In one of the first of a series of articles about the Oasis curriculum, three of our leaders in the field talk us through what the Personal Development curriculum looks like across all the Oasis academies.

The Oasis Personal Development (PD) curriculum is designed so children will seek to include others, be other-centred and celebrate difference. We want them to have a values approach to life and a sense of what is right and wrong through the lived experience of the Oasis 9 habits. In order to do this, we  incorporate RSE, assemblies, Safeguarding, fund-raising, careers, extra-curricular activities, enrichments days and social emotional assessments through the Flourishing model. It’s a core part of our character development and inspires our children and staff alike.

So what does that look like in practice?

The PSHCE curriculum covers five key themes; healthy lifestyles, keeping safe, mental and emotional health, RSE and living in the wider world. Personal Development is taught weekly and the content ensures children are well rounded, empathetic and responsible citizens, who have strong social skills and the ability to interact confidently with other children and adults. We want our young people to be guided by their own choices and boundaries e.g. consent is at the heart of our PD curriculum. Students are taught the importance of physical and mental health ensuring that this linked through different areas that, on the surface, may seem unrelated;  we want to ensure there is an understanding that physical and mental health can affect all parts of life. Students have a voice to discuss concerns, issues, questions that help them to flourish and develop. It teaches students explicitly about the citizenship around them so they understand how they can be drivers for change   locally and nationally.

Assemblies – coming together

Weekly 9 Habit and celebration assemblies develop children to become the best version of themselves. Through the PD primary curriculum children work on developing the habits and their related habitudes, they share their successes with their peers and with the whole school during assembly times.

Fundraising – supporting others

Fundraising and the recognition of different charities and the work they do develops our young people’s awareness of local, national and worldwide issues. Through fundraising our students learn vital lessons for the future such as developing important business skills, teamwork, planning and working hard towards a shared goal. These are all skills that will serve them well in further education and beyond!

Careers – thinking beyond school

There are many ways in which the Oasis PD curriculum prepares students for the future. Firstly, we have a commitment through our Oasis OnePlan to ensure all students have the opportunity to attend a higher education institution. We know that universities can be intimidating, so this is an opportunity to ensure our young people become more comfortable with higher education and recognise that university is a possibility for all students, particularly given the number of different ways higher education can now be accessed e.g. through diplomas, foundation degrees,  or apprenticeships.

Employability is a key aspect of our offer; there are specific units from Years 8-11 which cover employability, further and higher education as well as careers. These are specifically designed to consider what will be happening across the course of the academic year and are appropriate for the transition stages that they will be making. For example, Year 9 focuses on transition into KS4 and KS5, exploring the purpose of GCSEs, what A-Levels, T-Levels and apprenticeships are and how they may benefit different skills and ambitions.

Extra-curricular and Enrichment

Our extra-curricular provision creates a sense of community and community cohesion for all students. It enables our young people to be successful in something they are very interested in or to develop these interests even more as well as providing an opportunity to connect with local community e.g. volunteering clubs, university engagement, former student and parent liaison. There are also many opportunities to link curriculum learning to real life or to careers through things like the Young Shakespeare Company, Careers and Enterprise days, Armed Forces visits as well as being able to visit Art Galleries, Museums and Theatres to develop cultural knowledge.

The personal development offer enables children and young people to be inspired to improve the world around them and to have the ambition, skills and expertise to thrive in an increasingly fast, interconnected and communication rich world.

Angela Sweeting (Primary SNCL), Achita Desai (Secondary SNCL) and Tiffany Baxendale (NLP PSHCE)