Personal Development

Personal Development at AHS is everything we do in school in order to ensure students leave with the capacity to maximise their life chances, echoing “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

We aim to provide students with the opportunity to reflect upon and identify their own character whilst understanding their place within the wider world. Throughout their time at AHS, students have the opportunity to place themselves into the context of modern society, ensuring they can discuss, debate and accept a wider variety of opinions and attitudes which may differ from their own. Our aim is to show students the choices which are theirs to make, thus leading to a life which is personally “full”.

There is no one single strand to “Personal Development”. All staff play a part in ensuring students have a rich and fulfilling experience.

The British Values and the School’s Christian Values

Under-pining all our work on Personal Development are the four Christian values: justice, compassion, trust and forgiveness. Throughout our Personal Development plan, these are closely linked to the British values of “Democracy, rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance.” “Justice and trust” are closely linked to “democracy and the rule of law”.  “Individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance” are again closely linked, reflecting the school’s values of “compassion and forgiveness”. Students are given frequent opportunities to reflect upon both the British Values and our distinct Christian Values in collective worship, tutor time, lessons and enrichment/cultural opportunities.

The AHS Journey:

No year is wasted at AHS and at each point, we believe students are undertaking a different aspect of their personal development. No two students journey will be the same. However, our students can share similar experiences and opportunities in order to shape who they are and what they believe. Throughout a student’s time at school, we provide them with opportunities to reflect upon who they are as a person, what their aspirations are, what they want to do and change and ensure they have all the skills to become the person they want to be.

This is highlighted around the school in collective worship, form time, enrichment opportunities and trips. Each step builds upon previous parts of the students’ journey, as highlighted below:

The following contributes to a student’s personal development at Archbishop Holgate’s School:

High quality Teaching and Learning: Students are provided with the opportunity to place their learning into a wider context across the curriculum. This may include exploring real life experiences/examples or linking the current learning to future careers and aspirations. Lessons also provide the opportunity for students to place their learning into the context of the school’s “Skills for Life”.

The extra-curricular programme: Students of all key stages take part in a wide range of extra-curricular activities which foster the school’s “Skills for Life”. The offer of extra-curricular is continually developed and refined to meet the ever changing needs of students. A link to the current extra-curricular time table will be available here shortly.

Trips and Visits: Students are given the opportunity to go on a variety of trips or visits which are both local and further afield. Students are encouraged to engage with cultural opportunities which go beyond their day-to-day experience at school.

To find out what trips are planned for 2019-2020 please CLICK HERE.

Enrichment Activities: All students take part in the enrichment programme, specific to their year journey within school. This may include specific “off time table” days such as “The Real Game” or “Industry Day” alongside the whole school enrichment week where students participate in enrichment in both their normal subject lessons and in wider elements of culture.   To see just some of the activities that happened in ‘Enrichment Week 2019, please CLICK HERE.

Collective Worship and scripture: Reflecting the school’s Christian value, students engage with a planned rota of collective worship which builds upon standing pieces of scripture whilst building on relevant society issues each year. Students understanding of the standing topics, relating to their personal development, deepens each year. These acts of collective worship provide students with the opportunity to reflect upon their own personal values and development.

Form Tutor Programme: Students are also given weekly opportunities to explore wider society issues, aspects of culture, British Values and opportunities through the weekly news and Thought for the week programme. This highlights a range of difference voices, opinions and attitudes whilst fostering debate and discussion. Form tutors create an open and inclusive environment where all students feel comfortable exploring their personal values.

Cultural Opportunities: We believe it is important every student experiences a wide range of cultural experiences. For those students who have had limited cultural experience outside of school, we aim to do go the extra mile for these students. The roles for 2019-2020 are below:

• Live Theatre and film experience
• Photography and cultural visits
• Outdoor adventure
• City culture
• Food and communities

Character and Culture Lessons: These lessons are designed to both sit separately to, and compliment, the PSHE provision. Every student in Year 9 has a weekly lesson, in addition to PSHE lessons, which explores different aspects of their personal culture and aims to guide students understanding of their own and other people’s character. These are bespoke lessons and the focus will change yearly. The focus of lessons are reflective of the cohort’s needs, providing a planned response to what students feel they need more information on. These are framed under half termly questions. This year’s questions are:

• Autumn 1: What is power? What power do I have?
• Autumn 2: How can I live in a virtual world?
• Spring 1: How can I be mentally well?
• Spring 2: How can I engage and live with others?
• Summer 1: How can I live healthily?
• Summer 2: How can I develop passions?