Personal Development

Personal Development

At Harbour Primary School, we are committed to providing a purposeful and empowering learning journey that fully prepares our children for the next steps in their school life and the wider world. Developing children’s personal development is at the heart of everything that we do at Harbour. It is woven into all aspects of school life and we pride ourselves on providing an environment for all pupils to thrive and to feel safe.  Our PSHE curriculum underpins this aim, and its golden principles are threaded through our whole school curriculum, including our regular assemblies, planned special events, the work that our school council lead and all our daily interactions between children and staff in and outside the classroom. 

Our children are growing up in an increasingly complex world and living their lives seamlessly on and offline. This presents many positive and exciting opportunities, but also includes challenges and risks. In this environment, children and young people need to know how to be safe and healthy, and how to manage their academic, personal and social lives in a positive way. We have a comprehensive Online Safety curriculum which we keep very high on our school agenda. 

We want our children to feel empowered with the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to manage life’s challenges and make the most of life’s opportunities. We aim to give them the knowledge and tools they need to understand how to take care of themselves, physically and mentally, and how they can stay safe and thrive in an ever changing world. 

How SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural) Education and Fundamental British Values enrich, nurture our children and prepare them for the future

SMSC is a broad concept, representing the Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural education of our children across all aspects of school life. SMSC Education and British Values are at the heart of our school life, embedded through our curriculum, learning assemblies and all our interactions with each other every single day. These values play a significant part in our children’s learning, achievements and happiness- they are actively promoted by all staff at Harbour. We ensure that the fundamental British Values are actively referred to, discussed and lived out through the ethos and work of the school. Our nurturing school environment and curriculum aim to ensure that our children grow into safe, caring, democratic, responsible and tolerant adults who make a positive difference to British society and to the world. 

Some of the examples of how we actively promote SMCS and British Values in our daily life at Harbour: These learning opportunities will nurture a variety of aspects promoted within the SMSC and British Values Education.  

Reception Personal Development

Year 2 Personal DevelopmentYear 3 Personal Development

Personal Development within Maths

How does Mathematics at Harbour develop children’s personal development?

Spiritual

At Harbour, we want children to be excited about Maths. We want them to feel delight when they have shown resilience and are able to solve problems they once found difficult or even impossible to solve.

We encourage children to see the awe and wonder that can be found within mathematics – from the symmetry of a snowflake to the number of seeds in a sunflower head. There is a sense of wonder in the exactness of mathematics and children are able to gain a sense of personal achievement in solving problems.

Children are often inspired by the cross-curricular links with other subjects (Art, Humanities, Design and Technology and Science amongst others). We strive to allow the children to pride themselves in understanding and being able to use their mathematical skills in all areas of their learning.

Mathematics helps children to make informed decisions in life, based on the skills and confidence gained from choosing the most appropriate method in solving problems. These skills are transferrable to real-life situations, and therefore help the children become reflective, responsible and insightful individuals. This links with the fundamental British value of Individual Liberty. Mathematics further promotes the cause-effect relationship within our actions.

Moral

At Harbour, we want children to have strong beliefs in what is morally right. We provide reasoning opportunities where the children are encouraged to prove their answer and give reasons for their thoughts. This allows them to evidence their views not just in Maths, but in the wider world.

As a result, we can support our children to understand how logical reasoning can be used to consider the consequences of particular decisions and choices and help them learn the value of mathematical truth.

Social

Children are regularly asked to work in pairs or small groups where they are able to develop both their problem solving and teamwork skills, including sharing resources and taking turns. They are given many opportunities to discuss their ideas and are encouraged to develop their mathematical reasoning through communication with others. Through the use of peer- assessment, children are able to improve their use of language and better understand how to give constructive criticism. Children are reminded and praised for showing mutual respect and tolerance for differences of opinions and methods used for solving problems.

We place great emphasis on using contextualised examples within our Maths teaching, helping children see that Maths is all around and how Maths fits into their everyday lives. For example, in year 5, children explore the noise level in classroom experiment linked to line graphs. Units of measurement is another area of Maths where children deepen their understanding by applying their knowledge into real life contexts that they will encounter throughout their life, such as PE, sports day and baking. Throughout our curriculum, our children are given the opportunity to use money through our enterprise project and roleplay experiences. Understanding the value of money and being able to manage a budget effectively are key life skills that we work hard to teach our children. Children are given the opportunity to practise and apply this skill in an enterprise project which is funded by the PTA.

Cultural

Children are able to explore the mathematics found and used in other cultures. They are introduced to symmetrical patterns, number systems and mathematical methods such as patterns found in religious art and Roman numerals.

We introduce our children to the lives and contribution of significant mathematicians such as Katherine Johnson, Fibonacci and Alan Turing. The aim of SMSC in Maths is to encourage our children to aspire beyond the horizon of Newhaven. We aspire to encourage children beyond their family job or trade, into a realm of possibilities maybe not seen in generations within their family. Through cooperative group work and purposeful discussion, children will learn to become a part of a community larger than their own horizons.