School Christian Values
Values for Life
School Christian Values
Our school Christian values support us in achieving our vision. All Christian values are important. However, these 7 core values have been identified as fundamental in allowing us to live a ‘life in all its fullness’. These are important in enabling us to live well together and live life in abundance. Our core Christian values are:
Respect
‘Do to others as you would have them do to you.’
Matthew 7:12
Perseverance
‘I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.’
Philippians 4:13
Justice‘Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed.’
Proverbs 31:8
Compassion‘Be kind and compassionate to one another’
Ephesians 4:32
Wisdom
‘I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills.’
Exodus 31:3
Joy
‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,’
Galatians 5:22
Humility
‘Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.’
Philippians 2:3
The Importance of Teaching Christian Values
Schools and teachers are a major influence on the developing values of children and young people. Children learn values at school from relationships, everyday classroom interactions from the examples set by adults and from more formal attempts led by teachers to engage in values education.
While values education has always been seen as an important part of our ethos at Tardebigge CE First School, it now has an enhanced profile and as a school we encourage all staff, governors and children to reflect on and articulate their values with much greater clarity and openness than in the past.
How do we convey values?
Values will be communicated through:
- the leadership of our school
- all relationships in the school offer a model of values in action
- teachers’ example and their use of moral language, which will help pupils to internalise ideas of what is acceptable and not acceptable in the living, working community of the church and society as a whole
- when a love of and respect for classroom values is encouraged so that children learn to resist the temptation to, for example, bully or to take more than their fair share at school, in order that they can come later to appreciate the global consequences of greed and exploitation
- the subjects of the curriculum
- collective worship which is an opportunity for the school to explore together community/Christian values
- learning that helps pupils to comprehend imaginatively the equal importance of other people and helps individual pupils in the search for meaning and purpose of life
- teaching methods that convey respect for people, respect for truth, acceptance of responsibility for actions and a concern for justice and fairness.
Our approach to teaching values
We promote the teaching of values through:
- adults using a range of questions to help the whole school community reflect on each value
- planned opportunities for Collective Worship which raises awareness of each aspect of the value
- Bible stories that are relevant to the themes of each value
- stories from world faiths, which illustrate the values
- subjects taught in the curriculum support understanding of the values in concrete situations
- a selection of practical follow-up classroom activities which engage and inspire.
SMSC
All schools in England must show how well their pupils develop in SMSC. At Tardebigge we are dedicated to developing the whole child. We want our children to grow and mature into responsible and positive members of the community. We believe that the Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development of our children is a central part of our purpose, along with ensuring excellent standards in the classroom.
Spiritual
Explore beliefs and experience; respect values; discover oneself and the surrounding world; use imagination; reflect.
Moral
Recognise right and wrong; understanding consequences; investigate moral and ethical issues; offer reasoned views.
Social
Use social skills in different contexts; work well with others; resolve conflicts; understand how communities work.
Cultural
Appreciate cultural influence; participate in cultural opportunities; understand, accept , respect and celebrate diversity.
Our mission is to make sure that SMSC is developed through the whole school approach, through the taught curriculum, the pastoral and collective worship programme and through visits in and around the local community. We believe that our children will gain independence which in turn will encourage our children to solve problems in the wider world if SMSC is at the heart of our school. Watch out in the newsletter for updates on what is happening in school.
Click on the link below to view Mrs Hartle's presentation on spirituality. The children have been discussing in class what makes them feel spiritual and they have been sharing their thoughts with their peers. I feel it when our children sing. I get goose bumps when I hear all our children singing together! What inspires you?