Lydden and River Primary School Federation

Our Aims and Ethos/Values

Educating children as they grow up and preparing them to lead safe, happy, healthy and successful lives is at the heart of what we do.

We are committed to supporting every aspect of a child’s development including: 

• Health
• Safety
• Enjoyment and
• Achievement

These outcomes are the key to ensuring children can make a full and active contribution to the community, achieving success and well being in childhood and in later life.

Aims

• To provide a safe, happy and stimulating learning environment that provides for the needs of individual children.
• To provide an engaging broad and rich curriculum that enables learners to achieve.
• To guide children towards becoming independent, lifelong learners.
• To encourage pupils to develop lively, enquiring minds with the ability to question and argue rationally.
• To develop each child’s understanding of how they learn best so empowering them to take responsibility for their own learning.
• To encourage the development of good citizenship by active involvement in the life of the school, neighbourhood and wider community.
• To instil in the children a high level of self-esteem and confidence in their own worth.
• To maintain purposeful home/school partnerships through effective communication.
• To develop understanding, instil respect and value of other religions, races, ethnic groups, gender and ways of life.
• To develop a caring and responsible attitude, welcoming diversity and rejecting discrimination of any kind.
• To encourage pupils to apply themselves and make the most of every opportunity offered to them.

Ethos

The ethos of our schools reflects the values and attitudes that characterise any caring family and community. The atmosphere of the schools, the quality of relationships and the way in which each school helps to deal with difficulties all combine to develop children who will have a fair sense of justice and the ability to be valued citizens of the future.

In our federation we aim for our children to grow and develop in an environment where they are cared for, listened to and respected as well as being given consistent, secure and firm boundaries.

Our Values

At Lydden and River Primary Schools Federation we have school values which form the ‘codes’ by which we agree to behave. These are shared by the whole school community, regularly revisited through assemblies and in lessons, and are displayed around the school. These values guide us all and help us to engage children in restorative practice. They can be used in a variety of ways to support discussions with children and adults to reinforce and teach our expectations.

Teamwork – children understand how to collaborate and benefit from other’s ideas and suggestions. Understanding the views of others helps children to develop skills of negotiation and diplomacy as well as appreciate a range of perspectives.

Health –physical and mental health are important in how children engage and react at school. Children’s well-being is supported in a number of ways from classroom environments to opportunities to learn about the importance of health and how to remain safe in a range of situations.

Responsibility – to the school, to others, to the environment. We have to look after each other and we encourage children to be responsible for their actions.

Integrity – we recognise the role that home and school play in developing children with a strong set of moral principles. We understand that knowing right from wrong will not come naturally for some children. Teaching children what good behaviour looks like is an important part of our curriculum which ensures they are ready for the next stage of their education.

Value Everyone – All children achieve. All children are important and all children are valued equally across the federation. The schools do not tolerate bullying or any form of discrimination. Children learn how to appreciate diversity in many situations across the curriculum.

Empathy – Understanding how someone is feeling is complicated. We work hard to ensure children can see situations from someone else’s point of view. This is particularly important in our restorative practice which is implemented at both schools.

We reject:      Discrimination               Racism                    Bullying                   Cheating       Deceit                        Cruelty                       Irresponsibility                     Dishonesty