1. Personal Development and Mutual Understanding
Revised Curriculum
Stage 5
Year 5
Personal Development and Mutual Understanding
Welcome teachers to this first of three days professional development on the Revised Curriculum.
Today’s focus is on Personal Development and Mutual Understanding and we hope you have been able to access some of the background reading material and found that a useful preparation for today.
Note to facilitators: The background reading was
The Personal Development and Mutual Understanding section of the CCEA DVD ‘The Revised NI Curriculum - Planning for Implementation
The Personal Development and Mutual Understanding section of the CCEA document The Revised NI Primary Curriculum KS1 and 2
Their school Pastoral Care policy
The introduction to Primary Values
PDMU and Irish-Medium Education
Irish-medium education is based on an immersion model of education. This occurs when children are immersed in, and educated through, a language which is not the language of the home. The majority of children attending Irish-medium schools come from homes where English is the dominant language. There are also a number of children who come from homes where Irish is the dominant language. The most significant challenge for the practitioner and the learner is the implication of reduced exposure to the immersion language. The classroom teachers are the main source of sustained exposure for the pupils to this target language. Teachers practise a sustained use of Irish in all activities and maintain a high level of verbal interaction with pupils. They aim to create and maintain a language-rich environment.
PDMU
Personal Development and Mutual Understanding in Irish-medium Education focuses on raising pupils' self-esteem as individuals who belong to a broad Irish language community, locally, nationally and internationally and recognising, valuing and being proud of their considerable bilingual competences and having a deeper understanding and appreciation of Irish cultural heritage. Teachers need to be aware that opportunities for language reinforcement beyond the classroom are much more restricted than they would be in the English-medium context. The style of teaching must place a greater focus on the child's acquisition of language associated with PDMU through the medium of Irish. Pupils should be constantly afforded sustained opportunities to offer extended responses and explanations during PDMU activities, to indicate their development and acquisition of concepts and skills associated with PDMU as well as their confidence in using language associated with PDMU through the medium of Irish. (Reference John McCorry).

2. Implementation of Revised Primary Curriculum
Stage 1 Leading Learning – School Leaders’ Conferences (Jan - March 2006)
Stage 2 School-based development – post leadership conference activities (April - June 2006)
Stage 3 The Learning Environment – consideration of the implementation of the Revised Curriculum and Assessment Arrangements (Aug – Nov 2006)
Stage 4 School Self-Evaluation and Development Planning (Nov 2006 onwards)
Stage 5 Whole school and year group staff development (Jan 2007 onwards)
The first stage was earlier last year in the Spring term when Principals and SMT members attended the Leading Learning Conference. This was designed to introduce them to the rationale for and main features of the Revised Curriculum and outline the timetable for its introduction over a three year period.
The second stage was embarked upon back in school between the conclusion of the Leading Learning conferences and the end of the third term last year. During this period, those who attended the Leading Learning Conferences disseminated the key messages to the rest of the staff.
Stage 3 of the Implementation Process took place with whole staff groups and explored in more detail the framework for the Revised Curriculum and some of the newer elements within it.
Throughout this school year your school will have been embarking on self evaluation relating to learning and teaching and focussing on an element of the Revised Curriculum such as Assessment for Learning, Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities or Personal Development and Mutual Understanding. That process of self evaluation will remain a feature of whole school development. We hope that your engagement with that process back in school will be useful and that you will bring your experiences to the discussions today. Many schools have also been involved in pilot work which has paved the way for the revised curriculum e.g., the enriched curriculum, the literacy and numeracy strategies. Teachers should build on this existing good practice.
This P5 staff training day on Personal Development and Mutual Understanding is the beginning of Stage 5 and will be followed by two further days, one focussing on Assessment for Learning and another on Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities.

3. Course Objectives
To make explicit links between Personal Development and Mutual Understanding and other areas of the Revised Curriculum
To discuss the characteristics of a supportive learning environment in relation to Personal Development and Mutual Understanding
To increase awareness of Personal Development and Mutual Understanding, its constituent strands and issues relating to good practice
To raise awareness of potential resources for Personal Development and Mutual Understanding
It is important to emphasise that this is an introduction to Personal Development and Mutual Understanding. There is no expectation that you will go back to school and write a scheme for Personal Development and Mutual Understanding. All your colleagues in school will need to have attended their Stage 5 training before that can happen.
Briefly enlarge on each of the objectives as follows:
It is important that Personal Development and Mutual Understanding reflects and links with the main emphases of Revised Curriculum such as Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities and AfL
Your attention has already been drawn to the importance of the learning environment during Stages 3 and 4 and today we will be reiterating the features of the learning environment, particularly in relation to Personal Development and Mutual Understanding.
Personal Development and Mutual Understanding is a new Learning Area , comprising 2 strands and 9 statutory elements. We will come to that later. Many of these elements are already being delivered through activities and projects in a range of subjects, as well as being supported by school policies such as Pastoral Care, Positive Behaviour etc.
The ELBs and CCEA together with primary schools across the whole area have worked to produce a helpful framework programme for Personal Development and Mutual Understanding and you will have an opportunity to sample that today as well being made aware of other locally available resources. At this point make reference to the resources on display and the booklet giving all the details of these resources and the sample activities that we will do today. (This booklet should be given out at the end of session 3).

