Character

Curriculum Overview - Character

At Salmons Brook School, Character Education is a core part of our curriculum offer at Key Stages 3 and 4. It is taught explicitly each week to all students, supporting them to develop the personal, social, and emotional skills they need to thrive both in and beyond school. Our Character curriculum integrates PSHE, RSE, statutory safeguarding education, and our CREATE values—Community, Relationships, Enrichment, Aspirations, Trust, and Education—into a coherent and sequenced programme. Designed for students with EHCPs and SEMH needs, the curriculum ensures that every learner has the opportunity to explore their identity, understand others, build resilience, and prepare for adulthood in a safe and structured environment. 

Intent 

Our Character curriculum is designed to: 

  • Provide students with the knowledge, vocabulary and strategies to understand themselves and manage their emotions and relationships effectively. 

  • Promote students’ spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development through exposure to real-life themes and moral dilemmas. 

  • Equip students with the skills and understanding required to navigate a complex modern world—particularly in areas such as mental health, online safety, consent, and peer pressure. 

  • Prepare students for adulthood and independent living through coverage of relationships, rights and responsibilities, financial literacy, and careers. 

  • Reinforce Salmons Brook’s CREATE values and build character traits including fairness, kindness, teamwork, commitment, honesty and curiosity. 

Implementation 

Character is delivered through a timetabled weekly lesson across KS3 and KS4. Each half-term is themed around a CREATE value and a linked character trait. Lessons are carefully sequenced and mapped to statutory PSHE and RSE outcomes. 

KS3 Curriculum 

The KS3 programme introduces and explores: 

  • Healthy relationships, empathy, and fairness 

  • Bullying, peer pressure and managing social media 

  • Physical and emotional health 

  • Careers awareness and aspirations 

  • Personal safety, consent, and safe choices 

  • World beliefs, diversity, and respect 

Themes are explored through real-life scenarios, discussions, structured writing, role play, and reflection tasks. Lessons are differentiated and supported by visuals, sentence starters, and resources tailored for learners with SEMH needs. 

KS4 Curriculum 

The KS4 programme builds on KS3 and includes: 

  • Preparing for life after school: employment, further education, and independent living 

  • Mental health and managing stress 

  • Healthy intimate relationships and family dynamics 

  • Rights, responsibilities, extremism and protected characteristics 

  • Careers education, finance and budgeting 

  • Citizenship themes: democracy, justice, and inclusion 

Students complete written and practical tasks, engage in debates and reflective activities, and link learning to real-world contexts such as work experience or enterprise projects. Sessions are aligned with the Gatsby Benchmarks for careers and the statutory RSE curriculum. 

Whole-School Approach 

  • Character education is reinforced across the curriculum and pastoral system. 

  • Key themes are revisited in assemblies, form time activities, and enrichment days. 

  • Class LSAs help record evidence for EHCP outcomes linked to social and emotional development. 

  • CREATE values are embedded in rewards, displays and whole-school behaviour expectations. 

Impact 

Through Character Education at Salmons Brook: 

  • Students develop self-awareness, emotional literacy and improved regulation skills. 

  • Students demonstrate better peer relationships, improved communication, and increased empathy. 

  • Students are more confident in discussing sensitive issues and making informed decisions. 

  • Students understand their rights and responsibilities and can articulate their views respectfully. 

  • All students are better prepared for adult life, equipped with the character, resilience, and values to contribute positively to society. 

Impact is measured through engagement in lessons, contributions to discussions, quality of student work, and progress towards EHCP social and emotional outcomes. Student voice, pastoral feedback and behaviour logs are used to track development, with successes celebrated through awards, displays, and CREATE value nominations. 

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