Vision & Values

Our Vision

'Together we are Learning for Life!'

“So let’s choose for ourselves what is right. Let’s learn together what is good.”

( Job 34:4)

‘You show love for others by truly helping them, and not by merely talking about it.’

(1 John 3. 18 CEV)

Everything we do in school is underpinned by our school ethos, vision and our four core Christian values: Love, Integrity, Forgiveness and Equality (LIFE). We explicitly plan opportunities to develop children's understanding of what these mean. We aim for our children to be able to reflect on these values and apply them to different situations and dilemmas, so developing their own reference points or ‘moral compass’ and a strong understanding of right and wrong that will guide them through life.

We put our vision into practice through our Curriculum design and provision.

Our knowledge -engaged, enquiry curriculum is rooted in the unique opportunities offered by our local community & expertise, local issues, and the historical and geographical context of our locality. They have opportunities to look beyond themselves, ask ‘big questions’ and think globally about life and develop an understanding of disadvantage, deprivation and the exploitation of the natural world. Our curriculum not only aims to provide children with the skills that they need now, but also the ability to be flexible, resourceful, reflective and resilient, helping them to adapt and problem solve as they grow up in an ever changing world.

Our School Vision:

A school which has children and learning at the heart of everything we do
A school which develops a strong sense of what ‘community’ means, where children are encouraged to use their skills to serve others and enrich the communities to which they belong. ‘You show love for others by truly helping them, and not by merely talking about it.’ (1 John 3. 18 CEV)
A school where moral, social, spiritual, and cultural development underpins academic achievement and children develop their own moral compass and a strong understanding of right and wrong to guide them through life.“So let’s choose for ourselves what is right. Let’s learn together what is good’. Job 34:4
A school which offers inspirational learning opportunities which build skills for life
A school which has an inclusive, bold and courageous curriculum which provides a range of enjoyable opportunities in which to participate and excel, within and beyond the school day
A school culture that enthuses and empowers everyone to extend and enjoy their own learning
A listening school where children and adults know their views are important, respected and acted upon
A school with a warm, positive environment where we value effort, recognise success and celebrate achievements at all levels
A school which develops a sense of team where all feel valued and respected

Our Core Christian Values

The person you are is an expression of your core values. They determine how you think and what you do. They shape your purpose and determine your vision. They establish your character. In fact, they are extremely important to who you are.

As a Christian School Community, we believe that the ethos of our school should be build on a foundation of core Christian Values. The staff, children and governors have agreed the following four core values that we feel support our school motto which is ‘To prepare children for life’:

Love

Integrity

Forgiveness, and

Equality

which will be promoted in school.

These core values will help us sustain an ethos which supports our aim for children to live happy, safe, healthy and fulfilling lives, to become confident individuals and responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society.

We hope that our core values will help children understand that there are some central beliefs that people hold, and learn to fall back on these when making choices and decisions using these core values as an important guiding tool.

Our school badge, an image of a cross roads, shows our values pointing the ‘way’ to the cross in the centre, symbolic of Jesus and his teachings. This image helps children to see these elements as the foundations of their ‘moral compass’.

Our children believe that our school values are an important part of our school life and that they have a positive influence on what they think, feel and the choices they make. These quotes are taken from interviews with our children asking them to reflect on how learning about our values has affected them.

As a Church of England School, we undergo additional regular inspections by the Diocese. Our last inspection in May 2015, graded our school as 'outstanding'.

The inspector reported that:

'The pupils are extremely happy and feel very safe at the school within a strong Christian ethos. Both parents and pupils express their trust and confidence in their teachers, especially with regard to their academic progress, Christian teaching and pastoral care. It is clearly evident throughout the school community that there is a unique bonding of co-operative responsibility for each other, the local church and community'.

He also found that:

'The school’s strong ethos helps to nurture the children so they feel valued as individuals and a valuable part of the Christian family. This is based upon their well defined Christian values and school logo. The logo is based on the image of a four directional compass whereby the core Christian values are promoted as being the ‘four marks’ of the school community – a ‘Moral Compass’'.

Our latest Church School Inspection (SIAMS)

Four Marks SIAMS Inspection Report 2015

Our Learning Values

Our Learning Values

Promoting British Values

In 2011, the Government defined British Values as democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. We promote these values through our vision statement, curriculum, enrichment activities and our own school values (Love, Integrity, Forgiveness, and Equality).

Our Vision: 'Learning for Life!'

Value

How We Promote This

Democracy

Links to school values:

Integrity

Equality

UN CRC Article 12: Children have the right to say what they think should happen, when adults are making decisions that affect them, and to have their opinions taken into account.

We have an elected School Council. This is used as an opportunity to teach about democracy and the electoral process.
We encourage leadership in school, at all levels. Our older children have the opportunity to take on whole school leadership roles which include Sports, Arts and House Captains, Prefects, Peer Mentors, Librarians and others. They write letters of application for these roles and are interviewed.
Democracy is promoted through PSHE lessons, collective worship themes, P4C and Let’s Think lessons.
Children are involved in whole school policy decisions, for example voting for our school values (over a term), making decisions about our ‘Levels of Behaviour’ and the rewards and sanctions in school; creation of our Behaviour Policy.
Each week, our children nominate others who have demonstrated one of our school values. The whole class then votes on who should be awarded a certificate.
Children are regularly involved in local competitions run by different members of our local community. This includes putting forward ideas for the names of new roads in our village which the district council voted on.
Our Collective Worship themes explore ideas of democracy and how people have significantly influenced changes in society. (e.g. Suffragettes).

