Personal Development

Personal Development is at the heart of Wrenthorpe. Our entire school ethos of Where Everyone Is Valued is built upon a far-reaching and inclusive personal development offer through our ‘One Life’ Programme.

We believe that every child who walks through our doors should have access to not only the best academic offer, but also the best personal development offer that meets the needs of our children and community. Our personal development programme is highly-personalised, highly inclusive and provides our children with the skills, knowledge, support and opportunities to become well-rounded members of our local community, and the wider world. This is taught through our ‘One Life’ Programme, which is a golden thread throughout school. It begins the second our pupils walk through the doors through our morning routine, and is interwoven into all curriculum areas of daily life, right down to the conversations we have with our children. Our children learn to ‘show up’ as their best selves and are taught the skills and knowledge they need to tackle mental, physical and social challenges. We aim for every child to leave Wrenthorpe Academy with the skillset to make a positive contribution and value everyone, and themselves. We deliver Personal Development through four key strands: Values & Virtues, Curriculum & Experiences, Support & Pastoral and Community & Wider World – all helping to achieve our aim of Where Everyone Is Valued.

In addition to our ‘One Life’ programme, our pupils are also taught about SMSC and British Values through ‘Votes for Schools.’

Votes for Schools is a weekly current affairs platform, which supports discussions on challenging topical issues, empowering our pupils to have their voices heard by voting and commenting on a key question relating to political and social issues. Through weekly debating and voting, not only are our pupils learning about the world around them, they are becoming prepared for participating in our democratic processes, as they learn about themselves, others and the world around them.

Each week the children are presented with a question on a Tuesday afternoon during the Votes for Schools assembly. This is discussed in more detail within each class.  Then the pupils have their vote by Friday.  The vote of Yes/No is taken in each class and this information is collated.  This shows us what our children’s views are, how they compare to local and national views of other children, and our vote contribution will support further action to be taken. More information can be found via the link VotesforSchools – Personal Development, SMSC & PSHE