Our Preventative Safeguarding Curriculum

At Thornden School, our Personal Development (PD) Tutor Programme is the curricular expression of our safeguarding culture.

It is designed to ensure that every student is not only safe, but understands how to keep themselves safe — emotionally, socially and physically — both in school and beyond.

Through weekly tutor sessions and a carefully sequenced curriculum, students develop the knowledge, confidence and behaviours needed to:

• recognise risk
• make informed decisions
• seek help when needed
• build positive relationships
• contribute to a safe and respectful community

We see Personal Development as preventative safeguarding in action — equipping students with the understanding and confidence to navigate an increasingly complex world.

A Whole-School Approach

The Personal Development Tutor Programme sits at the centre of a wider, joined-up safeguarding approach at Thornden.

Key messages are not delivered in isolation, but are consistently reinforced through the curriculum, assemblies and daily school life. This ensures that students encounter important themes regularly, in different contexts and through a range of experiences.

As a result, students build their understanding over time and are able to apply their learning with increasing confidence, rather than seeing safeguarding as something taught once.

A Structured and Progressive Curriculum

Our curriculum is built around three core strands, which rotate each half term:

• Health and Wellbeing
• Relationships and Sex Education (RSE)
• Living in the Wider World

These strands are revisited throughout each year, allowing students to build from early awareness in Year 7 through to real-world application by Year 11.

This spiral structure ensures that safeguarding knowledge is not simply taught, but embedded, revisited and applied in increasingly complex situations over time.

Shaped by Student Voice – “You Said, We Did”

Our curriculum has been developed through extensive consultation with students across Years 7–11.

Students told us they wanted more real-life, practical learning, less repetition and more opportunity for discussion. They asked for greater focus on mental health, relationships, finance and modern issues such as social media and online risk.

In response, we:

• introduced a clearly sequenced spiral curriculum
• moved to half-termly themes to allow greater depth
• strengthened mental health, RSE and online safety content
• expanded careers and financial education
• embedded discussion, debate and real-life scenarios into every lesson

This ensures the curriculum is not simply delivered to students, but developed with them and shaped by their experiences.

Impact Through the Year

Our curriculum is deliberately structured so that safeguarding learning is taught, revisited and measured across the year, ensuring that students build knowledge, confidence and the ability to apply learning in real-life situations.

Autumn 1 – Health and Wellbeing

Students develop a strong foundation in emotional literacy, recognising when they need help, managing stress and anxiety, and knowing where to access support.

Students show some of the largest gains across the programme, with increases of over +1.7 in help-seeking confidence in Year 7.

This ensures that all students feel safe and supported from the outset.

Autumn 2 – Relationships and Sex Education (RSE)

Students develop their understanding of consent, boundaries, healthy relationships and recognising risk, including coercion and exploitation.

Students show consistent improvements of +1.0 to +1.5, particularly in recognising unsafe situations and knowing how to seek help.

This demonstrates clear safeguarding impact, with students becoming more confident in identifying and responding to risk.

Spring 1 – Living in the Wider World

Students begin to apply safeguarding knowledge to real-life contexts, including careers, financial decision-making, digital responsibility and understanding consequences.

Students show strong gains of +1.1 to +1.4, particularly in future planning, financial literacy and digital safety.

This ensures students are developing the skills needed to navigate the wider world safely and responsibly.

Spring 2 – Health and Wellbeing

Wellbeing is revisited with greater depth, reinforcing earlier learning and supporting students at a key point in the year.

Students demonstrate strong gains of +1.2 to +1.6, particularly in managing stress, applying coping strategies and accessing support independently.

This ensures students can apply strategies in real contexts, particularly during periods of increased pressure.

Summer 1 – Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) (Revisited)

Students revisit relationships with greater maturity, exploring more complex scenarios around consent, identity, equality and respectful behaviour.

Students demonstrate increasing ability to apply knowledge to real-life situations, with older students showing more nuanced understanding and reduced overconfidence — a positive safeguarding outcome.

Summer 2 – Living in the Wider World

Students consolidate their learning and prepare for transition, focusing on independence, decision-making, financial responsibility and future pathways.

By the end of the year, students demonstrate a secure and realistic understanding of adult life, particularly in managing risk and making informed choices.

Measuring Impact and Responding to Need

We use a range of evidence to evaluate and refine the programme, including:

• student voice and feedback
• entry and exit quizzes
• safeguarding and behaviour data
• reporting patterns
• tutor and parent feedback

This impact is evidenced through the use of entry and exit quizzes, which demonstrate clear improvements in students’ knowledge, confidence and understanding across all Personal Development strands, while enabling us to identify gaps, refine curriculum content and target support effectively, ensuring the programme remains responsive to students’ needs.

Across all year groups, students move from lower baseline confidence to secure, applied understanding, particularly in key safeguarding areas such as help-seeking, recognising risk and managing relationships.

What This Means for Our Students

By the end of Year 11, students are able to:

• recognise risk and respond appropriately
• manage their wellbeing and emotions
• understand consent, relationships and boundaries
• navigate online spaces safely
• make informed decisions about their future
• seek help confidently when needed

Most importantly, students can clearly explain how Personal Development helps to keep them safe, which is a key indicator of success.

Impact Across Years 7–11

Across the five-year programme, students progress from developing awareness to applying knowledge in real-life situations, resulting in:

• increased confidence and resilience
• stronger relationships and respect for others
• improved safeguarding awareness and behaviour
• a clear understanding of how to stay safe

As a result, students leave Thornden as confident, informed and responsible young people, fully prepared to navigate the challenges and opportunities of the wider world.

Personal Development at Thornden is not an additional element of safeguarding — it is the curriculum through which safeguarding is taught, understood and lived.