Personal Development - Larks Hill Junior & Infant School : Larks Hill Junior & Infant School

School Motto: ‘Together everyone achieves more’

Core Values: Resilience, Independence, Collaboration, Respect, Learning

At Larks Hill, our curriculum has been coherently designed to equip all pupils with the personal knowledge, skills and values they require to be successful today and in the future.

Our core values help and support pupils to develop their character in all aspects of their learning; to know that individual differences should be valued, to be resilient, to work collaboratively and to have empathy and respect for all. These values underpin everything we do and as a result, our pupils develop to be responsible, respectable, and confident citizens who contribute positively to society.

Our taught curriculum

Our taught curriculum is well-planned and thorough. The teaching of SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social, Cultural Development), British Values, Citizenship, RSE and Protected Characteristics is enhanced by weekly class discussions and assemblies where our pupils deepen their understanding of key topics through discussion and debate. By working in tandem with the school nursing team and local police, we teach our pupils to become well-rounded citizens who can manage online and offline risks, understand social dangers such as knife crime and know how to stay healthy both physically and mentally.

Through our extensive Religious Education curriculum, we offer opportunities for pupils to explore and develop their own values, beliefs and spiritual awareness. Our curriculum is enhanced by religious experience days; planning bespoke visits and by welcoming visitors into school from various faiths. At Larks Hill, our pupils demonstrate a positive caring attitude towards other people and have an appreciation of the diversity and richness of other cultures.

"I felt really proud taking a whole school assembly about Eid this year. I think it’s important for my friends to know how Eid is celebrated and why. I brought in a lot of sweet treats for my friends and the staff to share." - Harry, Year 4

Celebrating Eid

Knife Crime Workshop

Our Wider Personal Curriculum

Our wider personal curriculum offer at Larks Hill is vast. Through our many initiatives, we aim to provide our pupils with experiences that will remain with them as they move onto each new phase in their lives; preparing them to be successful in the modern world we live in.

Please click on the drop down menu below to find out more about our offer:

Pupils as Leaders

Larks Hill pupils are actively encouraged to apply for a variety of leadership roles across school. Our leaders are democratically elected in to positions by their peers, following their applications. All leaders take their roles and responsibilities seriously and wear their badges with pride. They play a large role in supporting and enhancing the leadership of the school; creating, promoting and organising whole school events, delivering whole school assemblies, meeting and greeting visitors and attending community events.

Head Boy

Head Girl

At Larks Hill we have:

Junior Leadership Team (Years 1-6)

Head Boy and Head Girl

Prefects

GALS and Mini GALS (Girls Active Leadership Squad)

The GALS initiative was set up five years ago to increase the participation of girls in sports, raise self-esteem and increase fitness. As a result of its success, we now have many more girls engaging in sports both in school and in the community, year after year. Our GALS are excellent role models for all girls, leading and coaching others with confidence and independence.

Sports Leaders

Our Year 6 Sports Leaders are trained to help organise and run Trust-wide sporting events, sports day and support with the teaching of PE. This leadership role allows our oldest pupils the opportunity to display a high level of maturity, preparing them for future roles in the next phase of their education.

Pupil Monitors

Lunchtime monitor
Library monitor
Cloakroom monitors

Our Monitors actively support to ensure school is maintained to the highest standards; assisting with the younger children at lunchtime and ensuring that the environment is tidy and well looked after.

Ambassadors

Reading Ambassadors
Mental Health Ambassadors

Our Reading Ambassadors have been chosen to promote reading across school. They are reading role models to others and will happily share book recommendations with their peers.

Our Mental Health Ambassadors work alongside the Mental Health Lead committed to leading a whole school approach to mental health and well- being. They have been fully trained to deliver a bespoke programme across school.

The Eco Team

Planting Trees for the King's coronation.

Our Eco Team is an established team of pupils, committed to improving the school’s environmental footprint and raising awareness of local and global issues. The team is working towards achieving the nationally recognised Green Eco Award for Schools and leads on key initiatives across school such as:

Improving biodiversity; restoring our nature garden, planting trees and growing vegetables.
Saving energy; turning lights off, holding energy saving hours.
Being global citizens; working with local charities, promoting Fair Trade, celebrating diversity, walking to school.
Promoting healthy lifestyles; daily mile, mindfulness, healthy snack and packed lunches.
Reducing litter; litter picking in school and around the community.
Marine/water; limiting single-use plastics, beach cleansing, implementing water butts.

Clubs, Trips, Visits and Experiences

Clubs

We have an extensive range of clubs and activities available both after school and at lunchtime. Many of our clubs are pupil initiated as a result of requests posted in our ‘Pupil Voice Suggestion Box’ and are led by the pupils themselves.

Our clubs on offer change termly and have a variety of foci from sports to creative arts, Lego, yoga and mindfulness.

The Breakfast Club runs from 8.00 – 8.40. There are many activities on offer during this time including the popular, ‘Wake Up, Shake Up’ session to start the day.

