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Personal Development
Personal development at Chertsey High School is a core part of the curriculum, not an addition to it. The school is committed to developing students who are academically prepared, personally resilient, and socially responsible. Every student across all five year groups receive structured provision in PSHE, Relationships and Sex Education, Careers Education, and Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development. This provision is delivered through the daily tutor programme and dedicated curriculum time, ensuring that personal development is consistent, progressive, and connected to the life of the school.
PSHE and Relationships and Sex Education
PSHE and Relationships and Sex Education are delivered across all year groups through the school's tutor programme, supplemented by drop-down days and external speakers. The curriculum covers health and wellbeing, relationships, identity, online safety, financial education, and citizenship. Provision is sequenced to reflect students' developmental stages and is reviewed annually to ensure it remains relevant and meets statutory requirements.
RSE at Chertsey High School is taught within a framework of respect, inclusion, and age-appropriateness. Parents and carers are informed of the content delivered each year and are given the opportunity to raise questions or concerns directly with the school.
Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development
SMSC development is woven throughout the curriculum and the wider life of the school. Students explore diverse perspectives, develop their moral reasoning, and are given regular opportunities to reflect on their place in local, national, and global communities. The school's Global 10 programme contributes directly to SMSC development by embedding international awareness and ethical inquiry across all subjects. Assemblies, tutor time, and enrichment activities all provide structured opportunities for students to develop spiritually, morally, socially, and culturally throughout their time at Chertsey High School.
Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance
Chertsey High School provides a structured, progressive careers education programme that meets all eight of the Gatsby Benchmarks for good careers guidance. Careers education begins in Year 7 and builds systematically through each year group, ensuring every student develops a growing understanding of the world of work, the full range of pathways available to them, and the skills and attributes employers and further education providers seek.
The school works in partnership with employers, universities, further education colleges, and training providers to give students direct experience of the opportunities available beyond school. Employer encounters, careers fairs, work experience, and visits to workplaces and higher education institutions are all embedded within the programme. The school's careers adviser provides one-to-one guidance to students, with a particular focus on students in Years 10 and 11 as they prepare to make post-16 choices.
The school sets a clear expectation that every student leave Chertsey High School with a confirmed post-16 destination and the confidence to pursue it. The tutor programme reinforces careers education throughout each school year, ensuring that students are regularly exposed to aspirational role models and given structured time to reflect on their own ambitions and next steps.
British Values
The promotion of British Values is embedded across the curriculum and the wider school community. Students develop their understanding of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs through their subject lessons, PSHE provision, and the democratic structures of the school, including the Student Council and House system. The school's commitment to these values is visible in the daily life of Chertsey High School and underpins the culture of respect and belonging the school works to maintain.