4. Programme
9.30am Personal Development and Mutual Understanding in the Revised Curriculum: An Overview
10.30am Coffee
11.15am Personal Development and Mutual Understanding Strand 1 ‘Personal Understanding and Health’
12.30pm Lunch
2.00pm Personal Development and Mutual Understanding Strand 2 ‘Mutual Understanding in the Local and Global Community’
2.45pm Review and Looking Ahead
3.30pm Plenary and Evaluation
Session 1 re-establishes the links between Personal Development and Mutual Understanding and the main emphases of the Revised Curriculum.
Sessions 2 and 3 will give you an opportunity to explore the strands in more detail through a number of practical activities and discussion of whole school issues.
Session 4 will look at what you as a teacher need to do next
liaising with your colleagues
disseminating the main learning from today
Considering what you need to do for yourself and your class in preparing for the implementation of Personal Development and Mutual Understanding from September 07.
We will also ask you to carry out a short Personal Development and Mutual Understanding activity with your class and identify how it links with Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities. This will form the starting point for Day 2 on Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities.

5. Session 1 Personal Development and Mutual Understanding
in the Revised Curriculum
Making links with the Main Emphases of the Revised Curriculum
In this session we will make connections between Personal Development and Mutual Understanding and all the main emphases of the Revised Curriculum.

6. and Mutual Understanding
Personal Development
and Mutual Understanding
Activity 1:
Snowballing and
Thinking map
But before we go any further today we are going to ask you to pair with another person for this first activity. We hope today will be as participatory as possible and model some approaches to learning and teaching We want the two of you to recall as much as you can about the structure and content of Personal Development and Mutual Understanding. Think back to your Stage 3 training or the background reading!!
When the two of you have had a chance to remember as much as possible we will join two pairs together to pool your knowledge. This activity is called ‘snowballing’.

7. P. D. M. U.
To help you (and you might not think this is much help!!) we are giving you a ‘brace map’ to record your thoughts .
There are TWO strands and NINE themes within Personal Development and Mutual Understanding – Don’t worry too much about the EXACT wording of these - but put down any words or phrases that come to mind.
Now you and your partner have three minutes and then the group of four has a further two minutes. We will keep time for you.

8. P. D. M. U. Self-______ and self-_________ __________ and Emotions
_________ _______ strategies
Health, _______, Growth and ___________
Friendships and ____________
Human _______ and ________________
Causes of ________ and responses
___________ diversity
___________ and ___________
Strand One: P_______ U___________ and H_______ P. D. M. U.
Strand Two: M______
U___________ in the L_____ and W______ C___________

9. P. D. M. U. Self-esteem and self-confidence Feelings and Emotions
Effective learning strategies
Health, Safety, Growth and Well-being
Friendships and relationships
Human rights and responsibilities
Causes of conflict and responses
Cultural diversity
Community and environment
Strand One: Personal Understanding and Health P. D. M. U.
So how did you get on?
Show the completed brace diagram. This slide is not included in the teachers’ handout as it would have given the answers to the previous activity. However the A3 copies of the CCEA document will serve as a record instead of the slide.
Give out A4 copies of the CCEA KS1 (P3/4) and KS2 (P5-7) curriculum outline of the Personal Development and Mutual Understanding learning area (refer again to the background reading as some will have already looked at these). Draw attention to the statutory statements of minimum requirement at the top of the CCEA download (A3 handout), which comprise the Learning Area.
Important points to emphasise are:
The two strands of Personal Development and Mutual Understanding are complimentary but each has a distinct focus – Strand One focuses on the child, developing self awareness, self confidence and positive attitudes and dispositions, while Strand Two focuses on the child’s relationships with his/her local and wider community
Many of the themes overlap e.g. feelings and emotions will form an important part of the work carried out on friendships and relationships or similarities and difference and cultural diversity
The statutory statements can be explored through topics which connect learning e.g. people who help us would include health and safety, relationships and responsibilities. This approach has been exemplified in the Revised Curriculum document and CCEA have also combined themes in their Living Learning Together support material for Personal Development and Mutual Understanding.
These statutory statements are developed across the whole of Key Stage 2, so it will be a matter for each school to map out a programme that ensures that all of these are addressed and there is progression across the Key Stage and between Key Stages.
Strand Two: Mutual Understanding in the Local and Wider Community

