Student/Apprentice Personal development Policy

Student/Apprentice Personal development Policy

Policies and ProceduresCorporate Information

Document No:

Document No:

CR015

Issue No:

2

Issue Date:

2024-08-28

Renewal Date:

2025-08-27

Originator:

Head of Personal Development

Responsibility:

Vice Principal Study Programmes and Apprenticeships

Student/Apprentice Personal Development Policy

  1. Induction

    • 1.1 Leicester College is committed to ensuring that all students/apprentices, regardless of age, level of learning and specific needs are provided with meaningful learning experiences, to enhance knowledge and skills beyond the purely academic, technical or vocational. These experiences will help to enrich the personal, professional, and social lives of students/apprentices and support development of cultural capital, enhancing the ability to achieve and succeed.

    • 1.2 This policy will complement the College’s Student Experience Strategy by identifying the activities and events offered to students and apprentices to develop personal development skills, preparing them for life in modern Britain, keeping themselves healthy and safe and supporting their next steps.

  2. Principles

    • 2.1 All students and apprentices will be provided with an effective induction programme which includes the initial stages in demonstrating and assessing both academic and non-academic/personal skills.

    • 2.2 Post-induction, all students/apprentices will be given the opportunity to gain greater knowledge, skills and behaviours around their non-academic skills, through a variety of mechanisms, designed to meet individual need, which will be referred to as either the Personal Development Programme or Personal Development Offer, depending on the provision type.

    • 2.3 The personal development programme and personal development offer will focus on the following significant areas:

      • Developing responsible, respective and active citizens

      • Developing a deep understanding of the fundamental British values of democracy, individual liberty, the rule of law and mutual respect and tolerance

      • Promoting equality of opportunity and understanding difference

      • Promoting an inclusive environment

      • Developing character

      • Developing confidence, resilience and knowledge to keep mentally healthy

      • Developing understanding of how to keep physically healthy and maintain an active lifestyle

      • Developing age age-appropriate understanding of healthy relationships

      • Providing an effective careers programme

      • Supporting readiness for next steps.

    • 2.4 This policy should be read in conjunction with the:

      • Induction and Personal Development Framework (Appendix 1)

      • Personal Development Roadmaps (Appendix 2 and 3)

      • Student/Apprentice Progress Review Policy

      • Careers, Progression and Employability Policy

      • Student/Apprentice Behaviour and Conduct Policy (inc Student/Apprentice Pledge)

      • Safeguarding and Prevent Policy

      • Equality and Diversity Policy.

  3. Personal Development Programme (for Education Programmes for Young People and Apprenticeship provision)

    • 3.1 As part of induction activities, a Personal Development Skills Assessment (diagnostic) will be undertaken, mapped to the college’s Induction and Personal Development Framework (Appendix 1). The outcomes of this assessment will inform how the College facilitates the development of a student/apprentice’s knowledge, skills and behaviours for the softer skills they will need in order to achieve and succeed. A Personal Development Plan (PDP) will be devised for each student/apprentice identifying the experiences needed to enhance these skills. The assessment will be revisited by each student/apprentice mid-year and at the end of the year (as part of PD/BA 1:1s/Progress Reviews) to ascertain the progress they have made against appropriate targets (see Appendix 2).

    • 3.2 The Personal Development Programme will consist of a number of facilitation and delivery methods to provide students/apprentices with opportunities to achieve the goals outlined in the PDP. These methodologies will be a mixture of:

      • Mandatory facilitated group workshops

      • PDP-driven ‘pick n mix’ facilitated group workshops (organised at a curriculum/group level)

      • Self-facilitated modules via a digital learning platform (which can be undertaken by students individually or used to inform group content delivery)

      • College-wide scheduled workshops/events

      • Curriculum Area/Learning Coach organised trips/visits.

      These methodologies will be facilitated by:

      • Learning Coaches

      • The Student Enrichment Team

      • The Careers Team

      • The Aspire Team

      • Managers/Teachers/Tutors

      • Wider College staff.

  4. Personal Development Offer (for Adult and Higher Education provision)

    • 4.1 Adult and Higher Education students will have access to the College’s Personal Development e-Hub which includes a non-mandatory Personal Development Skills Assessment. This resource is linked to the Induction and Personal Development Framework and provides a variety of e-learning modules which can support personal skills development.

    • 4.2 These students will also be enrolled on an external e-CPD system which will provide a variety of certificated CPD courses.

  5. Embedding Personal Development into Vocational, Technical and Subject Specific Teaching

    • 5.1 Topics from the Induction and Personal Development Framework can be embedded into the wider curriculum by everyone facilitating teaching, learning and assessment activities. Additionally, the College’s thematic calendar will be available to support planning for learning.

    • 5.2 A centrally managed platform for staff is available to support teachers to embed softer skills into their teaching and learning. Regular training will also be provided to curriculum staff.

  6. Tracking, Monitoring and Reviewing progress

    • 6.1 All personal development activities will be recorded either by the student/apprentice themselves or by a staff member who facilitated the experience (via ProMonitor – Enrichment and Personal Development Log).

