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What is Personal Development?
At Kelvin Hall School, we have designed and implemented a personal development programme which offers all young people the opportunity to thrive. We are passionate about ensuring that inclusivity remains at the heart of all curriculum and wider opportunities and experiences offered, so that our students can thrive both in school and beyond - as independent, healthy, and responsible young people when they leave at 16. Within all aspects of personal development, our three trust values of ambition, integrity and belonging are key through a highly aspirational and inclusive approach.
Our key aims as part of our personal development offer are to shape and support our students in their personal and social development through RSE, to become socially responsible and morally aware through enriching curriculum opportunities. We want the best for our students when they leave and progress to Post-16 study, so we provide our students with opportunities to develop their character and sense of belonging, both as part of our school community and as British citizens living in a diverse society. Through our inclusive approach, we aim to ensure that every young person has the opportunity to participate in enrichment and extracurricular activities, student leadership and more, both within and outside of the school day.
Engagement with both students and their families and external providers is also central to our personal development commitment. We know that building positive relationships with families through a range of events throughout our school year helps promote positive relationships and a sense of belonging and value within their school community. Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance within our curriculum and through parental events/involvement ensures that our students make well-informed decisions to take the next step of their education with confidence, towards a wide range of diverse career opportunities.
Our Personal Development programme is about giving all young people the best possible chances to shape character, give experiences, develop a social and moral compass, feel valued and proud to be a British citizen, to showcase and develop new talents and interests and to give a secure stepping stone to their future education, employment, and training when they leave in Year 11.
Student Leadership and Voice
Student Leadership and voice are central within our Personal Development curriculum. Using the Lundy Model of Active Participation, and in line with our Trust Values, students can exercise leadership and voice in the following ways:
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Participation in our Student Leadership Team: our team represents our diverse school community, and covers students across Years 7 - 11. Students apply at the start of the academic year and attend meetings. Students collaboratively plan to capture student voice, share this across the school via our school TV show KBC and in student podcasts. Our team meet with staff in school to raise concerns, and aim to seek resolutions that support all. Our student leadership team also work with students in our secondary partner schools, The Boulevard Academy and Newland School for Girls, along with Hull Youth Parliament to take action across a range of matters affecting young people in the city of Hull. Our most recent focus has been linked to safety within the city centre.
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Duke of Edinburgh Award: students in Year 9 have the opportunity to participate in our Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award. Students utilise time in curriculum enrichment to build skills in the following areas:
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Volunteering
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Physical activity
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Skills
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Expedition
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Students go above and beyond within the Duke of Edinburgh Award, committing significant time outside of school to engage in activities and skills that can have a significant positive impact on their employability skills and confidence as they move into GCSE study and Post-16 education. The expedition, which includes 11-13 miles of walking and an overnight camping experience allows students to develop orienteering, communication, independence and leadership skills, all of which are valuable to further study and career prospects.
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KBC: the Kelvin Broadcast Club is an exciting extra-curricular activity that now shapes much of our student voice in school. Students across all year groups meet weekly to research, write, produce, present, direct, and edit a 10 minute student TV show. This show is entirety in the hands of our students, and their skills ensure that the show reflects both current affairs designed to engage students, student voice and views of matters which mean most to them in school, along with candid interviews with members of staff weekly!
Rewards
We have an extensive range of rewards to ensure our students feel valued for their academic and wider contributions within Kelvin.
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Positive points - these are awarded in lessons in line with our three Thrive Trust values of ambition, integrity and belonging.
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Conduct Cards - students use conduct cards to gain signatures towards positive points in school. These signatures are collected for homework completion and for demonstrating our values around our school community.
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In Tutor Time, students are rewarded for being 'Kelvin Ready' - promoting the importance of communication and checking in with home via planner signings and bringing equipment every day. If a student consistently brings equipment across a full week and has their planner signed, they receive a positive conduct card point.
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Kelvin Best tickets - these are awarded for students who go above and beyond in lessons - given by our leadership team and in Friday Feeling to celebrate success across school and beyond e.g. extra-curricular events. Each term, we have large prizes using donations and fundraising - this has so far included a bike, iPad and many high street shopping vouchers!! All prizes are voted for by students in tutor groups.
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The Friday Feeling generates a positive atmosphere to end each school each week. We alternate between attendance-based prizes, prizes linked to total positive points on Arbor, conduct card points and tutor nominations linked to students who embody our core values of ambition, integrity and belonging.
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Kelvin Experiences, using Golden Tickets - students are given fair chances to attend these events - setting high but realistic expectations around their chances of success, e.g. this half term, students will enter the golden ticket ballot if they have 40+ positive points in this half term. We verify that students do not receive multiple golden tickets across 2 half terms, so as many students as possible can be rewarded.
Wellbeing
The mental health and wellbeing of the students is at the forefront of everything we do in school. We have a designated Wellbeing team who support students with any concerns they may have on an individual basis. We know, however, that wellbeing is a much broader issue and one that needs to be addressed with a whole school approach to make sure that all of our students know how to look after themselves and each other.
To make sure this happens, mental health and wellbeing strands are woven into our PSHE/RSHE curriculum (delivered through Tutor Time activities and as part of the Health & Exercise aspect of PE lessons) so that students are given continual knowledge, skills and guidance to help them thrive in the real world. We make sure that wellbeing is factored into lessons, assemblies and special themed weeks so that it forms a significant part of the school ethos.
