Personal Development

Personal Development is Bartholomew School’s Physical, Social, Health, Citizenship and Economic (PSHCE) education. Personal Development is delivered in a variety of ways at Bartholomew, via a fortnightly lesson, weekly form time activities, assemblies and occasional drop-down days.

Students will follow a spiral curriculum, which revisits key issues at an age-appropriate level. The Personal Development curriculum is designed in line with the statutory guidance from the Department for Education. Topics studied in Personal Development include:

Community involvement
Healthy relationships – including sex education
Personal safety - including online safety, tobacco, drugs, and alcohol
Emotional, physical, and sexual health
Careers
Personal finance
Citizenship
Human rights and discrimination
The law
Emergency First Aid

Personal Development lessons equip students with the essential knowledge, skills, and attributes they need to navigate life confidently and responsibly. Through a broad and engaging curriculum, students explore key areas such as staying safe online and offline, managing personal finances, making informed choices, and understanding healthy relationships. They also develop critical life skills including decision-making, resilience, and communication, which support their wellbeing and future success.

These lessons encourage lifelong learning and help students reflect on their values, aspirations, and potential career paths. By fostering self-awareness and social responsibility, Personal Development complements academic learning and prepares students to thrive in a rapidly changing world.

If you have any questions about our curriculum please contact us via the main office or use our Enquiry Form.

Further resources:

Key Stage 3 Extension Reading Journey

The information below is an overview of our current PSHCE curriculum:

MAIN TOPICS COVERED

YEAR 7	Thriving in a secondary school Goal setting Friendship and empathy Bullying and bystanders Healthy and unhealthy relationships Managing conflict Coercive friendships Understanding drugs: Caffeine, alcohol and risk, tobacco and nicotine Body image and self-expression Puberty and emotional changes Menstrual wellbeing Testicular health FGM Change, loss and grief Dental health An introduction to consent*
YEAR 8	Food for thought Healthy relationships Consent* Preventing gender based violence Stereotypes in the media Safer online relationships Sharing of nudes Sexual harassment and harmful sexual behaviour Emotional health: Managing distractions, managing strong emotions Belonging and community: Identity and community, bias and community, discrimination and the protected characteristics, values and constructive disagreements, diverse and supportive communities Families and committed relationships: Understanding changing relationships, roles in the family Personal safety: Staying safe on the roads, water safety, being safe near railways
YEAR 9	Friendship challenges: Similarities, differences and peer influence Drugs education: Vaping, exploring attitudes, the law and managing risk, alcohol and cannabis, managing influence Consent: Avoiding assumptions, freedom and capacity to consent Challenging misogyny: Exploring harms and misconceptions, responding to misogyny First Aid: Lifesaving skills, basic treatment for common injuries and ailments Relationships: Relationship values, managing the end of relationships, sexual health, contraception Emotional health: Managing disappointments and setbacks, healthy coping strategies
YEAR 10	Developing new learning skills Emotional wellbeing: Mental health and wellbeing throughout life, managing distractions, changing thinking habits, seeking help and support, managing stress and tension, managing change, loss and grief Online safety: Feelings about sharing nudes Belonging and community: Valuing diversity, understanding and preventing extremism, how are people drawn into extremist groups Drugs education: Assessing risk, managing influence, seeking help Gangs: Managing risk and staying safe, how it might start, risks and consequences, getting out of a gang Online financial harms: Making money online, gambling, financial exploitation online Relationships: The role of intimacy and pleasure*, the impact of pornography, pressure, persuasion and coercion, managing relationship conflict and break ups Physical health: Food choices, the importance of sleep, maintaining good physical health Challenging the narrative: Thinking critically about misogyny Digital deception: Understanding deepfakes
YEAR 11	Long term commitment and the legal status of marriage Relationship behaviours Choices regarding sex and contraception* Sexual health* Fertility and routes to parenthood Parenting Pregnancy outcomes Pregnancy choices: Abortion The impact and spread of misogynistic narratives (In Year 11 for 2026/2027 only) Thinking critically about misogyny (In Year 11 for 2026/2027 only) Looking out for each other: Preventing violence against women and girls Body modifications: Sun beds, piercings, tattoos and cosmetic surgery Emergency First Aid: Dealing with an emergency involving alcohol