    • 6.2 For EPYP students and apprentices, once the first PD/BA 1:1/Progress Review has taken place during term 1, each subsequent Progress Review will ascertain distance travelled, review existing targets and set new ones as appropriate – see Progress Review Policy.

  7. Quality Assurance

    • 7.1 Deep Dive activity will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the Induction and Personal Development Programme/Offer implementation.

    • 7.2 The quality of the Personal Development Programme/Offer will be reviewed and evaluated on a regular basis through a variety of methods. This feedback will be shared to improve the student/apprentice experience.

  8. Communication and Review of Policy

    • 8.1 The policy will be published on the College Intranet/College website and will be reviewed every three years or more frequently if required.

    • 8.2 This policy will be reviewed by the College’s Head of Personal Development and ELT.

Appendix 1 - Induction and Personal Development Framework

Appendix 2 - EPYP Personal Development Programme - Annual Road Map

Induction & PD Skills Assessment

(for ESOL EPYP/Supported Learning an accessible version of the induction programme and associated PD Skills Assessment will be available to inform the PD programme facilitated)

1. Bus Stop PD Induction & Challenge is undertaken. PD Skills Assessmentis completed by student/with staff during induction activities – assessesstarting points

2. System copies assessment outcomesinto Markbook for tracking and monitoring

Personal Development Plan creation & initial targets set (PD/BA 1:1 - Term 1)

1. PDC meets with each student during induction and adds a 'Personal Development Plan' meeting category with a meeting type of 'PDP
Setup' - template pulls in the average score for each PD framework topic area (from PD Skills Assessment outcomes).

2. PD/B&A targets are set (these inform the content and support provided by the PDC to enhance PD related skills) - other essential information is gathered and input into PM at this time (careers aspiration, intended destination etc).

Personal Development sessions are facilitated

1. PDC uses 'Personal Development Trend & Progress Report' to see majority themesfrom all PD Skills Assessmentsfor a group and uses that data to plan PD workshops before ‘PDP Review 1’ – individual needs are met via signposting or work in 1:1 time – ‘peer tutors’ are also identified for each topic area.

2. LC facilitatessessions also embedding ‘Current Affairs and Thematic Calendar’ into them – these are workshop in style, not ‘lessons’ – using WPCs, SET, Careers, Aspire, SS teamsto co-facilitate (recording sessions via PD Log on PM).

PD/BA 1:1 - Term 2 & PD/BA 1:1 - Term 3

1. Prior to the 1:1 review meetings the PDC instructs all students to set re-do their PD Skills Assessment ready for 'PDP Review 1/2' meeting.
These replace the tutorial meetings they currently do in PM and those are instead used by the PLs to review academic performance year separately.

2. PDP Review 1/2 meeting is added on PM - PDC reviews targets in PDP Setup/previous review meeting, including information about the student's B&A and PD development since the beginning of the year.

Personal Development sessions are facilitated

1. PDC uses 'Personal Development Trend & Progress Report' to see majority themesfrom all PD Skills Assessmentsfor a group and uses that data to plan PD workshops before ‘PDP Review 1’ – individual needs are met via signposting or work in 1:1 time – ‘peer tutors’ are also identified for each topic area.

2. LC facilitatessessions also embedding ‘Current Affairs and Thematic Calendar’ into them – these are workshop in style, not ‘lessons’ – using WPCs, SET, Careers, Aspire, SS teamsto co-facilitate (recording sessions via PD Log on PM).

PD Programme Review and Distance Travelled Analysis

The PD Trend and Progress Report also demonstrates distance travelled over an academic year – there is no expectation that a student ‘achieves the highest rating’ for each topic area as PD happens throughout someone's lifetime

Appendix 2 - Adult/HE/Apprenticeships Personal Development Offer - Annual Roadmap

Induction

  1. Bus Stop PD Induction undertaken independently and virtually via Moodle. Demo is undertaken with all students/apprentices as to the resources available post-induction period and how this is a key contributor to gaining the skills to meet their career aspirations/next steps.

2. Nominated teacher/TA logs that induction has taken places on appropriate system (PD/enrich log for classroom provision and SA for Apprentices)

Personal Development offer is facilitated via digital systems (Moodle/Skills Network etc)

  1. Nominated teacher/TA guides students/apprentices to PD e-Hub on Moodle as the one stop shop for PD learning resources. This can also be used by teachers/assessors during reviews/taught sessions if appropriate.

2. Nominated teacher/TA facilitates any learning sessions infusing ‘Current Affairs and Thematic Calendar’ into them - using SET, Careers, Aspire SS teams to co-facilitate/support (recording any group sessions via PD log on PM or on SA).

Progress is reviewed (including PD, as appropriate)

  1. Combined/proportionate progressreviewstake place not only looking at academic performance but on development around PD - using PD Framework as a reference point; targets are identified and set on underpinning/wider/softerskillsto supportstudents to reach their career aspiration

2. Trends from these reviews are captured by each teacher and fed into team meetings to discuss any key themesthat needmore emphasis/development, these are discussed with Head of PD and they faciltiate development actions being implemented (whether bespoke or cross-college).