Personal Development
"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."
(George Bernard Shaw).
Link to Unifrog
Some call it 'Personal Development', Others call it 'Character Education'. At Gumley House, developing the 'personal and academic' is the bedrock what we do!
Whatever you prefer to think of it as, it will be absolutely clear from our Vision and Values that these things are at the very heart of what we do at Gumley House School FCJ – how we think about education and what our underlying priorities are. These important documents explicitly reference qualities such as the 'unique giftedness of every person' becoming: ‘their best self’. Similarly, they emphasise the importance of taking part in extra-curricular activities and developing leadership skills. The value we attach to this kind of agenda was what drove our application to, and our success in being accredited by, the World Class Schools organisation.
We also aim to provide routine opportunities to develop leadership skills, which include qualities such as showing empathy and listening to different perspectives just as much as those such as having the confidence to speak in front of an audience and to lead projects.
This is not an ‘add on’… developing young people to 'live life in all it's fullness' is fundamental to our view of a great school and is absolutely tied up with the desire to see young people succeed academically. For example, qualities such as determination, empathy, resilience and reflectiveness can all be demonstrated and developed via robust academic study. It is also far more likely that students leave as independent lifelong learners if they are successful at school to begin with.
Getting these things right significantly improves the chances of students growing up with a greater sense of well-being, stability and motivation. Research suggests, for example, that young people who develop good coping skills in the face of setbacks, who have the ability to exercise good self-control and who can appreciate the importance of long-term commitments are more likely to go on to live successful and fulfilled lives.