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Coopers School

Personal Development Programme

Driven by a determination to create welcoming schools for the local community, where every person thrives, makes excellent progress and succeeds.

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We have a holistic personal development programme which consists of key areas to allow all pupils characters to grow and develop in line with their age.

At Orion Coopers, Personal Development is taught through lessons and discussions on a daily basis.

The planned resources follow all statutory requirements, but also are reflective of the contextual issues in and around our school community, local community and world.

We ensure that these elements are reflected through our PD programme which is mapped week by week, aligned with national and international events, celebrations and initiatives. It complements our PSHE/RSE curriculum topics. 

Our pupils have a 30-minute tutor time lesson daily at KS3 and 4 and 100 mins weekly at KS5.  We focus on developing all pupils' characters through the key skills taught and on enhancing each child’s understanding of communicating these. British Values and SMSC are mapped across these tutor time lessons and assemblies.

Tutor time in KS3 has a strong focus on reading due to the impact of this on academic and future success.

Tutor time for Y10 includes:

  • Assembly (aligned to the theme of the week)
  • A spiralised Personal Development plan using resources from the national skills builder, class data reviews (including merit and punctuality rewards)
  • Weekly Literacy
  • World Around Us (RE)
  • Picture news (Current affairs and explicit British Values).

We also hold extra assemblies based on current contextual needs with outside speakers.

Our teaching of the British values are not separated but are embedded with all we do and are tracked across the PD programme.  Subjects have a focus on SMSC and this is mapped across all their curriculums.

Tutor time is also used to help students organise and prepare themselves for the day.  In Year 11, tutor time is focused on developing curriculum currency.   

PSHE/RSE  

The Department for Education said "evidence shows that PSHE education can improve the physical and psychosocial wellbeing of pupils. Pupils with better health and wellbeing achieve better academically”.

PSHE helps create an inclusive environment in schools and communities by fostering understanding, respect, and empathy among students. It promotes understanding of diversity, through introducing students to diverse cultures, beliefs, backgrounds, and lifestyles. PSHE education encourages respect for differences in race, gender, sexual orientation, ability and promoting a sense of belonging for everyone.

PSHE is sequenced across KS3-5 through our Big Ideas to ensure pupils successfully develop the knowledge and skills they need to thrive now and in the future.

At KS3, PSHE is delivered through an integrated curriculum with religious studies that rotates every half term, with three units: Living in the Wider World, Relationships and Sex Education, and Health and Wellbeing.

At KS4, half termly drop-down days centred around each Big Idea allows us to continue to deliver important PSHE content, with external speakers, workshops, and tailored sessions.

At KS5, PSHE is delivered through an assembly and follow up session, with each half term following a different Big Idea. Pupils also receive PSHE through morning form time, and assemblies. 

More information on our PSHE Curriculum, including policies and overview, can be found under Curriculum on the menu above.

CEIAG Education

Careers education at Orion Coopers comprises a spiralised approach in which each year group (7-13) receives a tailored package of careers related intervention. To help inform decisions around Careers education, we try to ensure students have exposure to Businesses, Further and Higher Education and other options that are available to them.

We start this when they are in KS3 so that they can start thinking about Careers that interest them and routes that are available. As students reach key decision milestones, especially in year 9 for their options, year 11 for Further Education and year 13 for Higher Education decisions, careers support is intensified to ensure that all students have access to personalised guidance.

Careers education spans the Tutor Time and PSHE curricula and opportunities are taken to embed links to careers across the curriculum as well. External speakers are used to enhance and broaden the careers education experience, and both virtual and in-person visits are used. Orion Coopers have a subscription with Unifrog which is used with Sixth form for UCAS and destinations, and for all year groups to explore career pathways and routes.

More information on our Careers Education, including policies, can be found under Personal Development on the menu above.

Enrichment

At Orion Coopers school we are dedicated to ensuring that the same broad and balanced offer that students receive in the classroom is also being mirrored outside of it. Department’s offer enrichment sessions ranging from Creative Arts, Food and nutrition, PE activities such as basketball to badminton, journalism, and many others.

A list of enrichment programmes for each Year group is available via the Parent tab of the website.