Life Ready

At Dickens Heath, we are committed to preparing pupils effectively for the next stage of their education and for life in modern Britain. Our approach to developing ‘life ready’ skills is underpinned by our strong whole-school culture, values and curriculum, and reflects our clear intent to develop pupils’ character, confidence and resilience alongside academic learning.

The promotion of British Values and pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is embedded across the curriculum, behaviour expectations and wider school life. Pupils are taught to show respect and tolerance, take responsibility for their actions and contribute positively to their community.

Through our personal development provision, we explicitly teach social skills, emotional literacy, resilience and self-esteem. These are reinforced through consistent routines, high expectations for behaviour and purposeful learning experiences.

Our DHREACH drivers and character traits clearly identify the essential skills we want pupils to acquire. This ensures that by the time pupils transition to secondary school, they are well prepared, confident learners with the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to succeed. Our approach is aligned with the Careers and Enterprise Company framework and Life Ready Solihull.

An overview of the Life Ready skills can be seen below: