1. Effective SMSC Development

2. Richard Goodman - Assistant Head Teacher
Kim Tanjong Pendry – RE Teacher
The Venerable Bede CE Academy, Sunderland

3. Effective SMSC development
Venerable Bede CE Academy as a model of good practice for SMSC development
What is SMSC development?
Why is SMSC development important?
What have we done as a school linked to SMSC development?
RE and SMSC development
A focus on spiritual development

4. Model of good practice for SMSC development at Venerable Bede Academy
There has been a massive focus over the past 3 years on SMSC development at the Venerable Bede Academy. This has resulted in the school being a model of good practice for SMSC development – as characterised through: - Outstanding judgement in all areas in SIAS inspection
‘The clear message from everyone with whom I spoke is that this is a happy school in which people are valued, doors are open, ideas are welcomed, learning is supported and respect is mutual… the atmosphere for learning and for personal and spiritual development is therefore outstanding’.
REQM gold award
RE Young Ambassadors competition winners
Farmington fellowship focusing on SMSC development
MEd focusing on spiritual development
Sharing of good practice and the development of a new joint diocesan syllabus (Durham, Newcastle and Blackburn)

5. Personal Development
Fully developing the whole child – helping pupils grow and develop as people – preparing them for the adult world – allowing pupils to make sense of the world
Society
Family
Self
School
Education is not just about the gaining of knowledge and the acquisition of skills but the basic aim of our schools is to aid the personal development of all our students in the fullest sense.
The spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of students is therefore about their personal development.
The problem for schools is that although it is relatively easy to provide examples of students behaving in a spiritual, moral, social or cultural way and providing examples from the curriculum that link in a SMSC context it is very difficult to assess how and if a student has progressed in any of these contexts. As well as this how can we be sure that any development is down to the opportunities that the school provides and not, say, as a result of the student’s family or wider society? These questions are important for they highlight that schools are not the sole element responsible for this development of the child but part of a wider remit of elements. Ofsted claim to understand this and have highlighted this above.
Schools are not the only actor responsible for pupils’ personal development. Education cannot, therefore, be expected to a fill a moral vacuum left by society or family. But it can, and should, help those who receive it to make better sense of the world and personally develop.

6. What personal development looks like in a school?
Provision
This is how the school develops pupils – climate/soil
What does the school do to allow for SMSC/personal development?
How do pupils develop skills/knowledge/understanding?
What are the standards of behaviour/behaviour policies?
Are there clear values/ethos?
Outcomes
This is how the pupils actually develop – plant/flower
What does the student get from the school’s provision?
How do pupils respond/act/behave?
How do they show signs of personal development?
It is important for schools to have a clear understanding of the provision they have and the outcomes they see for SMSC development.
The provision is the opportunities a school provides for allowing the pupils to develop. The outcomes are how the students actually develop and what you see.

7. Personal Relationships
Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Fully developing the whole child – helping pupils grow and develop as people – preparing them for the adult world – allowing pupils to make sense of the world – achieving their full potential
Curriculum
- All subject areas have a responsibility and the potential to promote SMSC/personal development
Personal Relationships
- Relationships between all staff and students
- Ethos and values of the school
Behaviour and pastoral care
Collective worship
So therefore for our school we have taken SMSC development to mean the personal development of each student in the fullest sense.
The provision or opportunities we have for allowing for this personal development cover all curriculum areas and span the whole-school through personal relationships.

8. SMSC definitions activity
Activity – gain an understanding of examples of how pupils would demonstrate spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
Based on recent Ofsted definitions.
It is not essential for all members of staff to know exactly what SMSC development is – but they should have some understanding of how their curriculum content, their teaching styles and their relationships with the students links to SMSC.

