What is the most effective way of teaching personal development skills and positive attitudes towards others?

According to a survey conducted by MTa Pass in September this year over 75% of secondary schools in the UK run team and interpersonal development skills courses and positive attitudes towards others.

The respondents however also revealed that there is a great divergence between schools as to which part of the curriculum is used to develop these skills.  The most common area is PSHE and PSHCE, but with other areas include mentor and tutorial groups, enterprise and business studies, drama and sports lessons.

Most schools that responded to MTa’s questionnaire answered that they had either developed their own materials or had no specific materials for this type of work, just devising items for each lesson.

There is of course a lot to be said for developing one’s own resources in schools, but having a set of resources that draw on ideas and experiences from many sources and have been tested in other schools can add to the variety of the lessons. An external approach might also reach some pupils who are not fully engaged by the school’s current materials.

Consequently the ideas and content of MTa Pass for schools came from a wide range of sources inside and outside the UK. It is a collection of resources which develop team and interpersonal skills and develop positive attitudes towards and a respect for others.

Of course having developed these materials we tried and tested them thoroughly to make sure they lived up to our high expectations.  Here’s some recent feedback from a school that used MTa Pass earlier this year:

I would just like to say that I used the MTa Pass Learning equipment for the very first time yesterday with a group of year 9 students in Birmingham. The results were AMAZING!! Thank you so much for producing such a fantastic resource.

I asked some of the students to write their thoughts about the course and this is what they put:

“It was excellent, I really enjoyed it, I very much liked it”

“It was good, I enjoyed the team work. I want the course to build up my confidence”

“It was fun and interesting”

“It showed me how to change your life even at the most hardest of times.”

“It was a good experience and gave me more confidence. I liked the activities”

“I thought it was really good and can’t wait till next session”

You can find out more about MTa PASS in the following sections on our website or by calling 01937 844800.