Personal Development

ASDAN’s flagship Personal Development Programmes (PDP) has been used by centres for more than 20 years and is aimed at learners aged 11-16.

Pupils work both individually and collaboratively across a range of topics that includes:

Communication

My community

Sport and leisure

Independent Living

My environment

Number handling

Health and wellbeing

World of work

Science and technology

The wider world

Expressive arts

Beliefs and values

While pitched at a flat level of difficulty the students' efforts are rewarded with either a bronze, silver or gold award based upon the number of modules completed.

Redeveloped for 2021, ASDAN's Personal Development Programmes (PDP: Bronze, Silver and Gold) offer imaginative ways of developing, recording and certificating a wide range of young people’s personal qualities, abilities and achievements, as well as introducing them to new activities and challenges. All the programmes link to nationally recognised qualifications.

The new Personal Development Programmes (PDP) include:

• an increased focus on mental health through extra wellbeing-focused challenges in our new ‘Health and wellbeing' module

• improved measurement and demonstration of learners’ progress through a new skills self assessment and self-reflection tool

The Personal Development Programmes (PDP) feature 12 modules. Each learner must work from their own student book and compile a portfolio of evidence to show what they have done.

Students gain 1 or 2 credits for each section completed, with each credit representing about 10 hours of activity.

Six credits are needed to achieve Bronze, 12 credits for Silver and 18 credits for Gold.

Students are required to plan and review their work at key points, explaining how they have developed their skills in six areas: Ability to learn; Teamwork; Problem solving, IT skills; Literacy; and Numeracy. There are Skills Sheets to guide them.