Personal Development Curriculum Intent (Statutory Inspection-Ready)

Statutory foundation and curriculum vision

Our Personal Development (PD) curriculum is delivered in accordance with the Department for Education statutory guidance for Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education (2025). It ensures that all pupils receive a carefully sequenced, age-appropriate, inclusive and legally compliant programme of study.

We are committed to ensuring pupils develop the knowledge, understanding and judgement necessary to form healthy relationships, keep themselves and others safe, and participate responsibly in modern British society.

PD is planned as a curriculum, not a set of one-off sessions: knowledge is deliberately revisited, deepened and applied over time so pupils build secure, connected understanding and can transfer learning to unfamiliar real-life situations.

Substantive and disciplinary knowledge

We explicitly teach both substantive knowledge and disciplinary knowledge.

Substantive knowledge includes: healthy and unhealthy relationships; respectful behaviour; consent and the law; online safety and digital conduct; sexual health and reproduction; mental health and emotional wellbeing; physical health and lifestyle; equality and protected characteristics; financial literacy and employment rights; citizenship, democracy and the rule of law.

Disciplinary knowledge includes: how to evaluate risk; how to recognise coercion, manipulation and abuse; how to assess the reliability of information (including online content); how to apply legal and ethical frameworks; how to seek help and report concerns appropriately; how to communicate respectfully and make reasoned judgements.

Curriculum rationale and sequencing

The curriculum is coherently sequenced from Year 7 to Year 11 so that safeguarding knowledge, relationship understanding and health education develop in a structured, age-appropriate way.

Year 7 consolidates primary learning and establishes core expectations: respectful relationships, friendship, bullying, boundaries, online behaviour, basic health knowledge and how to seek help.

Year 8 deepens understanding of identity, equality, consent, online harms, wellbeing, emotional regulation and early safeguarding themes.

Year 9 develops complexity: intimate relationships, discrimination, peer influence, exploitation, extremism, financial responsibility and decision-making.

Key Stage 4 addresses mature and higher-risk content including sexual health, consent in complex contexts, sexual harassment, pornography and media influence, coercive control and domestic abuse, exploitation and grooming, gambling harms, knife crime, employment rights and civic participation. Content is taught sensitively and within a safeguarding framework.

Key principles (consent, dignity, equality, healthy relationships, online safety and safeguarding) are revisited deliberately across year groups to secure long-term retention and confident application.

Relationships and RSE statutory coverage

In line with statutory guidance, pupils are taught: the characteristics of healthy relationships; respectful behaviour; consent (including the age of consent); recognising and responding to coercion, harassment and abuse; how and where to seek help; and how relationships are affected by digital behaviour.

Sex education content at secondary includes: sexual health, contraception and prevention of STIs; reproduction; and the influence of pornography and harmful sexual behaviour. Teaching is factual, age-appropriate and sensitive.

Pupils learn about relevant law, including: consent and the age of consent; sexual exploitation; sharing sexual images; harassment and violence; forced marriage, honour-based abuse and FGM; and online harms.

Health education statutory coverage

Pupils are taught: mental wellbeing and strategies for resilience; recognising when and how to access support; physical health and healthy lifestyles; drugs, alcohol, vaping and substance misuse; body image and media influence; eating disorders and routes to support; basic first aid awareness; and the impact of sleep, diet and exercise on wellbeing.

Living in the wider world and citizenship

Pupils develop understanding of: democracy, the rule of law and British values; rights, responsibilities and equality under the law; careers and employability; financial education (budgeting, credit, debt and consumer risk); and digital citizenship.

Pupils learn about safeguarding-related wider-world risks including extremism and radicalisation (Prevent), gambling harms, knife crime and exploitation, in line with local context.

Safeguarding and harm prevention

PD is embedded within the school’s safeguarding architecture. Teaching is designed to prevent harm and to help pupils recognise, avoid and respond to risk.

Pupils are explicitly taught about: sexual harassment and harmful sexual behaviour; grooming and exploitation (including online); coercive control and domestic abuse; county

lines; knife crime; and emerging online risks including deepfake and AI-generated sexual imagery.

Pupils are routinely reminded of trusted adults, reporting routes and that disclosures are handled in line with safeguarding procedures.

Equality and protected characteristics

In line with statutory guidance and the Equality Act 2010, pupils learn about protected characteristics and the importance of respect, inclusion and non-discrimination.

Teaching challenges prejudice and stereotyping, supports respectful dialogue, and ensures pupils understand their rights and responsibilities under the law, including in relation to sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief and disability.

Literacy and participative learning

Subject-specific vocabulary is taught systematically (e.g., consent, coercion, safeguarding, discrimination, exploitation, confidentiality, contraception).

Pupils engage in structured discussion, scenario analysis and reflective writing to develop evaluative reasoning and respectful communication. Teaching approaches are adapted so that all pupils can access sensitive content safely and appropriately.

Assessment

Assessment is cumulative and designed to strengthen long-term retention of statutory knowledge and safeguarding principles.

Pre-assessment identifies misconceptions and areas of vulnerability. Retrieval practice and scenario-based application check that pupils can recall key facts and apply them appropriately.

Assessment focuses on knowledge, understanding and application to realistic scenarios rather than personal disclosure.

Parental engagement, policy compliance and transparency

The school maintains an RSE policy that is developed and reviewed in consultation with parents and is compliant with statutory guidance. Curriculum content and resources are transparent and age-appropriate.

Parents may request withdrawal from the sex education element (where the law allows). The school follows statutory guidance regarding parental requests, reintegration and pupil voice as pupils approach the end of compulsory schooling.

External visitors, where used, are quality-assured and delivered within the school’s safeguarding expectations and curriculum plan.

Preparation for future pathways

PD prepares pupils for adult life by equipping them with the knowledge and judgement necessary to form healthy relationships, safeguard themselves and others, participate responsibly in society, and make informed decisions about health, finances, education and employment.

Pupils develop transferable skills including ethical reasoning, communication, critical evaluation of information, self-management, resilience and civic awareness.