10. from Ian Smith ‘Learning Unlimited’
protective
classroom
motivating
classroom
value
humid
sunny
control
empower
cold
Lets begin by reminding ourselves of the Stage 3 training day when we explored the importance of a supportive learning environment and this is particularly relevant where we are asking children to engage in Personal Development and Mutual Understanding. Your school may have been looking at how to develop that further since then.
Here is one model that may be helpful to focus our thinking and practice.
Ian Smith looks at the learning environment by asking the question ‘What is the weather like in your classroom?’ It’s very unlikely that your classroom has only one type of weather. There would be times when we’ve experienced all four types of classroom weather. And perhaps all in the one day!! Talk through each of the quadrants giving a brief description e.g.
In the protective classroom the pupils and their work are both valued, but there is a lot of teacher direction and control. This may lead to dependency on the teacher, stifling independence and creativity.
In the destructive classroom children and their efforts are not valued and there is high control and dependency. There isn’t a warm relationship between the teacher and pupils. Bad behaviour and poor ‘results’ are often highlighted and punished.
In the insecure classroom the teacher is giving the pupils freedom to learn and is developing their skills. However progress in learning is not meeting the teacher’s or the pupils’ expectations, perhaps because of dissatisfaction with the outcomes or the process.
In the motivating classroom both the teacher and pupils are more satisfied. The pupils are given the tools to learn effectively, relationships are warm and everyone’s work and progress is valued.
Obviously no one classroom ever totally fits into one quadrant – there are times when the boundaries between the four classrooms shift. (leads to next slide)
stormy
insecure
classroom
destructive
classroom
reject
from Ian Smith ‘Learning Unlimited’

11. value empower control reject The motivating classroom
The protective classroom
Focus on the conditions within the school and classroom that promote Personal Development and Mutual Understanding.
E.g. Security, Trust and Respect
A culture that values curiosity, creativity and enquiry
empower
control
The destructive classroom
This slide shows how focussing on particular elements of the learning environment can help to shift the boundaries so that the motivating classroom becomes the dominant feature. The CCEA DVD talks about conditions in the classroom that promote Personal Development and Mutual Understanding – such as security, respect, trust and a culture that values curiosity, creativity and enquiry. Many teachers already do this by working with pupils on classroom charters or classroom contracts or by raising such issues in Circle Time or in assemblies.
It’s important to spend some time considering this in preparing for Personal Development and Mutual Understanding in your class and school.
The
insecure
classroom
reject

12. The Learning Environment
Personal Reflection
What are the implications for the learning environment in our school and in my classroom?
Encourage teachers to take just a minute to make any notes or personal reflections in relation to the learning environment in their classroom or school.

13. Thinking, Problem Solving Personal Capabilities
Being Creative
Thinking, Problem Solving
Decision Making
Thinking Skills
Managing Information
&
So far in this first section we have been REVIEWING, REVISING and DEVELOPING some of the key concepts about PDMU that we started in the Stage 3 August days. We have largely focused on the 3 strands (PDMU, AfL and TS&PC) separately. We now find ourselves needing to do two key things; moving from a ‘big picture’ to what this looks and feels like in a P5 classroom, and instead of separating, we need to begin to integrate them all into a connected whole. We want to help teachers to synthesise this into a connected approach that is holistic.
Qn. So how do you think that PDMU and TS & PC fit together? (get feedback)
Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities
In addition to the learning environment, the Revised Curriculum emphasises the importance of the development of Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities. This framework, which I’m sure you’re becoming familiar with, guides the development of skills and capabilities throughout Primary and Post Primary.
The facilitator should remind the group of some of the key characteristics/messages of the framework e.g.
Skills and Capabilities are tools for learning and need to be made explicit for pupils
Many of the strands overlap and are interrelated - boundaries of the strands are fuzzy and blurred. Certain skills will cluster
The TS &PC create positive habits and dispositions for learning. Primary school is the key time for children to develop the key default processes they will use automatically for the rest of their lives.
They promote greater independence by giving pupils the tools for learning
They enable pupils to make connections, transfer and apply their learning across a range of contexts.
It is important to understand that we are moving away from being ‘issues based’ in PDMU, e.g. obesity, healthy eating, drugs, RSE etc. What is most important is that pupils develop a repertoire of helpful and healthy responses, which they can easily transfer to the various contexts which the issues raise. So we still deal with the issues, but they have become the context for the application of transferable skills
As a P5 teacher, I want the children who come into my class at the start of the year to be a better person, more able to deal with life a little better than when they came in. PDMU is about developing people, so when they are faced with the challenges life brings, they have a repertoire of responses, an effective internal capacity which enables them to be resilient and manage life.
Personal Capabilities
Self Management
Working with Others

