Personal Development

Personal development is a key pillar of our curriculum offer at Trinity Academy Leeds equipping all students with important skills and knowledge that will support them throughout their lives. We want all our students to Reach Higher, See Further and Shine Brighter in all aspects of their education, so as they leave the academy at the end of their journey with us, they have everything they need to thrive in modern Britain. Students develop age-appropriate understanding relating to three key areas: healthy relationships, health and wellbeing and living in the wider world. The curriculum has been developed in line with the Relationships, Sex and Health Education government statutory guidance (2020) the citizenship national curriculum and the PSHE Association.

The curriculum supports the safeguarding of students. They explore issues including sexual consent, domestic violence and abuse, and mental health to ensure they can safeguard themselves and protect their emotional wellbeing. All students receive a weekly input of Personal Development in their morning meeting slot. Key themes are also explored during Team Time through carefully selected DEAR readers and through student Shine projects which support students in making the right choices and exploring identity and beliefs. Alongside this, our weekly Inspire assemblies provide opportunities to reflect on contextual issues that our students may face including county lines, radicalisation, and knife crime, harnessing local support groups and L.A. resources.

Our Personal Development provision aims to:

Develop student confidence in sharing their own thoughts and opinions
Develop skills and attributes to keep healthy and safe
Develop an attitude of a responsible and considerate global citizen
Build positive, respectful relationships with other people
Equip students with the skills to support them during life’s challenges

Phase 1 overview

Year 7

Managing change in Secondary school
Diversity at TAL
Healthy relationships
Puberty
What opportunities exist outside of TAL
Making sense of money.

Year 8

Lifestyle choices and Health
Maintaining a healthy relationship
What is discrimination
How do I look after my well-being?
Staying safe online
An introduction to the world of work.

Year 9

Peer influences – grooming and gangs
Respectful relationships – Maintaining positive family relationships
How do I look after my physical health?
Prevent
Respectful relationships – Intimate relationships
What options are available in the future

SMSC

Students are given the opportunity to develop SMSC through the curriculum, team time, Inspire assemblies, Shine projects, DEAR and our Silent Reflection. This provision is further mapped across all subject areas as one of our academy key drivers and promotes our Voice specialism.

Spiritual Development

At Trinity Academy Leeds, students explore their own personal values and beliefs and listen to others share their experiences. We know it is important that students respect all faiths and values. Students are given opportunities to discover and learn about the world and their place within it. The importance of using imagination and developing creativity whilst also taking time to reflect are key to helping students develop spiritually.

Students have a number of opportunities to develop spiritually:

Key questions feature across the curriculum encouraging students to use their voice and talk about their beliefs and what they value. They use their voice to discuss other students’ feelings and values
All students take part in Interfaith week and important calendar dates are recognised and celebrated within the academy community
Our RS curriculum is broad and balanced and considered a core academic subject taken by all students at the academy
Opportunities such as Empower and Involve encourage students to ‘Reach Higher, See Further and Shine Brighter.’
Recall and Inspire assemblies explore the TAL core values of Empathy, Honesty, Respect and Responsibility
Students participate in Involve clubs such as Philosophy and Interfaith club
Students are given an opportunity to reflect on their experiences during Architects review and their choices during Re-Build sessions
Students explore their beliefs and family values through our Shine Projects.
Students reflect silently each day and observe an important image to help them reflect on the world they live in and the lived experience of others

Please refer to our Spirituality Policy for more information about how the academy provides students with opportunities to develop their spirituality across the curriculum.

Moral Development

At Trinity Academy Leeds, we dedicate time to ensure our students recognise right from wrong; understand that they have a choice and the consequences of poor choices. We teach our students to respect others, the law and educate them on the consequences of breaking the law. In the curriculum students are afforded opportunities to investigate moral and ethical issues and can use their voice to offer a reasoned viewpoint.

Our students are guided to make the correct choices and display positive behaviours towards others which will enable them to live a safe and happy life. Our four core values, Honesty, Empathy, Respect, Responsibility, are integral in guiding our students to be good people.