13. Why is SMSC development
important?

14. The moral theorists Kant, Piaget and Kohlberg all believed that over time young people grow and develop morally and socially as well as spiritually and culturally.
‘The human being is not born as it is but grows and develops over time into an autonomous person’ Kant
It helps to facilitate the developmental process outlined by Kant, Piaget and Kohlberg leading to personal development of the child in the fullest sense.
Schools must provide opportunities that allow for and encourage this development.
The effect of SMSC development is one of the main purposes of what education in schools is all about; helping to personally develop well-rounded students ready and prepared for adult life

15. Education legislation and SMSC
The 1944 Education Act
The 1988 Education Reform Act
The 1992 Education (Schools) Act and the creation of Ofsted
The Schools Inspection Act 1996, The Education Act 2002 and the Education Act 2005
Successive education legislation has emphasised the importance of pupils’ personal development and made it a statutory requirement for schools to promote it and Ofsted to report on it

16. Ofsted and SMSC
‘SMSC development is crucial for individual pupils and for society as a whole. Most teachers would see it as the heart of what education is about – helping pupils grow and develop as people. The importance has repeatedly been recognised by legislators; schools are required by law to promote pupils’ SMSC development and inspectors are required to inspect it’ (Ofsted 2004).
- Ofsted have continually emphasised the importance of SMSC development in helping pupils to grow and develop as people.

17. SMSC development as a limiting factor in Ofsted judgements
The 2013 Framework for School Inspection and the subsequent Inspection Handbooks highlight how the provision a school has for pupils’ SMSC development has become a limiting factor in the overall effectiveness of the school and the quality of education it provides.

18. Judging the quality of a school
In order to make a judgement about the quality of education provided in the school, inspectors must first make four key judgements. These are:
- the achievement of pupils at the school
- the quality of teaching in the school
- the behaviour and safety of pupils at the school.
- the quality of leadership in, and management of, the school.
In addition, inspectors must also consider:
- the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils at the school
- the extent to which the education provided by the school meets the needs of the range of pupils at the school, and in particular the needs of:
pupils who have a disability for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010
pupils who have special educational needs.

19. the school ‘requires improvement’ as it is not a ‘good’ school because one or more of the four key judgements ‘requires improvement’, and/or there are weaknesses in the overall provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development
the school is ‘inadequate’ and, if so, whether it has serious weaknesses, or requires special measures.
A school with serious weaknesses is ‘inadequate’ in one or more of the key areas, and/or there are important weaknesses in the overall provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
Similarly, a school can only be considered ‘outstanding’ if ‘the school’s thoughtful and wide-ranging promotion of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and their physical wellbeing enables them to thrive in a supportive, highly cohesive learning community

20. What have we done as a school
for SMSC development?
As I mentioned at the beginning the school has become a model of good practice for SMSC development. The reason for this is importance we have attached to SMSC development over the past three years and the initiatives we have put in place within the school.

21. ‘Effective SMSC development is more than just good RE’
FARMINGTON FELLOWSHIP
‘Effective SMSC development is more than just good RE’
My Farmington Fellowship focused on dispelling the misconception that SMSC development is for the RE department. My research led me to the definitive conclusion that effective SMSC development concerns the whole-school; through whole-school initiatives, policies and relationships as well as all curriculum areas understanding the opportunities they have for SMSC development.

22. First response – Q1: Excellent – 0% Good – 10% Satisfactory – 32%
Put in place staff CPD – built into Twilight training – across the year. Staff were initially given a questionnaire to ascertain their understanding of SMSC development. At the end of the year staff were given the same questionnaire.
First response –
Q1:
Excellent – 0%
Good – 10%
Satisfactory – 32%
Poor – 43%
No understanding – 15%
Q2:
Yes – 58%
No – 42%
Second response –
Q1:
Excellent – 6%
Good – 34%
Satisfactory – 41%
Poor – 19%
No understanding 0%
Q2:
Yes – 89%
No – 11%

23. During the training staff worked in groups to look through the range of definitions related to SMSC development.
The range of differing definitions out there confirmed the somewhat confusing nature attached to SMSC development.
Staff worked in their curriculum or area groups to come up with simpler definitions of SMSC development. They were then given an opportunity to audit the SMSC provision in their areas.

24. Student Voice
During the course of the year we also completed some SMSC training with each year group in the school. This training was very similar to that delivered to all staff.
Pupils were given the opportunity to consider what spiritual, moral, social and cultural development meant to them – they then came up with their own definitions. Pupils also worked together to complete audits of how each curriculum area of the school linked to SMSC development.