14. Thinking, Problem Solving, Decision Making
Examine evidence, distinguish fact from opinion in relation to drugs
Discuss options, weigh up the pros and cons of a decision or action
Make links between cause and effect of actions with regard to lifestyle choices
Being Creative
Managing Information
Plan and set personal goals for behaviour or learning
Use own and others’ ideas when class is preparing an assembly on an issue
Learn from and build on others’ experiences peers, parents and visitors to the school.
Use all the senses to stimulate and contribute to ideas e.g. food tasting
Here we see a few examples of how the Thinking Skills and Capabilities can be infused into Personal Development and Mutual Understanding. Briefly pick out a few bullet points that you as facilitator would be familiar with and elaborate.
For Example
Self-Management:- This is the process of learning how to manage our impulses and internal processes. Particularly key in this is emotional intelligence. Learning how to manage strong feelings in a constructive way.
Being Creative:- One of the key dispositions we want to help develop is an openness to new experiences in children. We want them, within good boundaries of effective risk-assessment, to have a go. This could be things like new tastes in food. We need to learn to help children deal with failure creatively, so that they can learn to fail successfully. They need to learn that in order to succeed, they often need to double their failure rate!
Thinking, Problem-solving and decision-making:- We want to empower children to realise that they always have a variety of options, and to explore these and understand cause and effect. Remember that people don’t often change with a ‘don’t!’ or negative message. They hardly change with a factual information message. They change best when they are inspired through their imagination.
Working with others:- Looking at the real joys and difficulties of relating with others. We want to help children fight with others in a healthy and constructive rather than destructive way.
Managing Information:- We need to help children to discern, and be able to sort out fact from fiction around a whole range of health issues. We want to create a healthy discomfort within them. Without discomfort you won’t change! In PDMU we use this discomfort to create a tension within, that facilitates the pull towards personal development.
Self Management
Manage strong feelings
Promote calm and optimistic states that promote the achievement of goals & facilitate learning
Persist with tasks, recover from setbacks
Working With Others
Make and sustain friendships
Deal with and resolve conflict fairly and effectively
Agreeing roles and responsibilities

15. Self esteem and self confidence Feelings and emotions
Personal Development and Assessment for learning Mutual Understanding focuses on: focuses on:
Self esteem and self confidence
Feelings and emotions
Attitudes to learning
Cooperation, communication and dealing with conflict
Responsibilities
Building an open relationship between the teacher and learner
Sharing learning intentions and agreeing success criteria
Teacher advice on how to improve
Peer and self evaluation and assessment
Celebrating success
Qn. So how do Assessment for Learning and PDMU fit together?
The facilitator should remind teachers of the key elements of Assessment for Learning. Make the link that AfL strategies in any area of learning contribute to pupils’ Personal Development and Mutual Understanding. Some examples could include:-
Self esteem and self confidence: This will be improved as pupils make progress in learning. One of the key building blocks of self-esteem is competence. If I am regularly achieving tangible success criteria then I am developing in my self-confidence and esteem.
Feelings and emotions: Pupils will experience positive emotions arising from celebrating success but also will need to learn how to deal with negative emotions such as disappointment. When giving feedback to another pupil they will need to understand the impact of words on others’ feelings and emotions, and learn how to be sensitive. Through looking at two stars and a wish, they are learning to deal with limitations and even failure, and then to set goals, creating a tension that facilitates personal development and creates a thirst for learning.
Attitudes to learning: They will develop more positive attitudes to learning through setting and achieving personal goals, giving and receiving feedback. It is important to remember that learning is not just academic. It is about learning from every situation I find myself in, in life. I truly become a life-long learner.
Cooperation, communication and avoiding/dealing with conflict: This is very important in any group activity when pupils are learning collaboratively or when involved in peer evaluation and assessment.
Responsibilities: One of the responsibilities that pupils will learn about is that they are responsible for improvements in their own learning. Key in PDMU is creating this sense of personal responsibility, fostering hopes and dreams, which create these internal tensions and desires to become, enabling authentic independent learners.

16. The Northern Ireland Curriculum aims to empower young people
to achieve their potential
and to make informed and responsible decisions throughout their lives.
Curriculum Objectives
Now let’s move on and remind ourselves of the aim and objectives of the revised Northern Ireland Curriculum – taken from the Big Picture.
Personal Development and Mutual Understanding as a learning area, is an important contributor to the aim and objectives of the curriculum. Of course all aspects of school life and all the learning areas contribute the curriculum aim and objectives….but effective Personal Development and Mutual Understanding at both a whole school level and within individual classrooms will ensure that schools meet the needs of pupils as outlined in the curriculum objectives.
In the past schools have focused on similar areas through work in Pastoral Care, Positive Behaviour, school ethos, EMU, Health Education, Health Promoting Schools and Ecoschools to name a few. Now we are making those elements of good practice more explicit and linking them together in a statutory framework. Personal Development and Mutual Understanding builds on this existing good practice in schools.
TO DEVELOP THE YOUNG PERSON
AS AN INDIVIDUAL
TO DEVELOP THE YOUNG PERSON AS A CONTRIBUTOR TO SOCIETY
TO DEVELOP THE YOUNG PERSON AS A CONTRIBUTOR TO THE ECONOMY & ENVIRONMENT

