Personal Development

Our vision for SMSC – Spiritual, Moral, Social, and Cultural development

At OSA, students will develop holistically, over time, to be fully inclusive, accepting and tolerant of others’ differences, whether this be culture, race, religion, belief, gender, sexual orientation. Students know about these protected characteristics but are also kind and understanding around other things that make us different such as special educational needs and disabilities, hair colour, body shape and size and personal style.

We have a fully comprehensive Personal Development offer at the Academy, which incorporates SMSC – Spiritual, Moral, Social, and Cultural development. Within the offer are a wide range of opportunities to develop personal and social skills that will enable them to become well-rounded, responsible, and engaged members of society.

Student Leadership

At OSA we have a well established Student Leadership Council with Student Leaders in Year 11, the remaining body of the council made up from one representative from each tutor group. The recruitment takes place each academic year in September. The council meet half termly to discuss important matters arising, including projects that form part of our “Eco-Schools” targets with regard to aspects of the academy. Student Voice is fed from tutor groups, through the representatives to the main council to make decisions on things such as: changes to the student planner, aspects of uniform, catering facilities, social areas and equipment and also to determine our academy attributes – the “guidelines” by which we all (staff and students) conduct ourselves day to day here are OSA.

We also have representatives on the Arts Council and Sports Council – where students are able to develop and enhance their talents and skills in their chosen areas, offering a huge support to events within those faculties.

We are extremely proud to have student Wellbeing Ambassadors, these young people have put themselves forward and give up their time for others. They are paramount in our Wellbeing and Mental Health offer. Students have been Peer-Mentor trained and actively supervise our Wellbeing Suite as a quiet place to go, conduct weekly peer mentoring sessions with those who need it, buddy up with new students, run assemblies on Safeguarding issues, raise awareness of Wellbeing issues including Anti-Bullying, and also go out into the community – last academic year they visited a local care home and played Bingo with the residents, served tea and chatted as part of Mental Health Awareness Week and “time to talk”. These students are identifiable by their purple lanyards.

Wellbeing

It is vital that staff, students and parents take care of their wellbeing in order to function effectively and be the best they can be. There are many layers of support at OSA. This starts with a good transition from primary in the first instance where we get to know our new young people and their needs. Next, each student has a tutor, with whom home-academy communication takes place in the first instance. Each student has a Head of Year and access to a Pastoral Manager – a trained deputy safeguarding lead to look after anything non-academic. We have an Academy counsellor and also the local Youth Charity “Porch Project” who visit weekly to talk to young people who need it. The School Nurse visits monthly and runs a drop-in. We have a Wellbeing Suite where our Wellbeing Ambassadors are on duty at break and lunch, this is a quiet space for reflection, self help, offloading, or peer mentoring. Throughout the year we have staff wellbeing teas run half termly by different faculties. We have a huge focus on Mental Health Awareness Week with activities taking place throughout the year including assemblies, tutor time, lunchtime activities and surveys. The students are well known, well looked after and we foster a community culture of “looking out for one another”.

Rewards

Students are rewarded for their efforts in and out of lessons. Initially “stamps” are awarded in student planners. As these build up, students are rewarded with bronze, silver, gold, platinum and palladium certificates and badges. Tokens are also awarded at strategic points which are exchanged for items such as stationary, sports equipment or vouchers for local activities. Students are rewarded for good attendance as well as a weekly draw in assembly for “Random Acts of Kindness” where students nominate their peers for being good members of the community, daily. Students are keen to attain rewards and are proud of their achievements.

PSHE and RSE

By the time they leave Year 11, our students will be able to make informed decisions regarding their own health (including sexual health) and personal well-being whilst having regard for the wellbeing and rights of others. The programme of study for PSHE covers Years 7 to 11 and is based on

The programme is designed to meet the needs of our students and fulfil the DfE Statutory Guidance for Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education.

Assemblies

Our Assembly and tutor time sessions add to our PSHE offer. Assemblies rotate through the British Values themes as well as key Safeguarding themes half termly, run by experienced members of the middle leadership team and senior leadership team.

