Personal Development - Primary School
Personal Development is at the heart of everything we do in the primary phase of the Academy. We believe that every interaction with an adult or peer is an opportunity to develop our young people to become responsible and valuable future citizens.
In our classrooms, we stand to speak, with a focus on vocabulary and oracy, understanding that articulacy and confidence in communication is key to students’ future success.
Our behaviour policy is rooted in building resilience and understanding that we can take steps to rectify mistakes and recover from setbacks.
Our Magic Breakfast scheme provides all children at our Academy with a free breakfast to ensure they arrive at school ready to learn and grow each day.
Our personal development curriculum
Students take part in three assemblies per week. This fosters a crucial sense of belonging and provides an opportunity to learn more about a range of topics linked to our ICHEER, PSHE and safeguarding curriculum.
Our celebration assemblies provide a highlight of the week for staff and students alike. Values Days provide further opportunities to dig deeper into important topics such as discrimination, e-safety and mental health.
We are hugely lucky to have specialist primary sports, Mandarin, music and art teachers in our primary phase. These members of the team are specially trained in their chosen fields and teach only their specialist subject, providing exceptional quality learning for students.
Every child in Year 1-6 enjoys an hour of music, art, PE and Mandarin each week. PSHE lessons are also timetabled for an hour every week in all year groups.
Enrichment
We passionately believe that all students should benefit from access to enrichment and enjoy opportunities to develop new hobbies and skills, not just those who can afford to pay for private tuition. That’s why we provide compulsory, free enrichment for all students in Year 1-6, which takes place every week on a Thursday, 3-4pm.
The foci for the sessions span music, theatre, sports, language and STEM. These enriching activities are high-quality, engaging and taught with passion by specialist staff. Students spend a whole term learning and progressing in each enrichment group before rotating to a new activity the following term.
This approach provides students with sufficient time to make progress in their learning whilst also sampling a range of different activities during the academic year. We also offer a range of after school sports and music clubs to our more able students, providing them with the opportunity to receive expert coaching and thrive in their area of ability. Please visit our Enrichment Page to download our current primary enrichment programme.
Watch the film below to find out more about enrichment and personal development in our primary school.
A diverse curriculum
We are committed to fostering personal development through reading, emphasising the importance of diversity and inclusion.
Our library and book corners are stocked with a wide range of diverse reading materials, ensuring that all children can see themselves and their experiences reflected in the stories they read. The books selected for literacy studies are thoughtfully chosen to address and reflect the issues pertinent to our local community and student body, including themes such as refugees, immigration, friendship challenges, and gender identity.
By engaging with these diverse narratives, students not only enhance their literacy skills but also develop empathy, understanding, and a broader perspective on the world around them. To see our recommended reading lists for each year group, please visit our Phonics and Early Reading page.
We celebrate six world faith days a year, learning more about the religious festivals that are valued in our local community. On these days, we dress in cultural clothing, take part in activities that further our understanding of faith and celebrate with our friends and teachers of all religious backgrounds.
Learning through play
At Chobham, we are proud members of the Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL) scheme. OPAL playtimes mean more fun, creativity, independence and inclusivity. Research has shown that children spend 20% of their time in school playing.
To ensure that this time is used to its full potential, our school has adopted an OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) philosophy that allows the children freedom to explore play in their own imaginative ways, often using found and gathered resources in the natural outdoor environment.
Our primary playground benefits from a scooter track, extensive sand, water and mud play areas, a wellbeing sanctuary, a pond and nature area and a den building and construction zone. Our outdoor learning environment provides the perfect partner to our in-class curriculum.
We know how important fresh air and outdoor leaning are to our students’ wellbeing. Our youngest students in EYFS enjoy a weekly forest school session and Years 1-6 have a termly outdoor learning day. We have created an outdoor area, which supports bringing learning outside, utilising outdoor performance spaces, an outdoor classroom and campfire site, a pond and nature zone and a reading pod. These spaces are used regularly by all year groups in the primary phase.
Trips and visits
We are committed to providing a broad, balanced curriculum for all pupils, and educational visits are a key feature of our provision. We are committed to providing inspirational, real-world educational experiences for our pupils through visits and visitors to enrich and enhance their learning experiences, deepen knowledge and understanding and increase skills and confidence.
Trips and visits are organised and planned for across the year. This table below shows the core trips that all students will go on, all of which link to curriculum learning. Students also enjoy a behaviour reward trip at the end of the academic year.
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EYFS |
Mudchute Farm, Olympic Park, Lighthouse Gardens, Sealife, National Maritime Museum |
|
Year 1 |
Discover Centre, Science Dome (onsite), Cinema, Gurdwara |
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Year 2 |
Geography field trip, London Zoo, East London Mosque, Tower of London |
|
Year 3 |
Olympic Park, Kew Gardens, Bowling, East London Synagogue, Buckingham Palace |
|
Year 4 |
Science Museum, British Museum, River and Canal Explorers Trip, |
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Year 5 |
Royal Observatory, Stratford Theatre, Olympic Park, Gurdwara |
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Year 6 |
PGL, Science Museum, London Buddhist Centre, RAF Museum, Battlesbridge |
Children are also given lots of opportunities in the year to participate in sports and music trips, visits to the library and attend reward trips based on behaviour and achievement. Some examples of these additional trips taking place this year are:
- Indoor Futsal Festival
- WonderMaths competition
- Lego Workshop
- Basketball Competition at Langdon School
- Nature Workshop at Bloom Education
- Manchester Choir Competition
- Boccia Competition
Student leadership
We strongly believe in the value and importance of leadership at all levels, including pupil leadership.
We recognise that fostering leadership skills in our students not only empowers them to take ownership of their learning and personal growth but also prepares them to become responsible and active citizens in their communities.
Pupil leadership is not just about holding positions of authority, but also about developing the qualities and skills that make effective leaders. Through these leadership opportunities, our students learn important attributes such as empathy, resilience, and integrity. They develop the ability to listen to others, consider different perspectives, and make informed decisions. These skills are transferable and will benefit our students throughout their lives. Please click HERE to read about student leadership opportunities across the whole school.
We are proud to provide a dynamic, vibrant and varied environment for our students’ school experience. Click HERE to view our primary newsletters and see the breadth of activities taking place each week.
