping our staff with knowledge and high-quality resources for SEMH, we increase our potential for ensuring all pupils make progress & flourish with their education.

​By offering regular SEND, attachment, trauma informed practice, safeguarding and nurture principles training for staff and by driving mutually supportive and positively challenging practice we aim to pave the way for better outcomes for our most vulnerable pupils.

By being pre-emptive and proactive rather than reactive we are increasingly successful in supporting the diverse needs of our pupils.

At Holy Trinity, we use the Boxall assessment to assess all pupils. The Boxall Profile provides a framework for the precise assessment of children and young people's social and emotional aptitudes. It provides staff with insights and suggests points of entry into the child's world, allowing teachers to think about what lies behind their student's behaviour, and how to plan accordingly.

We have developed a Universal, Wave 1, Wave 2 and Wave 3 approach that encompasses our standard practices and interventions that we use to support pupils. Interventions support issues with:  Anger management / Anxiety management / Exploring Self-esteem / Social Skills / Positive Peer Relationships / Attention concentration and hyperactivity interventions / Confidence and self-esteem interventions.

We have also commissioned the service of Positive Approaches Ltd to support pupil wellbeing both inside and outside of school. As well as equipping staff with skills and understanding to support pupils, it enables us to support parents through coaching thus building a cohesive, consistent systems that support pupils and home and in school.

Therapeutic interventions

Emotional health is everyone’s business and at Holy Trinity we’re constantly striving to identify ways in which we can work to best support pupils.

Therapeutic interventions such as drama therapy or art therapy helps children with personal, social, and emotional issues affecting their wellbeing, attendance, learning and academic achievements, and relationships; and also develops skills to strengthen their resilience and deal with their problems and challenges.

As part of our commitment to improving mental health and well-being we have decided to complement our staff team by employing our own school therapist, for two days per week; we are able to offer 1-1 sessions, group sessions and parent-child support.