Ofsted Personal Development – building resilience, confidence & independence

What are inspectors looking for in Ofsted personal development?

The current Ofsted inspection framework now places a much greater emphasis on pupils personal development and how a school and its curriculum contributes to this.

Schools will not be rated ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ in Personal Development without evidence of building character.

In Ofsted personal development inspectors are particularly looking for the following:

  • the school’s curriculum extends beyond the academic, technical or vocational
  • the curriculum and the school’s wider work support learners to develop their character
  • developing responsible, respectful and active citizens
  • promoting equality of opportunity
  • promoting an inclusive environment
  • developing pupils’ character, giving them qualities they need to flourish in society
  • developing pupils’ confidence and resilience so that they can keep themselves mentally healthy
  • preparing pupils for the next phase of education

As we teach these, not only do we see improvements in wellbeing and mental health, but also in our students’ academic performance. This approach provides students with the assistance and structure for attaining long-term success in all areas of their life, preparing children and young people for future roles as parents, employees and leaders.

Ofsted Personal Development: the Research

In the UK the EEF have identified effective learning behaviours in their guidance reports on improving behaviour, metacognition and self-regulated learning and special educational needs in mainstream schools.

Development of these behaviours is fundamental for students to develop an awareness of the way they learn and establish forward-facing attitudes to learning, critical if they are to be able to become lifelong learners.

Some commonly identified behaviours that are particularly important for ensuring students are prepared to thrive in their futures include:

  • Resilience & Perseverance
  • Self-motivation and Confidence
  • Metacognition (thinking about thinking)
  • Independence & Problem-solving

This course will examine how the research from across the globe into personal development and learning behaviours can be put into practice in the classroom, packed with strategies to train or coach your students to improve their intellectual behaviours and subsequently their personal development and learning outcomes.

Ofsted Personal Development Course Outline

Cultivating Resilience & Perseverance

  • Building pupils resilience to setbacks
  • Incorporating opportunities for children to experience failure
  • Teaching children to persevere in a world of ‘virtual stone-throwers’ and against a backdrop of increasing mental health problems

Training pupils to be more independent & better Problem Solvers

  • How do we best install strategies for problem-solving?
  • How can we use different thinking taxonomies to increase our student’s depth of thinking?
  • Self-regulation and its role in learning
  • Helping pupils understand the power of taking charge of their own learning and performance

Coaching Self-motivation and Confidence

  • Top 10 inspirational self-motivation tips for pupils
  • Developing self-awareness and confidence

Developing Metacognitive Skills

  • Turning pupils into metacognitive experts
  • 5 powerful ways to promote metacognitive awareness in the classroom
  • Developing reflective learners

Presenter Profile

Presenter John Medlicott

John Medlicott (@johnmedlicott) is the Director of JMC Education (www.jmcinset.com), having held a number of key academic and pastoral leadership roles in schools and colleges. John still teaches in an Ofsted Outstanding School and has taught for over 20 years. As a teacher trainer & school improvement consultant he works with schools across the UK and internationally. He is regularly graded as “outstanding” by delegates on their evaluation forms. John has spoken recently on challenge and differentiation at a National Conference for Deputy Head teachers and is a regular Keynote speaker and workshop provider in School Leadership and Teaching and Learning.

Cost: £250 per delegate; £299 for 2 teachers from the same school booking on this course

Booking Form

The information below will be used solely to process your booking. You can see further information on our privacy statement here.

To book your place, please complete the form below:

Yes No