GROWTH Enrichment

Our GROWTH values are integral in everything that we do at Hollywell Primary School and these values are the driver for our GROWTH Enrichment personal development curriculum.

Growing

Resilience

Open-Minded

Wonder

Teamwork

Happiness

GROWTH Enrichment is an important personal development strand that is interwoven within the current curriculum at Hollywell Primary School. It is based on developing growth mindsets, so it is named the GROWTH project. It aims to  challenge our children by taking risks, learning new skills and to step outside their comfort zones in a fun practical environment. Building resilience is crucial during GROWTH and in ensuring that our children are lifelong learners and have a positive mental health and well-being. Children will be helped to develop their growth-mindset through learning new skills and  believing that with hard work and determination, anything can be achieved.

GROWTH enrichment is a golden thread which runs through our school. We have developed this bespoke programme over a number a years and are very proud of what it brings to the children at Hollywell. During a child's time at Hollywell they will experience a range of activities as part of GROWTH. These will include:

• Forest Schools
• Learning to play instruments
• Healthy Cooking
• Orienteering
• Growing, harvesting and cooking their own food
• Chance to make a community film
• Sewing
• Range of sports, such as: fencing, archery, bocha, boxercise, curling
• Disability Sports, such as: wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, wheelchair archery
• Ice skating
• Chance to make produce and run a community fundraising event
• Emergency first aid

It is extremely important to us that our curriculum inspires and unlocks potential in all of children and allows them to flourish. Developing the whole child is of upmost importance and, with this in mind, we offer a broad and balanced curriculum which is interwoven with GROWTH enrichment.

Rationale and Early Development

GROWTH was initially started in 2017 as a result of staff analysis of the cultural capital within the school. It was felt that at time the pupils in Hollywell had a broad and balanced curriculum but there were aspects of personal development that our pupils needed more exposure to. Therefore, we made the decision to amend our timetable and dedicate 2hrs per week in KS2 over two terms to activities that promoted these strands of personal development. These were categorised under the GROWTH acronym and became the focus of the activities:

                                                            IMAGINATION

                                                                   RESILIENCE

                                                                 VOICE

                                                          TEAMWORK                                  

                                                           CREATIVITY

                                                   LOGICAL THINKING 

Within the early stages of the Growth Enrichment project, KS2 activities involved such things as forest schools, junior first aid, healthy cooking, ice skating, drumming and the fiver challenge. The initial two years of this project demonstrated that the personal development of our pupils was considerably improved, and in lessons it was noted that the key personal characteristics that Growth Enrichment sought to develop were now evident to a greater degree within our KS2 pupils.

Growth Grows!

Growth was quickly becoming a key element of the KS2 curriculum and a highlight within the working week for the pupils within school. The next stage was then to include this aspect of personal development within the KS1 and Early Years curriculum so that exposure to these potentially life changing personal characteristics wasn’t limited to KS2. 

In 2020, it was introduced into the curriculum for KS1 and EYFS throughout the summer term. The success of this meant that the following academic year in 2021,  Growth Enrichment became a whole school personal development strand of the Hollywell curriculum.     

In 2019-20 the whole curriculum was reviewed and a new curriculum was introduced. This gave birth to our curriculum driver INSPIRATION which underpinned what is at the core of our curriculum design. This meant that there was now an even clearer direction for our GROWTH Enrichment strand and resulted in some changes to the way that each block of learning would be decided upon and how GROWTH would be structured and organised from this point onwards.

Initially our GROWTH values were redefined to be in line with our whole school values, our curriculum driver and expected pupil outcomes:

                                                                         Growing

                                                                         Resilience 

                                                                         Open Mindedness

                                                                         Wonder

                                                                         Teamwork

                                                                         Happiness

Following this in 2022, GROWTH Enrichment was refined. Extensive staff training and support was put in place to develop a clear progression of knowledge and skills that each activity undertaken involves, to ensure that GROWTH is integral to and interwoven throughout our bespoke curriculum.

Finally, the activities of GROWTH Enrichment were categorised into 4 developing strands that build upon each other throughout the GROWTH Enrichment progression framework.

Current GROWTH Enrichment

In 2022/24 GROWTH Enrichment has been established for a 2-year cycle.

GROWTH Enrichment starts in EYFS and develops through 4 strands of personal development learning that continue through the curriculum into Y6:

1. The Great Outdoors
2. A Sporting Difference
3. Healthy Body and Mind
4. Community Action

In EYFS GROWTH Enrichment is done throughout the first 5 terms of the year and the class is split into two groups of 15 who complete weekly alternative blocks of forest school activities.

• In Y1 & 2 pupils are split into 4 groups for the duration of the 2-year cycle and complete 1 of the 4 GROWTH activities over two yearly 5-week blocks.
• In Y3 & 4 pupils are split into 4 groups for the duration of the 2-year cycle and complete 1 of the 4 GROWTH activities over two yearly 8-week blocks.
• In Y5 & 6 pupils are split into 4 groups for the duration of the 2-year cycle and complete 1 of the 4 GROWTH activities over two yearly 8-week blocks.

GROWTH Dates and Details

2022-23 Dates

GROWTH KS1 Activities 2022-23

GROWTH Lower KS2 Activities 2022-23

GROWTH Upper KS2 Activities 2022-23