Value

How we promote it

Democracy

Links to School Values: RESPECT

Links to SOCIAL, MORAL AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT

The beginnings of democracy are taught through the topic of Ancient Greece.

Democracy is also promoted through citizenship lessons.

Children are involved in decisions where ever possible.

We hold regular Circle Times with the children where they are encouraged to share their ideas and help to find solutions to problems.

We have an elected School Council that meets every term. The school council members feed back to their classes for class council meetings and so all children have the opportunity to input their ideas.

We also have an eco-council, a worship group and a sports council. The councils have responsibility for different aspects of the school. Their ideas and suggestions are implemented where appropriate and they are asked for their opinion about things. The children take their responsibilities seriously and contribute well to school life.

Annually we hold a debating day for local schools where children are able to debate an idea such as the ‘Balloon Debate’. Working alongside children from other schools and having the opportunity for everyone to speak is a valuable experience for the children involved.

During General Elections we mirror the election process, with children in Year 6 standing for different political parties, talking about the manifestos of the party they represent followed by the rest of the school voting for their favourite candidate.

We believe that the opportunity to speak out helps to promote the sense of democracy within our school.

Key Christian Text-‘For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:7

The Rule of Law:

Links to  School Values:

RESPECT, TRUST and FORGIVENESS

Links to SOCIAL and MORAL education

At Dr Radcliffe’s CE Primary School we have a school code of conduct. This was developed taking account of the views of the children and the adults who work in school. The Code of Conduct reflects our school’s Christian values.

We have high expectations for the conduct of our children and this is reflected in our school code of conduct, class code of conduct and behaviour policy, which reflects our Christian values.

At the beginning of each academic year, each class will work out a code of conduct for their new class. This is done through discussions with the children, using ideas and suggestions that reflect the School Code of Conduct. This ensures that the expectations of a class are in line with the developmental needs of the children.

The children are rewarded through the House Point System for behaviour which is in line with our Christian values and code of conduct.

When children behave in an unacceptable manner they are required to complete a behaviour reflection sheet so they can identify how they could have made different choices.

Where necessary we work closely with families.

Parents sign a Home School Agreement annually.

Through our school Christian values and the Christian texts that underpin them, children are taught about respect, trust, truthfulness, friendship, compassion and forgiveness.

Children are supported in making the right choices, particularly when the choice is a difficult one.

In each class, children are given responsibilities and are expected to carry out their jobs well. For example Year 2 and 4 are break time Litter pickers and Year 3 are Light Monitors. As the children move through the school these responsibilities broaden. When the children are in Year 6 they care for the Reception children and ensure that they are safe at lunchtime.

Other Year 6 responsibilities include helping to organise the hall for collective worship, alongside their class responsibilities.  

Key Christian Text- Whatever is true , whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8

Individual Liberty

Links to School Values:

RESPECT and COMPASSION

Links to SOCIAL and MORAL Education

Through our school values and Christian ethos children are encouraged to aspire to achieve well in all aspects of school life.

We aim to develop the children as independent thinkers through focussing on developing their resilience, resourcefulness, reciprocity and reflectiveness.

Children are taught to be responsible for their actions and to stand up to what they believe is right. We encourage children to be good communicators so that they are able to express their opinions confidently and articulately.

House Points are awarded for children who work hard and apply themselves well.

PSHCE lessons have specific units relating to liberty including ‘It’s Good To Be Me’.

Children are taught about keeping themselves safe. E- safety is taught in every year group.

Each year we take part in the national anti-bullying week. Bullying is not tolerated and we encourage children to speak to an adult if they are unhappy.

We also develop the children’s understanding of prejudiced based bullying. The Deputy Head is a lead member of staff in supporting the implementation of this. As well as working in our school, he works alongside Oxfordshire’s anti-bullying coordinator to deliver training to other Oxfordshire schools on challenging homophobia.

All children are given regular opportunities to explore Big Questions in RE. They are encouraged to develop their ability to discuss their opinions and work together to explore how they may disagree or agree with each other.

Key Christian Texts: Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the varied grace of God

Mutual Respect

Links to School Values;

RESPECT, COMPASSION and TRUTHFULNESS

Links to SOCIAL, MORAL, CULTURAL and SPIRITUAL education

We celebrate individuality:

There is a planned programme of PSHCE and alongside our Christian ethos this supports the development of respect through topics such as cooperation and collaboration, working as a team and friendship.

Through our PSHCE provision, we encourage children through the school to be aware of each other’s individual needs. This is also drawn out through the unit ‘Getting On and Falling out’.

Through Circle Times we will address issues that arise in class, such as worries that children have with friendships or changes in home circumstances that may concern a child. We aim to promote an understanding and tolerance towards individual differences and value all children for what they bring to school.

Alongside thinking of others in school we also encourage people to think of others who are less fortunate than we are. Through our focus on Harvest we think about helping people who have less food than we do and support the Banbury Food Bank. Children are encouraged to think about respect, fairness and the need to reach out and help people.

Alongside this, classes in Year 3 to 5 will choose a charity to raise money for. The School Council will often choose a school wide charity to support in the year and we help the children to raise money for this. Examples of this in recent years include Children in Need and Red Nose Day.

Mutual Respect is also developed through our Sports week and Sports day where children are celebrated for taking part as well as for their achievements.

We are a strongly inclusive school and provide well for our SEND children, who flourish and have every opportunity to achieve well within their class.

Children are encouraged to think about their place in the local community. We have strong community links with Open the Book- a Church group that acts out Bible stories for children, Full Circle – an intergenerational group, and the Valentines club- a community club for local people.