We work with external agencies, such as Humberside Police, MESMAC (sexual health organisation) and the 0-19 Nursing Team, to make sure we respond to current issues affecting the local community in a way that is timely and relevant for students. For example, when there have been incidents of young people getting into difficulty swimming in open water during hot weather, we have planned sessions on this topic to be delivered the following week to educate our students on the dangers of engaging in this outside of school hours.
We try to address mental health and wellbeing issues at both ends of the spectrum, starting with low-level interventions such as mindfulness and going up to more serious issues such as suicide prevention. In mindfulness we teach students how to ground themselves in times of stress through breathing techniques so they have this skill to fall back on when they are finding things difficult. This is delivered in Tutor Time so that students have the opportunity to start their day with a calming activity and learn skills they can use any time they need them.
Suicide prevention is a topic that we have begun to address as a result of new guidance from the Department for Education on what schools should be covering from September 2026. Teaching suicide prevention is optional but, as statistics show that suicide is sadly the leading cause of death among young people in the UK, we feel that it is a priority to deliver this content. If schools do choose to deliver this topic, it must be done by specially trained members of staff, due to its sensitive nature. We have begun to do this with our older students through our Designated Wellbeing Lead, who is an ASIST trained Suicide First Aider, and also through inviting in external speakers such as Jo Kent from the charity Blossom and Adrian Ellis from ACE Lived Experience.
Through all of our PSHE delivery we make sure that students are constantly reminded of the importance of looking after themselves and each other. Our students are taught that it is okay not to be okay and signposted to people and places they can go to for help. We are in the process of training our own team of student Wellbeing Ambassadors so that our younger students have the option of accessing peer-led support if this feels more accessible to them than talking to an adult. The students who have volunteered for this role are being trained by the Wellbeing Team to offer guidance and support to their peers in a safe and controlled way.
Tutor Time and Enrichment
Tutor Time and Enrichment form a key part of every school day, ensuring students are both ‘Kelvin Ready’ and participating in crucial aspects of Personal Development. Periods 1 and 2 are structured in the following ways.
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Period 1 - Tutor Time
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Daily equipment and uniform checks to ensure all students are ‘Kelvin Ready’.
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Attendance activities and one-to-one attendance support, through meaningful conversations and target setting with tutor prizes, improve attendance (where this falls below expectations)
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Behaviour reflections - reflection on positive and negative points, and engaging in group activities to reiterate our academy expectations in being our ‘Kelvin Best’ at all times.
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Topical Talk - as paet of our PSHE provision in school, each week students participate in a scenario based learning activity. Each activity respond directly to the needs of our students, and approaches matters related to:
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Online safety
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Personal health and wellbeing (physical and mental)
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Protected characteristics
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Personal safety
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Friday Feeling - every Friday, students are celebrated for demonstrating their Kelvin Best in our live Friday morning broadcast. Each week, prizes are awarded based on changing categories - these range from attendance-based targets, to behaviour and positive point totals too. Teachers also give ‘student shout-outs’ for those who have shown their Kelvin Best in school and within extracurricular and enrichment activities.
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35 Ways to Say Hi - every week, a video is pre-recorded and shown by Tutors during Tutor Time to teach students and staff how to say ‘Hi’ and give basic greetings in one of the 35 languages spoken by students/staff at Kelvin Hall School. Students or staff who speak these languages are encouraged to help host each episode (earning the title of Language Ambassador) to share their first language with us all. All students participate in this program and are encouraged to greet staff in the hallways and in classrooms in the relevant language each week. The aim is to help bridge and prevent societal divides by encouraging students to respect each other's languages and traditions.
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Period 2 - Enrichment
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Group reading - our group reading sessions take place twice a week. Years 7-10 read for 30 minutes with their tutor group teacher. These sessions focus on accountable reading for all pupils. The two strands of accountable reading that are of a main focus are:
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Modelling Accountable Reading using visualisers: Using a reading ruler or finger to follow the text and annotating as the member of staff reads leads to pupils copying this process.
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No Teacher Input: Pupils are asked to build up to full Accountable Independent Reading. Encourage the use of a reading ruler, or finger to observe which pupils are and which are not engaging with the reading. Pupils who drift off or stare out of the window.
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PSHE - every week, all students engage in one 55-minute session of PSHE within ‘tutor and enrichment’ time. This follows the Secondary School Jigsaw Curriculum, which covers
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Votes for Schools - VotesforSchools is an educational programme and digital voting activity designed to engage young people in current affairs, politics, and social issues. Every week, the platform sets a relevant, challenging "Yes/No" question on topical issues (e.g., climate change, mental health, AI, or online anonymity). The questions deliberately prompt deeper critical thinking. Teachers are provided with ready-made, age-appropriate lesson plans and resources. During these sessions, students learn about both sides of the issue and debate the topic to build their oracy (speaking and listening) skills. They also build skills in SMSC (Social, Moral, Spiritual, and Cultural development), British Values (specifically democracy and mutual respect), PSHE (Personal, Social, Health, and Economic Education) and the Prevent duty.
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