Trips and Visits

Throughout our calendar year, all classes have external trips and/or visitor experience in school. These experiences both

"I really enjoyed our trip to the National Space Museum because it helped me with my learning in History, which was about the ‘space race’ between the USA and the Soviet Union. We used Lyfta to explore the USA and the Soviet Union so I knew lots about these countries before we went." - Seb, Year 5

enhance in class learning and support with the wider character development of our pupils.

Pontefract Castle
Financial awareness workshops through HSBC bank
Local area walks/Yorkshire Wildlife Park/Yorkshire Sculpture Park
National Space Centre
Dental workshop/Healthy Lifestyle talks/First Aid workshops
Church visits/ Diwali Dance workshop/Islam workshops
Theatre visits
York Chocolate Story visit
Cannon Hall Farm
York University
Field work in Scarborough
The Deep
Leeds Museum (History)

Year 6 Residential visits

Year 6 have a two night/three day residential visit to Robinwood in June, where they pack in 15 exciting activities that
challenge pupils physically and mentally, stimulate the imagination and promote teamwork and resilience.

50 Experiences Passports

Every pupil in school has a ‘50 Experiences Passport’ full of bespoke experiences pupils will access over an academic phase.
The experiences are in addition to our general curriculum offer and support to enhance pupil cultural capital further.

"The Passports are a really nice way for us to remember our experiences, particularly when we’ve left school. I really like seeing all the stamps which show me how much we have done!" Zac, Year 6

Bespoke Experiences

Our curriculum is further enhanced through well-planned assemblies, bespoke teaching weeks and drop-down afternoons.

Young Voices 2024

Christmas Pantomime, Wakefield
Healthy Bodies and Mind Week
Science Week
Anti-Bullying Week
Black History Month
Women’s History Month
Celebrating Difference
World Religion Weeks
What it means to be British

Life Skills

Forest School

The Forest School Programme provides outdoor learning opportunities in a natural environment. As a school we are very fortunate in having our own forest school area with all classes enjoying Forest School activities throughout the year both as part of our curriculum and as an after-school club. Our pupils experience activities such as: lighting fires, outdoor cooking, low ropes challenges, using tools to make things or to help with construction.

"In Forest School we get to build things outside and toast marshmallows. I liked scraping sticks to make a wand and a sword!" - Harper, Year 1

Classroom Kitchen

We invite ‘Classroom Kitchens’ into school every term to cook with the pupils, expose them to new foods and teach about food preparation and healthy nutrition. Bespoke cooking workshops throughout the year, support with introducing our pupils to new foods from different cultures and around the world.

"I like learning about cooking and staying healthy. I also like learning how to cook specific foods. From having Classroom Kitchen, I know different methods for preparing food and how to stay safe in the kitchen." - Mollie, Year 5

HSBC Bank

Through working with HSBC UK, we ensure that our pupils have access to financial education and our supported with overall financial awareness, understanding money, bank accounting and saving.

Staying Safe

Learning First Aid

We have an abundance of initiatives in school to help and support our pupils to stay safe.

First Aid workshops
Road Safety awareness through BRAKE and the local Police
Bikeability training
Swimming lessons
Stranger Danger talks
Staying safe online sessions with NSPCC

Charity Work

We expose our pupils to the work of various different charities; acknowledging the important work that people do for others and recognising the power of caring and giving. Our work for The Prince of Wales Hospice in Pontefract, Children in Need and the Pontefract Food Bank are just some of the charities we work with and support.

Bringing The World To Life

Careers Week

Through our bespoke Careers Week, we recognise the importance of exposing our pupils to as many different vocations as possible. We

welcome a multitude of visitors into school to speak about careers and opportunities such as: charity work, careers in Law, the NHS, the RAF and engineering. We instil the mantra of, ‘No career is off limits, be what you want to be’, regardless of class, age, gender, race or disability.

"I always like learning about different jobs. We do have careers week but we also learning about different jobs all the time in class. I want to work with animals because we had a lady come into school with a dog who looks after a blind person. I want to work with animals when I’m older." Nia, Year 2

LYFTA

Our pupils have weekly ‘Lyfta Time’ through an online platform that teleports the class to new places around the world. The sessions are delivered through storyworlds.

‘A storyworld is an immersive learning environment where students interact with 360° spaces and soundscapes, explore curriculum-aligned rich media articles and watch high-quality short documentary films. Each storyworld features an inspiring real human story, carefully selected to spark curiosity, empathy and compassion and open up conversations on important topics.’

Through Lyfta, our pupils get to experience the world beyond their locality and travel to places they may never go or think of going. Pupils are able to connect with real human stories and be introduced to diverse cultures and new perspectives; building personal knowledge and cultural capital.

"I love my Lyfta lessons because I get to see the world! It helps us learn about different people and places that I may never get the chance to visit. It makes me want to travel when I am older." Amelia, Year 5

Picture News

Through Picture News, our pupils are exposed to current National and International news stories. Each week, we are provided with online resources that have been carefully selected to be thought provoking, relevant and informative. These sessions allow pupils to be reflective, engage in debate and offer opinion. Through this platform our pupils develop respect for other’s beliefs, feelings and faiths.

Developing Talent and Interest