Why Personal Development Matters Under the New Framework
The renewed Ofsted framework places significantly greater emphasis on pupil wellbeing, emotional safety and personal development, recognising these as foundations for effective learning. Inspectors now expect schools to demonstrate how the curriculum — and the wider school experience — actively develops pupils’ character, resilience, confidence, independence, inclusion and readiness for life.
Schools cannot achieve a judgement of Expected Standard, Strong or Exceptional in Personal Development unless they show clear, sustained impact on pupils’ wellbeing, confidence, resilience and understanding of themselves as learners. The framework aligns with Ofsted’s new Belong – Achieve – Thrive inspection lens.
What Inspectors look for in Personal Development
Ofsted now considers how well the school:
- Extends the curriculum beyond academics to develop the whole child
- Builds character, confidence and resilience
- Promotes equality of opportunity and inclusion
- Develops responsible, respectful and active citizens
- Supports learners’ mental health and emotional wellbeing
- Prepares pupils for future education, employment and life
- The ability to keep going when learning is challenging, manage emotions, work independently, problem‑solve and handle setbacks is now central to how inspectors judge Personal Development.
About This INSET
This training explores how schools can explicitly teach and embed the learning behaviours that foster resilience, confidence, independence, metacognition and self‑regulation. These behaviours not only improve wellbeing and mental health but also significantly raise academic outcomes.
Ofsted Personal Development : the Research
In the UK the EEF have identified effective learning behaviours in their guidance reports on improving behaviour, metacognition and self-regulated learning and special educational needs in mainstream schools .
Development of these behaviours is fundamental for students to develop an awareness of the way they learn and establish forward-facing attitudes to learning, critical if they are to be able to become lifelong learners.
Some commonly identified behaviours that are particularly important for ensuring students are prepared to thrive in their futures include:
- Resilience & Perseverance
- Self-motivation and Confidence
- Metacognition (thinking about thinking)
- Independence & Problem-solving
Drawing on research from the EEF, global studies on metacognition, and Ofsted’s revised expectations, this INSET equips staff with practical strategies that can be implemented immediately in any phase or setting.
“To flourish in this turbulent and tricky world, a strong, agile, curious mind is an essential.”
Guy Claxton, Powering Up Children: The Learning Power Approach to Primary Teaching
INSET Outline
Cultivating Resilience & Perseverance
- Understanding resilience as a core element of thriving under the new Ofsted model
- How to build emotional safety: helping pupils face setbacks constructively
- Designing opportunities for safe struggle and productive failure
- Supporting pupils against a backdrop of rising anxiety and online pressures
Developing Independent, Confident Problem‑Solvers
- Teaching independence explicitly through modelling, scaffolding and gradual release
- Practical strategies for classroom problem‑solving
- Using thinking taxonomies to deepen reasoning and self‑direction
- Encouraging curiosity, autonomy and intellectual bravery
Self‑Regulation: The Engine of Personal Development
- Understanding how pupils can take charge of their learning
- Evidence‑informed strategies for self‑monitoring, planning and evaluation
- Classroom routines that nurture focus, persistence and ownership
- Linking self-regulation to mental health, reduced stress and improved behaviour
Coaching Self‑Motivation and Confidence
- The psychology of motivation in children and young people
- Ten practical strategies to build self‑motivation
- Strength-based approaches for developing confidence and self-awareness
- Addressing low self-esteem and learned helplessness
Developing Metacognitive Skills
- Turning pupils into metacognitive thinkers
- Five powerful ways to promote metacognitive awareness across subjects
- Teaching pupils to reflect on their approaches, choices and progress
- Ensuring metacognition supports both academic learning and personal growth
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Linking Personal Development to Whole‑School Culture
- How inclusion, representation and belonging contribute to confidence and resilience
- Aligning personal development with behaviour, attendance and wellbeing systems
- Ensuring staff model the behaviours and dispositions pupils need
- Monitoring and evidencing personal development for Ofsted
Outcomes of this INSET
By the end of this training, staff will:
- Understand what Ofsted expects under the new Personal Development judgement
- Know how to build resilience, confidence and independence across the curriculum
- Have practical tools to teach learning behaviours and emotional regulation
- Be able to embed personal development into daily classroom practice
- Support pupils to belong, achieve and thrive in line with the 2025/26 framework [gov.uk]
📧 Email us at enquiries@jmcinset.com
You may also be interested in our INSET courses on Metacognition – click here
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