Wider Curriculum

Our Personal Development Curriculum 

The aim of Eastlea’s Personal Development Curriculum is to provide our students with a variety of learning experiences that support both their personal development and well-being. The curriculum permeates across the school and extends beyond the academic, technical or vocational curriculum and also exists in the everyday interactions that students experience around the school.

Our aims are that it provides for our students’ broader development, enabling them to:

• evolve and discover their interests and talents
• learn how to keep themselves safe and make healthy life choices
• be guided in their long-term plans and decisions so that they can have, and realise, their high aspirations

In particular, much of the content is designed to raise aspirations, broaden students’ Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural (SMSC) experience, increase their awareness around Relationship Sex Health Education (RSHE), their Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE)  and to provide relevant and up-to-date Careers Education Information Advice and Guidance (CEIAG).  

The Personal Development Curriculum is delivered through morning tutor time, termly extended tutor sessions, assemblies, ‘Thoughts of the Week’, parents/carers information evenings and through themed events and celebrations.

Additional detail is provided on the pages linked to above.  Where a separate page is not published, further information is provided below.

Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural (SMSC) education

At Eastlea, we aspire to encourage students to develop into thoughtful, confident, well-informed and compassionate people who are able to lead happy and responsible lives.

Our school motto is ‘Engage, Commit, Succeed’, and we aim for our students to embrace opportunities both within the classroom and in the wider world.  

In addition, we aim to educate students in democratic values – which are also sometimes referred to as British values:

• democracy;
• the rule of law;
• individual liberty; and 
• mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith

Our SMSC education is a focus of everything we do, from curriculum lessons to tutor time, and from PSHE to assemblies and special events.  As such, it is delivered through elements of all subjects across our academic curriculum, particularly in Religious Education, PSHE and in Tutor Time as well as weekly assemblies and other weekly/monthly events. 

Every week there is a ‘Thought of the Week’, and a ‘tutor time’ session is spent discussing this implications of the ideas contained in each thought. There are also assemblies for each Year Group, during which key topics are presented.

You can access a full outline of our Personal Development Curriculum is available for review here.

Citizenship

Citizenship education develops knowledge, skills and understanding that our students need to play a full part in society as active and responsible citizens.   This has been incorporated into our extensive PSHE curriculum where there are dedicated citizenship topics, as well as additional supporting sessions where appropriate In our dedicated citizenship sessions, our students learn about politics, parliamentary procedures and voting as well as human rights, justice, the law and the economy. Through the supporting sessions, they learn about media, propaganda, British values and wider society. There are also two dedicated units within the geography curriculum focusing on pressure groups and personal action. Further citizenship skills and knowledge are delivered through weekly assemblies, ‘Thoughts of the Week’, our School Council and student leadership opportunities.