25. From the discussions and work we did during the training (for both staff and pupils) we came up with our school’s interpretation of SMSC and the definitions linked to it.
This all fed into the school’s SMSC policy.

26. Each term all curriculum areas and other areas of the school complete an audit of SMSC in their areas.
This feeds into the whole-school provision of the opportunities for SMSC development. The audit allows for us to highlight areas of good practice – which are shared with the school and to address areas of weakness.

27. The school’s lesson observation schedule, linked to appraisal, uses evidence forms that explicitly highlight evidence of SMSC development within the lesson. Staff have been trained to ensure that all lessons they teach have clear links to SMSC development (whether through the curriculum content or the teaching styles). Any deficiencies in the evidence of SMSC may form part of the areas for development of the lesson.

28. The evaluation of SMSC development is also explicit on the Self Evaluation Forms that all HOY and HOD need to complete each term. This allows all curriculum and pastoral managers to highlight and address and areas for development.
This also allows for SMSC development to be evaluated alongside achievement, quality of teaching and leadership and management – allowing for joined up evaluation.

29. The evaluation of SMSC development from HOD and HOY has fed into the School Development Plan. Each priority on the SDP needs to analysed in relation to SMSC development.
This approach provides the school with the evidence to show how SMSC development is at the heart of everything we do.

30. RE and SMSC development

31. Experiential learning opportunities within RE Curriculum content
How does RE promote effective SMSC development?
One of the reasons I decided to focus on SMSC development for my Farmington Fellowship was the inaccurate perception from many members of staff that SMSC was just RE.
However, saying that, RE is essential in providing opportunities for SMSC development – but as I mentioned earlier in the presentation it is not the be all and end all – every curriculum area and other area of the school has a responsibility to provide opportunities for SMSC development.
Nature of how RE is assessed

32. Curriculum Content links
Spiritual Development ‘Who am I?’ ‘From life to death: where are we going?’ ‘Why is it hard to believe in God?’ Moral Development ‘What is the best type of guidance?’ ‘What does justice mean to Christians?’ ‘Technology – beauty or beast?’ Social Development ‘What are we doing to the environment?’ ‘How and why do people worship?’ Cultural Development ‘What is Christianity?’ ‘Who am I?’, ‘What does it mean to be a Jew?’ ‘How should a mosque call its members to prayer?’
Curriculum Content links
RE, however, is one of the obvious curricular vehicles for SMSC development. We have used big questions to structure our curriculum at KS3 – these lend themselves in providing opportunities for SMSC development.

34. Nature of assessment within RE
AT1 – learning about religion AT2 – learning from religion
The very nature of how RE is assessed – through attainment target 1 of learning about religion and attainment target 2 of learning from religion – requires RE teachers to provide assessed opportunities for pupils to express their thoughts, opinions and beliefs that spring from religious beliefs and concepts.

35. Experiential learning opportunities within RE
RE themed competitions and projects:
Spirited Arts
Holocaust memorial week
DISC project (community)
Trinity project
RE Young Ambassadors
Pilgrimage project
Visitors within schools:
Sir Peter Vardy
Street Pastors
Holocaust survivor
Clergy and religious leaders
Gram Seed
YFC
Visits:
Durham Cathedral
Holy Island
Local places of worship comparison
Within the RE curriculum we attempt to provide the pupils with a range of experiential learning opportunities. These include competitions and projects, visitors within school and visits out of school. All of these examples provide opportunities for our pupils to develop spiritually, morally, socially and culturally – contributing to their full personal development.

36. Pilgrimage Project
Holocaust Memorial

37. A focus on spiritual development

38. MEd What I wanted to know:
Do students identify with the Ofsted (2004) definition of spirituality?
Do students consider themselves to be spiritual?

39. MEd
What I did:
Carried out a series of Community of Enquiries with 2 Year 7 classes, 1 high ability and 1 low ability
A Community of Enquiry is a Philosophy for Children (P4C) approach that attempts to regulate dialogue in the classroom and ‘represents an explicit aspiration towards maintaining respect for other people while also agreeing, disagreeing, questioning and bringing others into the dialogue’ (Williams, 2012, p. 4). Williams suggests that the overall aim of a Community of Enquiry is for ‘individual participants to achieve better understanding, make better judgements and to be accountable to a community of peers’ (2012, p. 5).

