‘Further Personal Development’ is delivered by Form Tutors each week during Personal Development time. Sometimes this will build on the session delivered in ‘Awareness’ which takes place earlier on in the week. In other weeks Further Personal Development will have its own standalone topic. Similar to Awareness, there are strands in Further Personal Development that help ensure the Academy covers all elements of Personal Development such as PSHE, SMSC and RSE. The strands of Further Personal Development are:

• Mental Health Toolkit – following feedback from students we have developed sessions that discuss the importance of mental health, coping strategies and where to get support when it is needed. These also incorporate events such as World Mental Health Day, Children’s Mental Health Week and Mental Health Awareness Week.
• Current Affairs – to ensure students are aware of the wider world current affairs sessions take place throughout the year. Past topics have included the #MeToo movement, Black Lives Matter and the Hillsborough Disaster. These are often developed with support from the Senior Prefect Team. The main aim of these sessions to alleviate any concerns students may have due to the changing world around them and signpost suitable support.
• National Days – Within Further Personal Development we celebrate and learn about national day/weeks/months taking place. Examples include Numeracy Day, Earth Day, Remembrance, Black History Month and Mental Health Awareness week.
• Academy Council – each of our Form Groups has a Form Representative. These representatives gather feedback during this time from the Form Group on ways in which the Academy can develop. Form Captains for each year group meet to discuss the ideas put forward. From each year group two Form Captains then become Academy Council Representatives. The Academy Council Representatives meet each module with our Senior Prefects to discuss the ideas put forward. The Senior Prefects then discuss the ideas with the Headteacher. This ensures our students have a voice and helps the Academy to continue developing in our students’ best interests. The Mental Health Toolkit is an example of a development that has been made due to student feedback.
• House System – some of our Further Personal Development time is also used to run House Events in support of our House System. More information about the House System can be found here. We want all students to be proud of the House they are in and strive to earn as many points for their House as possible.
• RSE, Online Safety and SMSC – further work takes place in Further Personal Development to supplement work in other areas to ensure students get the full RSE and Online Safety curriculums and develop areas of SMSC.