British Values

See here for the ways in which we promote British Values at Ormiston Sudbury Academy

Inclusivity

Ormiston Sudbury Academy has an inclusive environment where students feel empowered to be who they are without fear. Young people sometimes take some time and don’t always get things right initially when it comes to accepting others’ differences, but we work well with young people to develop a culture of inclusivity whether it be race, gender, sexuality, special educational needs or any other characteristic. We have an LGBTQ+ “club” run by our academy counsellor weekly, as a way for our many students to discuss issues that may arise and to further develop the Academy’s already inclusive culture.

Enrichment

Enrichment provides learners with the opportunities to try new and varied activities and to develop character, resilience, motivation, and encourage them to pursue wider goals. Enrichment helps to teach life skills that benefit learners far beyond the classroom, and can develop an appreciation for cultural and community issues, teamwork and social responsibility. The purpose of enrichment at Ormiston Sudbury Academy is to offer a wide variety of rich experiences for all students. We do this through enrichment activities within our curriculum offer as well as through the provision of a wide-ranging set of extra-curricular activities and clubs for all year groups.

• We encourage as many students to attend as possible and ensure we offer something for everyone.
• Provide cultural capital opportunities to pursue outstanding personal development in line with our curriculum pillars.
• Deepen the body of knowledge and skills needed both for outstanding academic outcomes and to be successful citizens within wider society

Our extra-curricular enrichment opportunities may be accessed here

Reading Aloud

To foster a love of reading, upon which vocabulary acquisition and academic success is based, we read a wide range of texts as part of our ‘Reading Aloud’ curriculum. During tutor time, students follow a class text selected due to its cultural richness. Students and staff discuss the issues raised in these texts as part of their sessions, developing their oracy skills in the process. In addition to the texts studied as part of the ambitious English curriculum, this means a student joining in Year 7 will leave at the end of Year 11 having read at least 25 novels in addition to a range of plays, poetry and non-fiction texts. Students are also encouraged to borrow books for independent reading from our extensive selection in the library.

Character Education and PACE

Our KS3 students have begun working towards obtaining their “Passport” at the end of Year 11. This is a means of encouraging students to fulfil a varied lifestyle beyond that of “school”. The Passport records evidence of having taken part in many activities outside of the classroom, developing true character in the individual. In time this Passport will collaborate with our PACE (Professional Award for conduct and employability) award – Students work on aspects of PACE throughout tutor time in all years, collecting evidence of achievements, going above and beyond, helping in the community, being part of a Team, leadership roles. The PACE graduation ceremony takes place, in formal wear, at the end of Year 11 as part of the Year 11 leavers’ assembly. Students are presented with  a presentation folder for their certificates of achievement and their PACE certificate; when their final GCSE/exam certificates are available (in the late autumn term, post-leaving year 11), these should be added to the PACE folder.

Duke Of Edinburgh

Ormiston Sudbury Academy offers students from Year 9 onwards the opportunity to achieve the prestigious Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Award at both bronze and silver levels. The four sections participants will complete involve helping the community/environment, becoming fitter, developing new skills and planning, training for and completing an expedition. Through their DofE programme young people have fun, make friends, improve their self-esteem and build confidence. They gain essential skills and attributes for work and life such as resilience, problem-solving, team-working, communication and drive, enhancing CVs, university and job applications. Top employers recognise the work-ready skills award holders bring to their business. Our team of DofE leaders run a weekly after school DofE club and a number of weekend expedition training modules to provide participants with the skills and opportunities they need to succeed in their award.

CEAIG

At Ormiston Sudbury Academy, we believe that effective careers guidance contributes to raising aspirations, improving motivation, and overcoming barriers to success. We are committed to delivering high quality careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) which empowers students to make informed career decisions. Our goal is to equip all our students with the necessary skills to adapt to an ever-changing economic climate, inspiring them to become life-long career learners. This is achieved through a comprehensive programme of activities that spans Year 7 through Year 11, and is based on the nationally recognised Gatsby Benchmarks. We are proud to have achieved the Quality in Careers Standard award. (See more about our CEAIG provision here)