LIVING VALUES A Practical Guide to putting values at the heart of our Primary School
INTRODUCTION
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Values:Deciding Which Ones
Values:Deciding Which Ones
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Values: Building Your Team
Values: Building Your Team
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Values: The School Environment
Values: The School Environment
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Values:Guiding Principles For The Governing Body
Values:Guiding Principles For The Governing Body
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Values: Informing Policy
Values: Informing Policy
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Values: Collective Worship
Values: Collective Worship
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Values: Spiritual Development
Values: Spiritual Development
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Values: Across The Curriculum
Values: Across The Curriculum
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Values: Home/School Links
Values: Home/School Links
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Values: Inspection
Values: Inspection
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Values: The Outside Space
Values: The Outside Space
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Values: Secondary - Primary Links
Values: Secondary - Primary Links
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Resources and Support
Resources and Support
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INTRODUCTION
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Values:The School Environment
Values: The School Environment
Primary Schools are vibrant, colourful and interactive learning environments where those things that are important in the life of the school community are “visualised” and celebrated in displays and installations in and around the building.
At St Andrew’s School in Chedworth the staff team pays great attention to giving their core values a high visual profile. In this chapter Mrs Tina Buck, headteacher and Mrs Angharad Fitch, RE Co-ordinator, take us on a tour around their school.
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Values:The School Environment
Values:The School Environment
The Headteacher of St Andrew’s describes the ways in which values are made explicit in the shared areas of the school. As every teacher knows the children in each class have a variety of different learning styles and many will be visual learners. We, therefore, ensure that our displays are bold, well-designed and interactive to engage children and encourage them to reflect on how the value in focus can be lived out day by day.
“...ensure that our displays are bold, welldesigned and interactive...”
As soon as visitors enter our school we want them to be made aware of the particular values that are special to us as a Christian community. We have been inspired by a display at Cam Hopton Primary School that shows each value as a flower. The children there have done some research and discovered that different values have a flower associated with them. We have decided to base our new entrance display on this excellent idea. Our value for this term is Generosity, so we will ‘plant’ gladioli!
This is our version of The Big Party, based on Jesus’ teaching in the Parable of The Great Feast (Luke 14)
As children make their way to the hall for collective worship there is a reminder of the particular aspect of the value which is the theme for the week.
The “growing” values display at Cam Hopton School
In the shared area between the classrooms is a reflection station based this term on the Parable of The Great Feast. Pause to Reflect on Values, published by Jumping Fish, gives examples of interactive reflective areas to illustrate different values. The pack gives an A4 photograph of the display and on the reverse full details of how to use it with children. See below. Our lunchtime supervisors are very involved in promoting positive behaviour in the playground and reinforcing the current value in their informal and incidental conversations with the children. Each week they nominate a particular child who has demonstrated the value in an outstanding way. The Courtesy Cup is presented to that pupil during our celebration worship on Friday each week.
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Values:The School Environment
Values:The School Environment
The child takes the cup home for the weekend and returns it on Monday to sit on the worship table until the following Friday.
Mrs Fitch explains that in each classroom there is a display or reflection activity which interprets the value in a way that is appropriate to the year group. This term her class created a GenerosiTree. Everyone invented and made an ‘exotic’ fruit to hang on the tree. When the fruit was flipped over the children had written an example of what life might be like in the class if we were all generous to each other.
Children are also invited to nominate other members of the school community that they have witnessed living out our special value during the week. They do this by writing names on the laminated value sheets posted around the school. This very simple activity has really helped children to understand what the value means in practice. During our celebration worship, children are invited to come to the front and encourage us all by talking about the positive behaviour that they have seen and heard around the school. Indi received the Courtesy Cup for showing generosity to others
“When the fruit was flipped over the children had written an example of what life might be like in the class if we were all generous to each other.”
Throughout the term we encourage children to look out for both local and national newspaper reports of real life examples of people demonstrating the value of Generosity in the public domain. This helps us all to appreciate that there is a lot of good news in the world and that most people are trying to make the world a better place.
In another class they have been thinking about what it means to give our time generously. Children make ’15 minute pledges’ to lend a hand to family or friends. The pledge is then signed by both parties and the hands on the ‘generosity’ clock are moved on a quarter of an hour. Each time a twelve hour cycle is completed the whole class has a fun treat! Some of the pledges have been very ingenious and really encouraged children to think about different types of generosity, like being patient when showing younger children how to play complicated games, sharing their own stationery with others or giving generously from their pocket money towards the work of our school charity.
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Values:The School Environment
Class 3 has responsibility for caring for part of our spiritual garden. They have been thinking about the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, “Your giving should be done in secret. Your Father will see what is done in secret, and he will reward you.” (Matthew 6 v 4) Each child is invited to plant a tiny nasturtium seed, as a symbol of a secret promise that they make before God to show generosity to someone in need. When the flowers bloom the children will be reminded that even the smallest act of kindness can grow into something beautiful. We are a small school and it takes precious time and energy for staff to think of lots of creative ways to engage children visually. However, we have found that just talking about good behaviour is not enough. Learning is always multi-sensory and the school environment offers so many opportunities to make the values thought provoking, relevant, challenging and fun!
