Personal Development

A Hastings schoolgirl received a letter from Buckingham Palace after writing to the King to express her concern for the environment.

Jessica Creasy, aged seven, has recently taken it upon herself to go litter picking in Alexandra Park every weekend with her dad. She then decided to write to King Charles III about her concerns for the environment, the monarch himself being a long-time advocate of environmental protection and sustainability, who has promoted things like renewable energy and organic farming. The schoolgirl was pleased to receive a response back from the palace.

Jessica received a reply back from Buckingham Palace’s head of Royal correspondence, who said the King was ‘immensely touched’ by the youngster’s care for the environment and thanked her for her ‘thoughtful message’. The letter read:

“It was so kind of you to take the trouble to write to His Majesty with your concern for the environment. The King, who has been working on projects to protect and restore our natural world for over 50 years, was immensely touched to learn that you too care deeply about this important issue. I hope you will be reassured to know that His Majesty continues to encourage us all to think about the many things we can do to help support the planet and has asked me to pass on his warmest good wishes for your endeavours.”

Jessica’s proud dad, Tom, said: “She has taken it upon herself recently to help the planet and we now go litter picking every weekend in Alexandra Park". 

Jessica said: “I am so pleased to hear that the King also cares about our environment and I hope more people will do what they can to help save it.”

Personal development is at the heart of our curriculum, ensuring that all of our children are prepared to manage critical opportunities, challenges and responsibilities that they will face growing up in a rapidly changing world. At St Leonards we want our pupils to be informed, responsible, respectful and active citizens, regardless of social and/or economic background. We want pupils to be prepared to manage their lives now, and in the future by developing their cultural capital skills and the knowledge and understanding to lead happy, healthy and independent lives.

As a whole-school approach, Personal Development allows us to create effective relationships between all members of our school community. The promotion of pupil’s personal and social development supports our pupils to build their personal identities, confidence and self-esteem as well as understand the things that influence their decisions.

The Curriculum

Our curriculum is built on rich, purposeful knowledge, carefully planned enrichment, wider-world experiences and fundamental learning behaviours and skills. Every subject is underpinned by PD, securing a consistent, whole-school approach.

We use the Jigsaw PSHE curriculum along with the PSHE Association programme to deliver PSHE across the school. These are grounded in the latest science and research about what it takes to create positive wellbeing and up to date PSHE teaching. Children are taught RE through the East Sussex Agreed Syllabus. By providing a high-quality provision of Religious Education we aim for our pupils to value difference and diversity.

Experiences

As part of our curriculum offer, we want our children to experience a range of activities and visits to support their learning as well as develop their cultural and social understanding. Visits include places of worship, workshops, trips to London and many more. Children have the opportunity to participate in other enrichment experiences including theatre, opera and dance. In July each year a group of children in KS2 perform at our annual DCAT Enriched day. Children in Y6 perform a play during their final term in school which celebrates their time at Primary School.

Courageous Advocacy

A courageous  advocate is someone who supports, champions and speaks up for a cause that is important and meaningful to them. Courage is needed to persevere and stand up for something or someone you believe in, to make a difference. 

At St Leonards we want to support and encourage our children to become courageous advocates, not just locally but nationally and globally. At some point in life we will face challenges and need support to help us overcome these barriers. We teach our children that it is important to help others regardless of where they come from or what their challenged are. We teach this in many ways; through our work on values, links to the Bible, other faiths and world views as well as learning about other courageous advocates. We want out children to have confidence to discuss and debate big ideas, to challenge injustice and engage in activities that bring about change on some level. 

It is important for out children to appreciate their role as part of a community; to take responsibility, to be able to look after themselves and foster an understanding of their importance, impact and influence in the world.

In recent years we have carried out fundraising and raised awareness of issues and support those working for change, including:

• Coffee morning to raise awareness and funds for the homeless
• Sierra Leone sponsored run
• Bake sale to raise money for turtle conservation 
• EYFS Bee Day

Children have also gone out into our community to raise awareness for causes and issues that concern them. We aim for our children to develop an excellent understanding of belonging to our local and global community, and the sense of both responsibility and pride that comes with this. We endeavour to show our connection with, and care for, the world in which we live and for the people, animals and environment. At St. Leonards, we show this through:

• Links with local care homes and charities

• Support for charities of significance to our children and families

• School Council and Faith Council, who seek views of the children, giving a voice to concerns and plans

• PTA who lead community events such as our Christmas, Easter and summer fayres, discos and evenings such as our 'Stargazing' night

• School newsletters support and share local events

• Our Olive Branch, which supports families by providing uniform and food supplies

• Community projects, such as 'Town Explores a Book' and Barefoot Opera and Groundwork, who organised tree planting within school