40. MEd
First Stimulus
Second Stimulus
Your spirituality is not something you can see or touch. It is the thing that makes you who you are and may or may not still exist when you die. It is an understanding of who you are, what you are worth and what your meaning and purpose is. You could think of it as your ‘spirit’ or your ‘soul’ or your ‘personality’ or ‘character’.
‘A spiritual life is something you make for yourself but not by yourself’

41. Med
‘A spiritual life is something you make for yourself but not by yourself’

42. MEd Year 7 Questions: Do your parents help you make a spiritual life?
How can you make a spiritual life?
How can friends make a difference to a spiritual life?
Are we good to have a good afterlife?
Is your spiritual life after you die or now?
How would it be your choice if someone helped you?
Are we in a spiritual life now?
Can God help you make a spiritual life?
What is a spiritual life?
Who has a spiritual life?
Is respect a spiritual life?

43. MEd
What I found:
Students agreed that we all had an individual spirituality and that this did exist (in some form) after death
Students linked spirituality to a process of learning from mistakes and making the right choices
Religious students linked meaning and purpose to God and the pursuit of a place in heaven
Non-religious students linked meaning and purpose to the pursuit of happiness
Religious and non-religious students agreed that the way in which we develop spiritually is linked to the way in which we treat others. For example; with kindness, generosity and forgiveness
Students recognised that there was a connection between how they treated others and how they felt (inside) themselves
I discovered that my students had many varying ideas about spirituality but that their ideas were more similar than they were different. For example the vast majority of students accepted that we all had an individual spirituality and that this did exist (in some form) when we died. Many students who participated in the enquiry identified spirituality as being linked to a sense of morality and a process of learning – specifically about learning from mistakes and making the right choices. Some students were able to identify their meaning and purpose to God and the pursuit of a place in heaven. Whereas, their non-religious counterparts, linked their meaning and purpose to the pursuit of happiness. Interestingly, there was an overwhelming consensus that whether the goal was heaven or happiness, the way in which we develop spiritually is linked to the way in which we treat others. For example; with kindness, generosity and forgiveness. All students who discussed this recognised that there was a connection between how they treated others and how they felt (inside) themselves.

44. Tools for spirituality and spiritual development
‘Spiritual development is not specifically about teaching children about spirituality, but is concerned with providing them with certain skills, space in the classroom and time for them to touch upon and, if needed, construct their own spirituality. They may then share this with their peers, connecting self to others’ (2012, p. 182).
Silence
Reflection
Contemplation
Tools for spirituality and spiritual development
Ng, Y. (2012)
Questioning
Sharing
Discussion
(Ng, Y. (2012) Spiritual development in the classroom: pupils and educators learning reflections, International Journal of Children’s Spirituality, 17 (2), ).

45. Community of Enquiry as a tool for spiritual development
“Going back to Penny, you know what she said about being happy? I think that if you are always happy you are never gonna experience doing something wrong or making a mistake and people are saying you get another chance to come back but everyone makes mistakes, no one can be happy all their life.”
RE Today, Blaylock (2012)
Fostering personal and group reflection
Enabling pupils to build on their own and others’ identity
Encouraging pupils to reflect on their own and others’ beliefs, values and attitudes
Promoting an ethos of respect for self and others
Encouraging empathy and compassion

46. Spiritual Development and the Whole School
Church school – easier to provide opportunities for spiritual development – unashamedly Christian in nature.
Link to calendar themes – these could be used in a non-faith setting
Scan of a reflection diary – mention the resources provided for tutor worship (e.g Wingclips)
Photo of students doing Bistro worship?
Simple grid of a year group’s worship

48. Tutor Worship – Reflection Diaries

49. Student led Worship

50. Key Stage Worship DAY WORSHIP Y8 MON KS3 Hall SLT TUE
Y8 Student led Worship
WED
Tutor Worship
THUR
FRI