17. Activity 2:
Look at the curriculum objective on your flip chart sheet. How can Personal Development and Mutual Understanding in the widest sense contribute to this objective?
CONSIDER: Skills, Knowledge, Dispositions and Attitudes
This activity has been adapted from Activity 1 , Unit 2 of the Cross Phase materials on Personal Development and Mutual Understanding. You will need A3 ‘body outlines’ stuck on to flip chart sheets with a curriculum objective written on each flip chart sheet. The teachers should work in groups of 6 approximately. The number of flip chart sheets required will depend on the number of teachers attending the training e.g. 36 teachers would need TWO sets of body outlines/curriculum objectives. The whole activity should take no more than 20mins.
Ask the teachers to consider how Personal Development and Mutual Understanding in the widest sense could contribute to the delivery of the three curriculum objectives. It may be helpful to think of a specific P5 pupil. What skills, knowledge, dispositions and attitudes would you anticipate will be fostered throughout the pupil’s P5 year as they engage in Personal Development and Mutual Understanding both within the P5 classroom and in the wider school,
Each group then moves on to the other two sheets and adds any additional comments.
The facilitator should move around the groups and prompt if necessary. A reference page of examples is included for the facilitator.
Take brief feedback from each group.

18. Integrated approach to Personal Development and Mutual Understanding
School Ethos
Curriculum aim and objectives
Learning environment TS
& PC
AfL
Personal
Understanding
& Health
Mutual
In the Local
& Global
Community
PDMU
Summing up: In this session we hope that you have seen the connections between Personal Development and Mutual Understanding and the other main emphases of the Revised Curriculum – Assessment for Learning, Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities and a supportive learning environment. It is crucial in terms of classroom practice that these are all linked in order that we meet the curriculum aim and objectives.
So how does a P5 child experience PDMU in your school? Lets consider it from the child radiating out to the big picture, rather than how we usually do it the other way around. (Click the mouse for each point below).
In PDMU the child is at the centre. PDMU is a child centred discipline, not curriculum centred.
The child experiences a discrete element of their week in PDMU in one or both of the two strands that make it up; Self concept and awareness and an ever widening circle of others around them in their life.
The wider classroom elements are adding and facilitating their development
A supportive learning environment, good weather conditions facilitated by the teacher.
Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities.
Assessment for Learning.
The whole school ethos is complementing and reinforcing what they are experiencing in their P5 classroom with you. This is helping to achieve the revised curriculum aims and objectives.
And so as it comes together, we are becoming more effective in helping children realise more of their potential, becoming as fully functioning as they are able, empowered to do life better, because you are their teacher and they are in your school!

19. Personalizing the learning
Key learning points
Teachers should use the response sheet in the file to record key messages from this session and any points for action that are relevant for themselves or their school.

20. Coffee
break

21. and Mutual Understanding Strand One: Personal Understanding
Session 2
Personal Development
and Mutual Understanding
Strand One: Personal Understanding
and Health
In session 2 we will look at some practical classroom activities. We will also end the session by thinking about some important whole school issues associated with this Strand.

22. P. D. M. U. Self-esteem and self-confidence Feelings and Emotions
Effective learning strategies
Health, Safety, Growth and Well-being
Friendships and relationships
Human rights and responsibilities
Causes of conflict and responses
Cultural diversity
Community and environment
Strand One: Personal Understanding and Health P. D. M. U.
These examples of learning would fit in Feelings and Emotions and Health Growth and Safety themes, two of the statutory statements of minimum entitlement in Strand One.
Strand Two: Mutual Understanding in the Local and Wider Community

23. Living Learning Together
PDMU resource:
Living Learning Together
The following activity is taken from the CCEA Living Learning Together resource. The resource is available today/will be available shortly. It provides a practical framework which links PDMU with TS&PC, AfL and other Areas of Learning and will enable schools to eventually have a progressive programme for pupils.
Note to facilitators: This slide shows the cover of one of the P1 booklets, as a copy of a P5 booklet was not available at the time the PowerPoint was produced.
The activity we have chosen from the resource is called a ‘feelings tree’ and is used to understand a character in a story or oneself. (If the actual resource is available show a copy but do not distribute copies at this point)
We are using a particular story today (‘The Huge Bag of Worries’ by Virginia Ironside) for this activity. However you could use any story or make up scenarios that are relevant to the pupils.

24. Activity 3: The Feelings Tree from ‘Living Learning Together’
Sample Activity for Strand One
Activity 3: The Feelings Tree
from ‘Living Learning Together’
Learning Intentions:
We will begin to understand what causes us to feel and act the way we do.
We will use information to make predictions
In this activity, children focus on the feelings and emotions of another, the character in a fictional story (you could use a real character in history or modern day). This is a good building block to facilitating the children talking about their own feelings and emotions.
Facilitators read the story and pause just as Jenny meets the old lady at page...
Each group completes a blank A3 feeling tree. (see overleaf)
Roots = What caused Jenny’s worries?
Trunk = Jenny’s feelings associated with attempting to deal with these worries
Branches and leaves = Jenny’s potential actions at the point at which the story ‘stops’
Take brief feedback from the group about their opinions and ideas as recorded on the feelings tree.
The story is then completed and you should then move on to the next slide.

