How much time does Personal Development really take your staff?
Not just teaching it.
Planning it. Finding resources. Checking guidance. Mapping progression. Preparing activities. Adapting lessons. Filling gaps. Evidencing outcomes.
A few hours here and there might not sound significant.
But multiply those hours across different teachers, year groups and an entire academic year and suddenly the cost of Personal Development looks very different.
Teacher Time Has a Value
When schools think about the cost of a curriculum solution, understandably the first thing they look at is the price.
But there's another cost that's much harder to see.
Staff time.
If teachers are regularly searching for resources, creating lessons, checking whether content is appropriate, mapping learning against expectations and producing their own supporting documents, that time has a value too.
And more importantly, it's time teachers could be spending elsewhere.
So perhaps when evaluating your current Personal Development provision, the question shouldn't simply be:
“How much does it cost?”
It should also be:
“How much time does it cost?”
Personal Development Has Become a Big Job
PSHE and Personal Development can look deceptively simple from the outside.
But schools are bringing together a wide range of areas, including PSHE, RSHE, SMSC, British Values, mental health and protected characteristics.
Alongside that comes:
- Curriculum planning
- Skills and knowledge progression
- Lesson preparation
- Assessment
- Evidence of outcomes
- Safeguarding considerations
- Adapting learning for different pupils
- Responding to changes in guidance
Suddenly, what looked like one curriculum area has created quite a long to-do list.
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Finding a Resource Isn't the Same as Having a Solution
There is certainly no shortage of PSHE resources available.
A quick search can produce thousands.
But finding a worksheet, video or lesson online is only the beginning.
Someone still needs to decide:
- Is it age appropriate?
- Is it accurate?
- Where does it fit within our curriculum?
- What learning came before it?
- What comes next?
- Which knowledge and skills is it developing?
- Does it meet our wider Personal Development expectations?
That takes time.
And when different teachers are sourcing their own materials, schools can also end up with a collection of disconnected resources rather than one progressive approach.
What If the Personal Development Planning Had Already Been Done?
This is where the right Personal Development solution can make a significant difference.
At 1decision, our provision has been curated by experts to take much of that work away from schools.
Teachers have access to a complete curriculum with lesson plans, engaging videos and resources, knowledge organisers, curriculum mapping, skills and knowledge progression, assessment and supporting documentation.
Instead of starting with a blank page, teachers start with the foundations already in place.
But that doesn't mean losing flexibility.
Schools can still adapt and personalise delivery to reflect their pupils, community and individual needs.
Ready-made shouldn't mean rigid.
It should mean teachers have a strong starting point without having to reinvent the wheel.
What Happens When Personal Development Expectations Change?
There's another hidden drain on staff time: keeping up.
Guidance changes. Expectations develop. New priorities emerge.
Then someone within the school has to work out what has changed and whether the curriculum needs to change with it.
With 1decision, that's part of our job too.
We continually review our provision and make updates in response to changes affecting Personal Development, helping schools remain current without repeatedly rebuilding their curriculum.
Give Teachers Their Time Back
Teachers will always need to know their pupils, make professional judgements and adapt learning.
No scheme should try to replace that.
But should teachers really be spending hours creating resources and mapping provision when that work could already have been done for them?
The right solution should allow teachers to focus their expertise where it has the greatest impact: on the children in front of them.
So when you're evaluating the true cost of your current Personal Development provision, don't just look at the invoice.
Look at the hours too.
Because the right solution shouldn't add another job to your team's list.
It should take jobs off it.
Explore the 1decision Personal Development Curriculum
See how 1decision can help reduce Personal Development planning time with a complete curriculum, ready-to-use resources, progression, assessment and supporting documentation.
