Personal Development is an important and valued aspect of the school day and provides learners the opportunity to connect with their Families, develop their life skills and prepare them to be ‘Ladybridge Rich’.
At Ladybridge, form time is organised in mixed age groups split across six Families. The school’s lion logo is the inspiration for the names of our Families.
The many benefits of Personal Development in mixed age form groups are:
- Smaller groups with more pastoral support
- The creation of a community/family feel to the school
- Greater opportunity for peer support – learners helping each other learn
- Preparation for the real world
- Barriers between year groups are removed
- There is an increased focus on wellbeing, agency, WISDOM qualities and leadership and communication skills
The sessions that take place during Personal Development are structured below:
Monday Check In and Friday Reflect sessions
These sessions are designed to give every single learner a voice, build essential character strengths and establish a powerful team culture within our school families.
Check In sessions promote communication and develop essential oracy and listening skills during Personal Development time. A review of current form WISDOMs and behaviour checks are also conducted, giving the form clear, actionable objectives to work on throughout the week.
Reflect sessions provide a supportive framework for learners to look back at their weekly progress and map out intentional growth targets for the week ahead in their Wellbeing Journals. Sharing these with others in the form helps build strong team foundations and develop deep, lasting relationships across the school community.
Weekly Community Meetings
Thanks to our soundproofed, fully equipped Sports Hall and extensive Hub space, our forms gather regularly for large-scale Community Meetings. Led by both staff and inspiring learner voices, these sessions cover school improvements, self-regulation and topical issues.
Learner-Led Projects and Youth Social Action
When forms aren’t in meetings, they are busy collaborating on community projects. Learners gain immense public speaking confidence by presenting their work to their peers. Recent project focuses include:
- Animal Welfare: Partnering with the Bolton Destitute Animal Shelter and Bleakholt Animal Sanctuary.
- Local Homelessness: Fundraising for the Bolton-based charity Backup North West.
- Cultural Exploration: Interactive sessions celebrating Chinese Language Day and broader Asian cultures
WISDOM Games and The Ladybridge Farm
We utilise dedicated termly sessions for inter-form tournaments, games and outdoor learning visits to our very own Ladybridge Farm to practice practical teamwork, respect and kindness.
‘Flexible’ Sessions
Every fortnight, a flexible block allows form tutors to prepare learners for upcoming events, review options, or focus on specific year-group milestones.
Immersive Personal Development Days
Alongside our daily Personal Development sessions, the school incorporates full-day, thematic Personal Development Days each term with a specific focus:
Autumn Term – Focus on Wellbeing
Our first Personal Development Day focuses on developing our core WISDOM qualities through the lens of a different culture. Learners explore unique global philosophies and traditions, taking part in mindfulness activities, creative cultural workshops and collaborative team challenges that encourage them to look at personal wellbeing and resilience from a brand-new perspective.
Spring Term – World of Work Day
An immersive careers program featuring guest professionals and industry partners. From Year 7 up to Year 11, learners explore career pathways, experience an entrepreneurial challenge like the National Careers Service ‘British Airways Challenge’ and participate in higher education workshops. This date also coincides with a Work Experience Week for the Year 10 cohort.
Summer Term – Family Teambuilding
Our third Personal Development Day has a strong focus on our WISDOM qualities of resilience and teamwork as learners enjoy a variety of inter-form challenges of strategic puzzles, archery tournaments, tug-of-war and giant inflatables!
By embedding these experiences into our weekly timetable, we turn our ‘Education for real life’ philosophy into daily action. Through targeted personal development, we prepare our learners to leave us as empathetic, capable and well-rounded individuals ready for the future.