25. Here is one teacher’s feedback on the activity after she used it in her P5 class…
Teacher’s Learning Intentions
Express empathy linked to various worries, suggesting appropriate feelings that would arise.
Suggest various plausible solutions to each scenario.
Participate in class discussions contributing own personal experiences, versions of the worries from the cards.
Contribute to role-play of bullying scenario, demonstrating thought/knowledge of how each character would act / react in the given situation.
Evaluation
Book was a great stimulus to raise discussion and get children addressing various worries - some children opened up immediately informing us of their worries.
A child with particular problems appeared to gain coping mechanisms and confidence to overcome a worry she had – talked out about it.
Led to establishing and realising importance of social skills and the need for various nominated roles and rules in order to establish effective team / collaborative work.
This provided basic role play structure but due to work covered, children were able to be creative and change role play dimensions to suit their own version of the scenario.
Common worry was a school bully, but the discussion encouraged empathy for both victim and bully.
I used this opportunity to address worries I was personally aware of some children silently having and coping with – great forum to do so.

26. Sample Activity for Strand One Activity 4: The Smoking Card Game
Learning intentions:
We will evaluate information and select appropriately
We will reach agreement as a group
Pupils can learn facts about smoking in many ways. This group activity has been chosen so that they will
Listen to each other’s ideas, judgements and opinions.
Evaluate the reliability, accuracy and credibility of each contribution.
Come to a group decision based on this process.
Teachers should work in groups of 4-6 for this activity. Each group should have 1 set of cards and 1 pupil reference sheet.
The cards should be evenly distributed among the group. Start with any card. Read out the statement and make a group decision about whether the statement is True or False. Read which card to go to next. If the answers chosen by the group are all correct the cards will all be used and form a circle. If there has been an error the game cannot be completed and the group should identify where the error may have been made, adjust their answers by consulting with the Fact Sheet and continue until the game is completed successfully.
Note to facilitators:
Drugs education has been a statutory part of the NI curriculum since The Department of Education Circular 2004/9 recommends that smoking, alcohol and other legal substances are addressed in Key Stage 2.

27. Feedback What other learning areas could this activity work in?
What ‘Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities’ would be developed / made explicit?
These are suggested questions for groups to discuss about these two activities . As facilitator you should ask each of the groups to discuss one activity only, and 1 or 2 of the bulleted questions above.
Take brief feedback.

28. Strand One: Personal Understanding and Health: Whole School Support
In relation to Strand One there are many ways in which Personal Development and Mutual Understanding can be supported throughout the school. These will vary from school to school in relation to the needs of the pupils, and from area to area arising from local opportunities and partnerships.
Improving the outdoor environment – in this case the school is building willow structures as part of their links with the Health Trust’s Care in the Sun campaign – in conjunction with Conservation Volunteers.
The Heartstart programme - Whole school Emergency Life Support training pupils, staff and parents
Encouraging physical activity and active learning through playground games and dance,
Healthy Breaks
These are just some ways in which the whole school can be supportive to Strand One of Personal Development and Mutual Understanding. It would be useful for you to talk about this with your Principal and colleagues when you are back in school.

29. Strand One Personal Understanding and Health: Partnerships for Health
Activity 5
Another important area for schools to consider is that of developing meaningful partnerships both within and beyond the school setting. We are going to do this through a practical demonstration, with your help.
Demonstration using long skipping rope and ‘influences’ cards.
This demonstrates how building good working partnerships can support the taught Personal Development and Mutual Understanding programme in Strand One.
Facilitator asks for a volunteer to represent the school. This person holds the centre of the rope. One end of the rope represents the positive impact partnerships can have within the school. The other side represents the negative impact that ineffective or no partnerships can have.
The 8 influences cards are given out one by one in the order as numbered on each card. (see overleaf)
One by one 7 teachers are asked to come up, take a card from those numbered 1-7 and stand on the appropriate side of the child, guided by the facilitator. These people tug gently on the rope, to indicate influences. Finally card number 8 (support of canteen staff) is given to the teacher with card number 7 (school has no healthy breaks policy) and this teacher now ‘changes sides’ so that there is a stronger pull on one side.
Schools need to develop ‘healthy ‘ partnerships so that Personal development and Mutual Understand is more effective and meaningful.
This methodology could be adapted for use with pupils, at any time they are looking at influences on their decisions. E.g., whether or not they should tell about a bullying incident.