We develop students’ morality in a number of ways:

During TAL camp and during student induction, students are introduced to our core values and how to embody them
Inspire assemblies focus on historical figures with a strong moral compass that link to the TAL core values
Students explore moral issues during DEAR in Team Time each day
Our Re-Build sessions are rooted in developing students’ moral compass
Our character curriculum, The Build rewards students who display strong morals and kind behaviour
The TAL absolutes ensure that students respect each other and the staff that work with them each day
Students are taught the difference between right and wrong during recall each morning and students are given the reason why our values, absolutes and behaviour for learning policy is so important to their development
Students are regularly given opportunities to support each other and their local community: litter picks, work with local charity Burmantofts Senior Action and our Earthshot initiative.

Social Development

At Trinity Academy Leeds, the social development of our students is incredibly important to all of us. We know how vital it is that students can use a range of social skills appropriately in different contexts and appreciate diverse viewpoints. In modern Britain we want our students to demonstrate tolerance of the views of others and be able to resolve conflicts with a wide range of people. Students also develop and understanding by engaging with British values (democracy, the rule of law, liberty, respect, and tolerance) which is taught within our RS curriculum.

From the moment students join us at Trinity Academy Leeds, the importance of teamship is impressed on our students. They are taught how to work together effectively with different ages, genders, races and religions. Students have the opportunity to develop their school community and contribute to their local community which ensures that when they leave school they can engage with society’s institutions and form successful relationships with others. We support students’ social development in a number of ways:

Students are taught in teams and have a team leader and student team ambassador (democratically elected)
Students can participate in a range of leadership roles such as Voice Ambassadors or Earthshot Ambassadors
Students are taught British Values through RS
Habits of conversation and oracy skills are taught explicitly through the curriculum
Students are taught about healthy relationships and behaviour through morning meetings
Students are rewarded for social development through The Build, our character curriculum
Students have the opportunity to experience a range of trips/opportunities/competitions outside of the academy.
TAL has forged linked with Burmantofts Senior Action to support elder members of our local community
TAL has partnered with Lloyds Banking Group to run Duke of Edinburgh expeditions with our students

Cultural Development

Trinity Academy Leeds serves a diverse community with many races and a wide range of languages spoken. At TAL we celebrate this, it is what makes our school community so very special. As part of this, we teach students how to develop tolerance, understanding and appreciation of other cultures. Students are taught how to appreciate cultural influences, to understand the role of Britain’s parliamentary system and to participate in cultural opportunities. We know how important it is to understand, accept, respect and celebrate diversity. Students have opportunities to enhance their cultural capital through art, theatre and Empower opportunities.

Students’ cultural development is promoted in a number of ways:

Visiting places outside of TAL, through our Empower pathway to see exhibitions and museums referencing other cultures
All students take part in two Involve clubs a week and are able to choose from a range of exciting options such as Latin, Architecture, Spanish Film Club.
The arts are championed at TAL and students can take part in over 15 hours of free tuition including: orchestra, dance and drama. TAL has partnered with industry greats to create a world class offer: Opera North, Northern Ballet.
Our weekly Inspire assemblies focus on inspirational role models from various cultural backgrounds that have embodied our core values
Students explore other cultures as part of the curriculum
Students create and exhibit their Shine projects, for example, Roots and Wings that allows students to delve deeper into their heritage and highlight their culture
Students are part of a Team and look out for other members in their team and are taught the importance of working together

British Values – RS

In addition to the SMSC activities across TAL to develop the whole students, we have curriculum time in RS dedicated to British Values.

As a result of this work we expect from our students to have:

An understanding of how they as citizens, in our academy and in their local community, can bring about influence through a democratic process
An understanding regarding the rule of law and how it aims to protect individuals and the need for it to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all
An understanding of the freedom of choice, particularly related to choice regarding faith and beliefs, and how these choices are protected in law
An acceptance of others who hold differing beliefs, faiths and opinions and that tolerance is required and how discriminatory or prejudicial behaviour is against the values and ethos of this academy but also is against the law
An understanding of the importance of identifying discriminatory behaviours and actions and also understanding that action needs to be taken to combat such behaviours

NB: parts of the above are taken from ‘Promoting fundamental British values as part of SMSC in schools’ – DFE, November 2014