Key sections of the Curriculum that relate to my project

Personal identities: Understanding the factors that contribute to personal identities is essential if students are to accept and value themselves and develop confidence and self-esteem, maintain their mental/emotional health, make the most of their attributes and abilities, and celebrate achievements. Having a positive sense of personal identity helps students feel confident about roles and responsibilities and about making a positive contribution to society. Students should reflect on how a positive sense of personal identity relates to healthy lifestyles and relationships and consider in more depth its relationship with the concept of diversity. This links with citizenship and religious education, in particular when students consider diversity in local, national and global contexts.

Relationships: Understanding relationships and the skills associated with forming, maintaining and ending them is fundamental to personal wellbeing. At key stage 4 students explore this concept in more depth and consider how to exercise responsibility as they deal with the pressures and emotional challenges involved in a wider range of relationships that are becoming more complex.


Diversity: This concept links with both personal identities and relationships. When students consider their attitude and behaviour towards diversity, they should identify similarities as well as differences between people. Learning to empathise with others helps students accommodate difference in their lives and accept their responsibility to challenge prejudice and discrimination wherever it is encountered. At key stage 4 students explore in more depth personal assumptions about people different from themselves and consider the power dynamics of prejudice.

Skills and processes: The SEAL skills have much in common with these key processes, and much of the language is similar. For example, the SEAL skills of self-awareness and managing feelings are important for critical reflection; motivation is an important dimension of decision-making; and empathy, social skills and managing feelings are required for developing relationships and working with others. Schools will wish to plan use of the SEAL materials and their teaching of the personal wellbeing programme of study so that students have a coherent learning experience.

Critical reflection: This involves thinking in depth about increasingly challenging issues, ideas and experiences, questioning assumptions and connecting learning with real-life plans, behaviour and experiences. For example, ‘How does what I have learnt impact on my values?’, ‘Is the basis for my assumptions valid?’, ‘How effective are my strategies for achieving my goals?’ and ‘How can I take responsibility for my behaviour and its impact on others?’. Critical reflection can help students develop self-awareness, enabling them to consider how they think and feel to choose their behaviour, plan their learning and build positive relationships.

Values: Exploring topical and real-life social and moral dilemmas provides the context for exploring complex and conflicting values. Reflecting on how this impacts on personal values and re-evaluating them is important
at this stage.