30. Strand One: Personal Understanding and Health - Handling Sensitive Issues
Potential sensitive issues (alcohol and smoking, food choices, styles of parenting, caring for a baby, personal safety etc)
Be aware of school policies e.g. RSE, Drugs, Child Protection
Always preview materials to ensure they are suitable (including visitors’ materials)
Involve colleagues and parents
Strand One does touch on issues that are reflected in lifestyles and patterns of behaviour in the home. There is a need for both teacher and pupil sensitivity so that children and their families do not feel they are being judged or pupils feel unduly frightened about parents’ or older siblings’ behaviour e.g. in relation to smoking. Teachers are NOT expected nor should they attempt to influence parents’ attitudes and behaviour through their children.
Teachers need to adhere to any relevant school policies before embarking on contentious areas. Discussion with colleagues is crucial and parents need to be informed during curriculum meetings of the content of the programme. This would apply particularly to Relationships and Sexuality Education, Drugs Education and Child Protection related work on personal safety. In time some school policies may need to be updated to reflect the content and approaches of the Personal Development and Mutual Understanding learning area.
Teachers should always preview materials that they or others will be using. This is particularly important in relation to the kind of topics mentioned above. It would also include websites. Use of language may also need to be clarified in advance, especially when visitors are the presenters. Schools may need to set in place more opportunities for feedback from colleagues, children and parents when introducing new topics such as these
It is always advisable to consult with colleagues and parents before embarking on a course of action that may be contentious e.g. when introducing a healthy breaks policy it is good practice to work with parents and gain their support before the scheme is ‘launched’ upon the school community. This would also apply to non teaching colleagues such as School Meals staff in this example.

31. Personalising the Learning from Strand One
‘Have a go!’
Encourage teachers to reflect and choose 2 things that that they would like to DO as a result of what they have learnt during this session. These could be:-
To try a sample activity from this session
To adapt and try out a sample activity from this session
To talk to colleagues about whole school support for PD & MU
To check out some school policies

32. Lunch

33. Session 3 Personal Development and Mutual Understanding
Strand Two: Mutual Understanding in the Local and Wider Community
In this session after lunch we will ask you to take on the role of peer instructors, teaching each other the activities in small groups of 8 approximately.
There are a number of reasons for us doing this
You are more likely to stay awake after lunch!!
Communicating a concept to another person requires you to ‘understand’ the activity at a higher order and you will be more likely to remember it.
Finally this role of peer teacher is one you may have to take on back in school to some degree or other as you pass on the learning from today.

34. P. D. M. U. Self-esteem and self-confidence Feelings and Emotions
Effective learning strategies
Health, Safety, Growth and Well-being
Friendships and relationships
Human rights and responsibilities
Causes of conflict and responses
Cultural diversity
Community and environment
Strand One: Personal Understanding and Health P. D. M. U.
These examples of learning would fit in Feelings and Emotions and Health Growth and Safety themes, two of the statutory statements of minimum entitlement in Strand One.
Strand Two: Mutual Understanding in the Local and Wider Community

35. Strand Two Activities – Peer Learning Activity 6
From Living Learning Together Blue Unit ‘Two things About Me’
and
Save the Children Fund ‘What is bullying?’
So here is how this session will work:-
Each group of 8 (approx) is given copies of the TWO activities – the anti-bullying statements and the ‘Two things about me’ game.
Half of the group learns what the anti-bullying activity is about WHILE AT THE SAME TIME the other half learns about the Two things about me game.
They have 10 minutes to really acquaint themselves with the activity they have been given, how it works, how they will explain it to their colleagues and who will act as the class teacher in explaining the game to the whole group of 8.
After 10 minutes the two halves come together into a group of 8 again.
Firstly the ‘teacher’ from the anti – bullying group should explain the activity to the group of 8 WHO WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE ROLE OF PUPILS.
Then the ‘teacher’ from the ‘game’ group should explain the activity to the group of 8 WHO WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE ROLE OF PUPILS.
Divide up into groups and ensure each group has copies of each activity and any materials needed e.g. cards/pieces of paper for the game

36. Group Task Write two learning intentions for one of the activities.
We are learning to…
The facilitator should divide up the two questions according to the time available and the nature of the groups.

37. Strand 2: Mutual Understanding In The Local & Wider Community Whole School Support
We looked at whole school support for Personal Development and Mutual Understanding in Strand One. The difference between something being alright and being great, is often because of attention to detail. As a P5 teacher I want my children to have a great experience through PDMU. So how can I ‘add value’ to my pupils experience? Lets consider some examples.
Within Strand Two whole school support may take on different forms such as
An effective positive behaviour policy – in this case the class charters are based on rights and responsibilities
A well coordinated programme of Circle Time throughout the school at both Key Stages. CCEA have produced a glossary of methodologies with about 60 different activities, of which circle time is just one.
A school council with class councils:- These help create empowerment, corporate responsibility, a sense of belonging, it lays the foundations for democracy, active participation and social justice, etc.
Other examples of whole school support would be Eco-schools, links with other schools through Comenius and the Schools Community Relations Programme or links with the community e.g. through charities or voluntary groups.
We want to challenge and encourage you to work hard to add value and diversity to your children’s PDMU experience in your class and school.

