PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
The Personal Development Curriculum at Elm Wood Primary School covers the following areas.
Elm Wood Promises
At Elm Wood Primary, we ensure that our values, through our Elm Wood Promises: Perseverance and Resilience, Success and Excellence, Kindness and Respect are at the heart of our interactions and relationships with our entire school community.
We share our federation's ethos and regard ourselves as being a curious, confident, and creative community who are inclusive, visionary and collaborative. When our children leave, they are equipped with our Elm Wood core values to support them in the next phase of their education.
01.
To show kindness and respect
02.
To develop resilience and perseverance
03.
To aim for excellence and success
Houses
The excellent behaviour expected from all our pupils is encouraged through use of our schoolhouse system. We have four houses: Oak, Linden, Palm and Willow.
All pupils and staff belong to a house for the entirety of their time at Elm Wood. Each week the houses compete for house points which result in half termly and yearly awards. There are opportunities throughout the school year for the houses to engage in team building activities.
Our House Captains and Prefects form part of our Young Leadership Team.
House Captains
Oak: Nada & Oscar
Linden: Eloise & Imogen
Palm: Georgia & Micah
Willow: Amaya & Rudi
Prefects
Oak: Jack & Ainhoa
Linden: Elena & Ousbath
Palm: Na'rae & Mason
Willow: Tatiana & Oniyah
Oak House
Palm House
Linden House
Willow House
Young Leaders
Our Young Leadership Team consists of: House captains, House Prefects, School Council Members and Eco Team Members.
Working with our Young Leadership Team provides development opportunities for all pupils. The Young Leadership Team is a great way for students to take on leadership roles, promote the voice of the student body, problem solve and impact their community.
Through engagement in these roles the children are able to develop the skills, knowledge and understanding that pupils need to lead confident, healthy lives and to become informed, active and responsible citizens.
Safeguarding - Safety & risks
Our curriculum educates children about the elements of ‘Keeping children safe in Education’ and acts on contextual events and individual children’s needs within lessons, assemblies and whole school celebrations, as well as 1:1 and group support for those requiring a more bespoke provision.
Mental Health & Well-being
We are a Trauma-informed school which creates a safe and nurturing environment, helps children to manage their emotions, and promotes connection and empathy. As a staff team we understand the relationship between children's cognitive development and the impacts of trauma and recognise the importance of building supportive and trusting relationships.
Blue Zone
Sick
Sad
Tired
Bored
Moving Slowly
Green Zone
Happy
Calm
Good to Go
Focused
Ready to Learn
Yellow Zone
Frustrated
Worried
Silly/Wiggly
Anxious
Excited
Red Zone
Mad/Angry
Mean
Yelling/Hitting
Out of Control
I need time and space
Zones of Regulation are used to teach children self-regulation. This teaches them to use strategies to help them move between emotional states. It provides a common language to support positive mental health. Through these approaches we are able to teach the children the skills they need to recognise and deal with their emotions and help those with difficulties get the support they need.
Fundamental British Values and Citizenship education
Our Elm Wood Promises are used to set ambitious expectations for the children. Through these promises we promote and celebrate democracy, rule of the law, individual liberty and mutual respect within lessons, assemblies and whole school celebrations.
Individual safeguarding incidents related to these values are addressed within our everyday practice.
Personal, Social, Health and Economic and Sex and Relationship Education
Our PSHCE/RSE curriculum supports our children in their understanding of: healthy and unhealthy relationships; transitions through life; self-respect, commitment and boundaries; mental health and well-being; staying safe online and asking for support; factual knowledge around sex, sexual health and sexuality; healthy lifestyles, including keeping safe, drugs and alcohol education and economic wellbeing and financial capability.
Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural education
Our children are given the opportunity to explore different cultures and beliefs through the rich and ambitious curriculum at Elm Wood.
We explore celebrations and events, engaging pupils with current affairs, as well as annual days of recognition.
Using our Elm Wood Promises we teach the children about their moral responsibilities at school and in the wider curriculum.
Equality and Diversity
Our children are given an understanding of equality and human rights. This knowledge will help them to understand how they should be treated and how to treat others. We promote equality and teach in a safe environment for children to challenge, discuss, explore and form lasting values, morals and opinions. Children in Year 5 and 6 learn how to be actively anti-racist and how to respectfully challenge incidences of discriminatory language.
All leaders at the school have shared values which set ambitious expectations for pupils in all areas of the curriculum which reflects the rich and diverse communities that our school serves.
Careers and Living in the Wider World education
To nurture the skills of resilience is key to providing young people with the ability to cope with stress, adversity, failure and challenges. Resilience is evident when young people have a greater ability to “bounce back” when faced with difficulties and achieve positive outcomes. To develop Resilience and Perseverance is one of the schools promises which are reflected in all aspects of school life.
All our pupils are encouraged to take part in a wide range of activities and experiences across and beyond the curriculum. In doing so, pupils learn to recognise their own worth, develop a sense of their own identity and the ability to take their place in the community as well as respect for, and working with, others. These themes also run through the wider curriculum, e.g. – Class reading text, History and Geography topics and PE.
Online Safety
Being online is an integral part of our children’s lives. We ensure that children are given a strong awareness of the risks the online world can expose them to; e-safety is a fundamental part of our safeguarding and child protection, taught in class, during assemblies and groups/1:1 when needed. We also maintain strong communication with parent/carers about their responsibilities when keeping their children safe online and current risks.
Learning to Learn
We work with our children to step up to new challenges and be resilient in their learning, both academically and socially. A strong mind-set will allow them to succeed both at school and later in life. Our Elm Wood promises provide a toolkit of attributes that ensure our children are ready and respectful for all transitions in their life.