The rule of law

Links to school values:

Love (incorporating respect)

Integrity

Forgiveness

UN CRC Article 19: Governments should ensure that children are properly cared for, and protect them from violence, abuse and neglect by their parents, or anyone else who looks after them.

We have high expectations about pupil conduct and this is reflected in our Behaviour Policy. Our Behaviour Policy is clearly linked to our School Values. There are rewards for exhibiting good and caring behaviour and consistent demonstration of our values is recognised through Celebration Assemblies and our Good to be Green scheme. Equally, there are clear and agreed sanctions for breaches in our behaviour policy outlined in our ‘Levels of Behaviour’ chart (agreed with the children), and also implemented through our Good to be Green scheme.
Each year classes agree their own ‘class charter’ which outlines the class’ expectations of each other.
Through our school assemblies, circle time, P4C lessons, Let’s Think lessons and PSHE, children are taught how to earn trust and respect and are supported to develop a strong sense of morality; knowing right from wrong and doing the right thing even when it is difficult.
The local police officer/ PCSO visits the school regularly, to talk to the children and explain about their role in society.
Our curriculum exploits opportunities to explore origins of law and how this has evolved over time, for example through our Viking unit and the origin of ‘Dane Law’ which was brought to England and influenced early law making.
In Key Stage 2 the local magistrates work with our children each year, learning about the rule of law and how this protects you.
We work closely with our families (SENCO and Inclusion Manager) to help improve outcomes for children, including supporting families through difficult times, and working on strategies to improve welfare (e.g. attendance).

Individual Liberty

Links to school values:

Love

Equality

UN CRC Article 31: All children have the right to relax and play, and to join in a wide range of activities.

UN CRC Article 15: Children have the right to meet together and join groups and organisations, as long as this does not stop other people from enjoying their rights.

Through our school values and the PSHE program, children are taught about personal responsibility, choices, ambition and aspiration. They are encouraged to take opportunities to follow their interests in art, music, sport, engineering etc.
Children are taught how to keep themselves safe, including e-safety. This is done through computing lessons, assemblies and outside organisations such as the NSPCC, as well as through the PSHE curriculum
The school has specific focussed weeks which address aspects of Individual Liberty, for example, our annual Anti- Bullying week, and our Equalities week.
Our programme of Collective Worship focusses on individuals who have played a significant part in challenging injustice and inequality. (E.g. William Wilberforce; Nelson Mandela; the Suffragettes; Martin Luther-King).
Our curriculum also exploits opportunities to explore liberty and the context of this in different periods, for example through our Victorian unit and the impact of industrialisation on the working classes, and how individual liberty and freedom affected different parts of society in our study of the Greeks and Egyptians. Our unit on ‘The Final Frontier’ also explores issues around gender equality, for example considering whether Ernest Shackleton’s original advert would still be acceptable today.

Mutual Respect

Links to school values:

Love

Equality

Integrity

UN CRC Article 2: The Convention applies to everyone whatever their race, religion, abilities, whatever they think or say and whatever type of family they come from.

UN CRC Article 30: Children have a right to learn and use the language and customs of their families, whether these are shared by the majority of people in the country or not.

We have high expectations about pupil conduct and this is reflected in our Behaviour Policy and our Single Equality Policy.
Through our school’s values, PSHE, P4C and Let’s Think lessons children are taught to respect each other, and differing ideas and opinions. Children are taught to be co-operative and collaborative, to be supportive of each other and to look for similarities while being understanding of differences.
Our Peer Mentors teach our younger children to play co-operatively with each other, and help children to resolve conflicts amicably.
The school has specific focussed weeks which address aspects of mutual respect, for example, our Equalities week, children learnt about stereotyping, and the value of Fair Trade in this context.
Our Young Interpreters help children new to our school to feel welcome, and promote the understanding that diversity helps to enrich our community.
Mutual respect is also promoted through our programme of collective worship.

Tolerance of different faiths and beliefs

Links to school values:

Love

Equality

UN CRC Article 14: Children have the right to think and believe what they want, and to practise their religion, as long as they are not stopping other people from enjoying their rights. Parents should guide their children on these matters.

We have high expectations about pupil conduct and this is reflected in our Behaviour Policy.
We deal firmly with any instances of bullying behaviour, including the use of racist or homophobic language.
Our annual Anti-Bullying Week highlights the effects of intolerance and the impact of this on people’s lives.
Tolerance of different faiths and beliefs is promoted through the Hampshire County Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education- Living Difference. Children learn about different religions, their beliefs, places of worship and festivals. The children’s work on this subject is often displayed around the classrooms, on the school website or around the school.
This is supplemented by collective worship, which highlights the importance of Love and Respect for all.
Different faiths, traditions and beliefs are explored and compared through our curriculum units e.g. Egyptians, The Mayan Civilisation
Visits to the school are made by local religious leaders, and children have the opportunity to visit places of worship from both the Anglican tradition, and those of other faiths.