38. Strand Two Mutual Understanding in the Local and Global community
Partnerships Audit
In the session before lunch we looked at the importance of good working partnerships in and beyond the school to support Personal Development and Mutual Understanding. This audit, (based on together Towards Improvement Pg 29), takes that one step further by asking schools to look at the range and effectiveness of partnerships. You could do this as a whole school activity or just for yourself as a class teacher.
Distribute the audit and briefly go through it. Give each table/group a few minutes to discuss it – would it be helpful as a whole school activity or would they do it solely as a class teacher?

39. Strand Two Mutual Understanding in the Local and Global Community: Handling sensitive issues
Potential sensitive issues (family structures and relationships, sectarianism, racism, etc)
Be aware of school policies e.g. positive behaviour, anti-bullying, Pastoral Care etc.
Always preview materials to ensure they are suitable (including visitors’ materials)
Involve colleagues and parents
Just as in Strand One sensitivity is required when certain issues arise. In Strand Two these issues may be somewhat different. We must avoid two extremes which we are often good at in Northern Ireland; one is that we think an issue is too sensitive so it is better not to talk about it at all. We need to understand that our silence actually says a lot and it creates isolation and disempowered children. The other extreme is equally unhelpful; let’s tell them everything! We tell them in detail things that are unable to emotionally carry and it is developmentally inappropriate. We need not be paralysed by fear, but we do need wisdom to work through some difficult issues. Talk through the various examples raising issues such as:
Family relationships, roles and structures may arise in topics to do with Relationships or Family or even Feelings and Emotions. Any topic which touches on these needs handled sensitively. Other topics such as relationships in the community may uncover attitudes and language which may be sectarian or racist. While it is important for pupils to be able to speak out their views in an open way the teacher also needs to set in place boundaries so that all pupils feel secure when such issues arise
A number of school polices have relevance for Strand Two, particularly the school’s Behaviour , Anti – Bullying and Pastoral Care policies. Schools should keep in mind that the DENI Circular 2003/13 REQUIREMENT that schools/Boards of Governors should consult with pupils about the principles and practical measures used to encourage good behaviour and prevent bullying provides an excellent opportunity for PDMU in practice.
The last two points repeat the same advice as was given during the session on Strand One
Teachers should always preview materials that they or others will be using. This is particularly important in relation to the kind of topics mentioned above. It would also include websites. Use of language may also need to be clarified in advance, especially when visitors are the presenters. Schools may need to set in place more opportunities for feedback from colleagues, children and parents when introducing new topics such as these
It is always advisable to consult with colleagues and parents before embarking on a course of action that may be contentious e.g. when reviewing a behaviour policy it is good practice to work with parents and gain their support before the scheme is ‘launched’ upon the school community. This would also apply to non-teaching colleagues such as supervisory staff in this example.

40. Personalising the Learning from Strand Two
‘Have a go!’
Encourage teachers to reflect and choose 2 things that that they would like to DO as a result of what they have learnt during this session. These could be:-
To try a sample activity from this session
To adapt and try out a sample activity from this session
To talk to colleagues about whole school support for PD & MU
To check out some school policies
To consider how they will handle some of the sensitive issues arising in Strand 2

41. Review and Looking Ahead
Session 4
Review and Looking Ahead

42. Next Steps In the next 2-4 weeks By the end of this school year
By the end of next year
In this final session teachers need to review the day and begin to make plans as to how to take back the learning to school.
Encourage them to break this down into short term, medium term and long term objectives. At each stage they need to think about a balance of
talking to and working with others in school (Principal, P1 colleague(s), other teachers),
time for themselves to read, look at resources, try out lessons and plan and
contributing to any whole school development on PDMU, should their school be focussing on this or the audit of learning and teaching.
There is a sheet in each teacher’s file to help record these ideas/plans.
Explain that one of their short term objectives is to choose ONE of the four activities demonstrated today (Feelings tree, Smoking game, Anti-bullying statements and Two things about me game), try it out with their class and REFLECT on which TS&PC were most relevant. (Copies of all the activities are available on the resource display.) They should also refer to the detailed TS&PC slide in their file. This reflection will form the starting point for the TS&PC INSET on Day 2.
Allow time for teachers in pairs to discuss their Next Steps.
Clarify any questions they may have at this stage.

43. Course Objectives
To make explicit links between Personal Development and Mutual Understanding and other areas of the Revised Curriculum
To discuss the characteristics of a supportive learning environment in relation to Personal Development and Mutual Understanding
To increase awareness of Personal Development and Mutual Understanding, its constituent strands and issues relating to good practice
To raise awareness of potential resources for Personal Development and Mutual Understanding
Briefly review the objectives and complete the evaluation sheet.