At Maiden Erlegh Chiltern Edge we recognise  the personal development of students is a fundamental part of our academic and pastoral work. It is our intention to create good local, national and global citizens, who develop good character and resilience. To this end, we aim to develop students spiritually, morally, socially and culturally and ensure that they are treated as individuals whilst doing this.  We aim to teach students about British values, mutual respect and tolerance. 

We aim to deliver spiritual, moral, social and cultural education through all aspects of school life; curriculum, extra-curricular activities, the pastoral system, assemblies as well as themed events.

Our Personal Development provision  follows the recommendations laid out by the Department for Education and the PSHE Association. 

The PSHE Association suggest that Personal Development education should be treated and timetabled in the same way as any other subject, with one hour long, discrete lesson a week.

The 2019 statutory Health Education, Relationships Education and RSE guidance also states that:  Schools should have the same high expectations of the quality of pupils’ work in these subjects as for other curriculum areas. A strong curriculum will build on the knowledge pupils have previously acquired, including in other subjects, with regular feedback provided on pupil progress. This would be very difficult to achieve without dedicated, discrete PSHE lessons.

Topics for all students are grouped into 7 core themes:

• Emotional Wellbeing
• Citizen and Community
• Careers, Work Experience and Work Related Learning
• British Values
• Personal Health
• Risk and Safety
• Relationships and Sex Education

These sessions will be relevant to the age, understanding, cultural background and circumstances of the students. They will also reflect their needs in terms of language, learning styles and abilities.