Castle Hall Academy is very excited to start delivering one lesson a week to all students with the aim of developing them as well-rounded human beings, who can leave school with the cultural capital needed to succeed in life. In their Personal Development sessions students will learn to identify, celebrate and manage the many personal, economic and social challenges they may face not only at school but also in their futures. Through the Personal Development programme, all pupils at Castle Hall will acquire and extend the knowledge and skills they need as they and their communities grow and change, so that they can lead successful lives after the secondary phase of their education.

All pupils from year 7 to 11 will engage with the Personal Development programme which will cover CEIAG (Careers Education Information Advice and Guidance), and the following three topics as highlighted in the PSHE Association document, published in 2017:

• Core theme 1. Health and Wellbeing
• Core theme 2. Relationships
• Core theme 3. Living in the Wider World

The sessions will be engaging and encourage students to use a variety of thinking skills and techniques to become reflective and empathetic human beings, with the aim of helping to develop their resilience and their ability to cope in our ever-changing world. Students will be assessed in an ipsative capacity; comparing pupils’ results/ideas with their previous results/ideas. This helps to gage pupil’s development in a way that other subjects do not, by assessing their Personal effectiveness, Interpersonal and social effectiveness and Risk Management.

Throughout the Personal Development programme students will also have experiences from guest speakers, extra-curricular activities and trips that will further broaden their minds and raise their aspirations.