Personal Development at Alder Tree Primary

Alder Tree Primary teaches personal development in a wide range of ways throughout the children’s school lives. For example: 

• It is taught in discrete lessons (please see the curriculum map below) 
• It is taught with cross-curricular links in other lessons, such as English, physical education and religious education 
• Staff members consistently model how to be a good citizen who uphold the school values 
• Assemblies (whole school and special visitors) 
• Specialist staff working with individuals and groups 
• E-Safety lessons in computing and assembly 
• Celebrating positive learning attributes with weekly certificates 
• Wide array of before and after school clubs 
• Well thought through transitions throughout the school and beyond 
• Focusing on mental and physical health 
• Student council 
• HPL Student Ambassadors 
• TSLG Pupils 
• 'Planet Power’ eco-group 
• Celebrating different languages, cultures and religions 
• Residentials 
• Forest School 
• Student leadership (covering all aspects of school life) 
• Equality and Diversity Ambassadors – celebrating protected characteristics.

At Alder Tree Primary Academy, there is a whole school approach to PSHE in the curriculum, and throughout the life of the school and its community. Our school is committed to promoting the health and well-being of pupils, and of the whole school community, and fully recognises the important relationship between well-being and learning. We provide the children with a spiral curriculum provided by SCARF that meets the needs of all pupils. Through PSHE and the wider curriculum we promote the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society, and work to prepare pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences now and in their life. Whole-school SCARF builds on the SCARF values of Safety, Caring, Achievement, Resilience and Friendship, with a comprehensive and flexible toolkit to help strengthen our approach to pupil and staff mental wellbeing. 

For information on how the curriculum is mapped, please follow this link. 

Our curriculum reflects, celebrates and teaches children about diversity. For example, in RE children learn about the four main religions of Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Hinduism. They compare marriage customs and naming ceremony customs, for example, and have opportunities to visit different places of worship. Throughout the year we celebrate being part of Britain. In general terms this means we celebrate events such as Christmas and Remembrance Day. In addition, we always take part in key British events. For such events we hold parades, tea parties, concerts and do additional curriculum classroom work about how such events relate to being British. We are incredibly proud of being a part of a hugely diverse community in the heart of Leeds, and love to celebrate what makes us unique through learning about migration and taking part in the Leeds Carnival.  

Every year at Alder Tree we go through an election process for student leaders to promote democracy and the right to vote for change. Pupils put forward their ideas of how they wish to improve the school community. For example, our playtimes are a true reflection of pupil-led change and children voting for their preferred provision in outdoor areas.  

Children are taught the importance of rules and laws and how the ones in school reflect those in our country. Children are taught the reasons behind rules and that they are there to keep us safe and happy. Visits from authority figures in society such as the fire brigade, the local community police officers, doctors, dentists, nurses, MPs and governors demonstrate to children how rules and laws are an integral part of a safe and happy Britain. 

Alongside rules and laws, we promote freedom of choice and the right to respectfully express our views and beliefs as an integral part of what it is to be British. Children may choose to take part in our very wide range of extra-curricular activities. They have a very broad choice of lunchtime play areas and activities. They are involved in their own learning and respond to their learning by feedback systems and self-review of marking. They are taught how to use their choices and freedoms safely through our curriculum in areas such as e-safety, anti-bullying, sex and relationship education and drugs awareness education. 

Alder Tree Primay is a wonderfully culturally diverse school with a highly regarded inclusive ethos and practice. We are a microcosm of British society, and we celebrate this. Our children are taught and know how to show respect to everyone no matter what our differences may be. We celebrate this diversity in our curriculum. Examples include our celebrations of different religious festivals throughout the year, the participation of all our children, including those with a disability, in all our curriculum activities and the regular staff training we undertake to ensure this inclusive practice remains integral to our work.  

Pupils at Alder Tree Primary have several opportunities to reflect on their embodiment of the school's values 'Believe, Belong, Become'. Three times a week pupils meet in the form of a whole-school assembly and focus on a specific value. Children are given the time to reflect on this with a 'focus song'; lyrics to this are displayed to scaffold pupils' thinking and understanding.  

In addition to this, pupils reflect on how the news in the world reflects British Values, through shared watching of Newsround twice a week. Children also reflect on how they have addressed the values, attitudes and attributes of high-performance learning at the end of each school day.