Values and Ethos
Our aim is to bring the best out of every pupil that attends Elm CofE Primary School.
‘Nurturing hearts, inspiring minds…’
Our vision in education at Elm C of E School is to enable the children, young people and community we serve to flourish with Jesus’ promise ‘Life in all its fullness’ at its heart. This fullness involves developing the whole child, academically, physically, socially, spiritually, morally, culturally, and artistically. And using these skills not just for our own benefit but to be champions for justice. Essentially, global education for a fair and sustainable world. Our curriculum is the means by which we engender this development and ensure that our children receive their fair share of the rich cultural inheritance our nation and our world affords.
Our core values are like golden threads that run throughout our curriculum. They are, Community, Compassion, and Courage. They align with the Church of England's vision is for the common good of the whole community.
Our intention is that through this marriage of Christian values and cultural capital, children are suitably equipped to make sense of the increasingly globalized, complex and rapidly changing world in which they live. That they leave Elm C of E being able to think critically about world issues and to develop an awareness of the impact their own actions can have on others. Our young people are growing up in a world that is flooded with information, opinions, ‘alternative’ facts and ‘fake’ news. It is, therefore, essential that our learners have access to an education, evidenced in information and ‘real’ news that enables them to engage with, consider and understand global issues.
Our vision is mapped into a curriculum that builds on the foundation of coverage of the National Curriculum and is designed to challenge, engage and motivate with the ultimate goal that our learners progress academically and become successful, confident individuals, who make a positive contribution to the community and society - both now and in the future. Our curriculum is bespoke to our school and is devised according to the needs of our children, families and local priorities.
At Elm, we want our children to become Global Learners; to be aware of the wider world and its current issues and to understand and respect cultural diversity and differences. To do this, we aim to provide our children with an understanding of how the world works and encourage participation in the community at a range of levels, from the local to the global. We teach our children to make the world a more sustainable place and to take responsibility for their actions. We do this by providing learning linked to the Global Development Goals, Young Enterprise and British Values though resources such as Votes for Schools.
By building a strong partnership between home and school, we are able to work together to prepare the children to meet the challenges and opportunities that the future holds.
Our Modern British Values
Promoting British Values at Elm C of E Primary School
Elm C of E Primary School is committed to serving its community and surrounding areas. We recognise the multi-cultural, multi-faith nature of the United Kingdom and understand the crucial role our school plays in promoting these values.
We encourage admissions from all those entitled to education under British law regardless of faith, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, political or financial status. We are a school for all.
This statement outlines the key British values we actively promote:
The Department for Education state that there is a need “to create and enforce a clear and rigorous expectation on all schools to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs”
The government set out its definition of British values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy and these values were reiterated by the Prime Minister in 2014. At Elm C of E Primary School these values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways.
These values are taught explicitly through Personal, Social, Health and Emotional (PSHE), and Religious Education (RE). We also teach British Values through planning and delivering a broad and balanced curriculum.
The school takes opportunities to actively promote British Values through our assemblies, Collective Worship and whole school systems and structures such as electing and running a successful School Council. We also actively promote the British Values through ensuring our curriculum planning and delivery includes real opportunities for exploring these values. Actively promoting British Values also means challenging pupils, staff or parents expressing opinions contrary to fundamental British Values, including ‘extremist’ views.
At Elm C of E Primary School we uphold and teach pupils about the British Values which are defined as:
- Democracy
- Rule of Law
- Individual Liberty
- Mutual Respect
- Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs
Democracy
Democracy is an important value at our school. Pupils have the opportunity to have their voices heard through our School Council, class discussions and Pupil Questionnaires. The elections of members of the School Council are based on pupil votes. The children have an agreed a set of values which we at Elm C of E Primary School actively work and learn by. Our behaviour system is displayed in each class classroom and is actively used to influence, reward and acknowledge others’ behaviour.
The Rule of Law
The importance of laws and rules, whether they are those that govern the class, the school or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout regular school days. Our ‘Time Out’ system for behaviour is aligned to an agreed set of rules, standards and expectations. Pupils are taught the value and reasons behind laws and rules, that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws/rules are broken. Visits from authorities such as the police, PCSOs and fire service are regular parts of our calendar and help reinforce this message.
Individual Liberty
Within school, pupils are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. As a school we educate and provide boundaries for our pupils to make choices safely, through the provision of a safe environment, a planned curriculum and an empowering education. Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are advised how to exercise these safely. This includes our e-safety teaching and PSHE lessons. Pupils are given the freedom to make choices, e.g. signing up for extra-curricular clubs, choose the level of challenge in some lessons and are becoming increasingly more involved in child-led learning. The aims, ethos and vision statement are embodied in all that we do in our school.
Mutual Respect
Respect is one of the core values of our school and can be seen as part of the ethos of our school. The pupils know and understand that it is expected and imperative that respect is shown to everyone, whatever differences we may have. The core value of respect at Elm C of E Primary School underpins our work every day both in and out of the classroom. Children and adults alike, including visitors are challenged if they are disrespectful in any way. Values are highly visible around the school and can be seen in pupil work, posters, rewards and as part of our behaviour. We regularly welcome a variety of charities and organisations to support and learn from the work that they do. A British Values theme week is planned for later in the Spring Term allowing all pupils from across the whole school to participate in a variety of activities.
Tolerance of Those with Different Faiths and Beliefs
This is achieved through enhancing pupils’ understanding of their place in a culturally diverse society and by giving them opportunities to experience such diversity in our local community. Assemblies, visitors leading workshops and discussions involving prejudices and prejudiced-based bullying have been followed and supported by learning in RE and PSHE through a broad and balanced curriculum covering a range of faiths, cultures and religions.