Key Christian text- Treat others as you want to be treated Luke 6:31

Tolerance of different faiths and beliefs

Links to School Values:

RESPECT and COMPASSION,

Links to SOCIAL, MORAL, CULTURAL and SPIRITUAL education

We celebrate diversity.

Through our curriculum we positively promote other faiths, beliefs, cultures and a respect for individual differences between families and individuals.

We have an RE scheme, based on the locally agreed syllabus, that promotes the understanding of other faiths including Judaism, Islam and Hinduism.

Children visit places of Worship including the local Church, the Oxford Synagogue and a Hindu place of worship.

In addition to this, some of the topics taught such as ‘The Arctic’ in Year 1, ‘Rainforests’ in Year 4 and ‘Australia’ in Year 6, look at the life of different cultures and the way that society  has developed due to their beliefs and way of life.

In our Collective Worship, we promote Christian values and understanding to ensure that children know the differences between right and wrong choices of behaviour, as well as opportunities to reflect upon their beliefs and feelings.

Our collective worship helps children to understand the differences in the ways that people think and to have a respect for other people’s beliefs and values.

Weekly themes are developed such as understanding others, caring, friendship and fairness.

Key Christian text- Treat others as you want to be treated Luke 6:31

Social Development

British Values: DEMOCRACY, THE RULE OF LAW, INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY, MUTUAL RESPECT

Christian values: COMPASSION,  FRIENDSHIP and RESPECT

We believe that the promotion of children’s knowledge, understanding and appreciation for life in Modern Britain supports the development of children’s social awareness.

In particular, this is exemplified in promoting children’s pride in their school, developing children’s ability to take responsibility, developing communication and promoting children’s awareness of others.

We believe that it is important for children to take a pride in our school. We achieve this by having high standards and expectations for children’s behaviour and learning, as well as by providing children with a wide variety of activities to participate in, and opportunities to represent the school. For example, we are active members of the North Oxfordshire Sport’s Partnership and are regularly involved in competitions.

We take part in academic challenges which are run by our local independent schools as well as the Cheltenham Performing Arts Festival and the Chipping Norton Music Festival. We believe that representing our school at events, festivals and competitions helps the children to feel a sense of pride in their school. By preparing the children well for these occasions they feel that they can give of their best and, although they might not always win, they are proud of their achievements.

At Dr Radcliffe’s we are proud of being part of the community of Steeple Aston and we encourage the children to have a positive view of the village.

In Year 3 the children do a local area study, where they study the Geography and History of Steeple Aston.

We believe that it is important for our children to work alongside people from the community. Over the last few years we have built up these links and now have a group called ‘Full Circle’ who have lunch with the children and garden with them; this is an intergenerational group. Members of the Church community regularly come in to school to lead collective worship for our KS1 children. They use the resource ‘Open The Book’, which retells Bible stories. Every year, around Christmas, we perform to the "Valentine's" to provide older members of our community with some entertainment. We also work closely with the History Society and work alongside members to produce exhibition work.

We have strong links with our local Church, with the vicar leading collective worship regularly.

We believe these links help our young people to develop strong and positive relationships with their community and foster a respect for the people who live in it.

• use of a range of social skills in different contexts, including working and socialising with pupils from different religious, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds
• willingness to participate in a variety of communities and social settings, including by volunteering, cooperating well with others and being able to resolve conflicts effectively
• acceptance and engagement with 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 pupils develop and demonstrate skills and attitudes that will allow them to participate fully in and contribute positively to life in modern Britain.

Moral Development

British Values: DEMOCRACY, THE RULE OF LAW, INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY, MUTUAL RESPECT

Christian values: COMPASSION, FRIENDSHIP, RESPECT and TRUTHFULNESS,

Collective worship, PSHCE and topics, such as ‘Ancient Greece’ covered in Year 6 and ‘Rainforests’ in Year 4, all provide a platform to discuss right from wrong and an understanding of the consequence of decisions. Our Behaviour Policy provides an excellent framework to develop children’s behaviour and our school code of conduct and class codes of conduct support the children’s moral development. Alongside our school’s Christian values, these provide a starting point for discussion with the children when things go wrong.

Our children are well behaved and respond well to the high expectations of their behaviour, showing the success of our approach.

In Year 6 the children are involved in Philosophy for Education discussions. The children respond well to discussions, make in depth observations and develop their ideas on a range of issues.

• ability to recognise the difference between right and wrong, readily apply this understanding in their own lives and, in so doing, respect the civil and criminal law of England
• understanding of the consequences of their behaviour and actions
• interest in investigating and offering reasoned views about moral and ethical issues, and being able to understand and appreciate the viewpoints of others on these issues.

Spiritual Development

British Values: INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY, MUTUAL RESPECT, TOLERANCE OF DIFFERENT FAITHS AND BELIEFS

Christian values: RESPECT

Through our planned collective worship themes, RE, trips to the woods and opportunities for reflection, children’s spiritual development is promoted. As a church school, the spiritual development of the children is important to us. Children are provided with opportunities to reflect and respond to ideas and themes.

Through the Forest School programme for children in Year R, 1 and 2 and art and science for all year groups we aim to develop a sense of awe and wonder and curiosity about the world.

• ability to be reflective about their own beliefs, religious or otherwise, that inform their perspective on life and their interest in and respect for different people’s faiths, feelings and values
• sense of enjoyment and fascination in learning about themselves, others and the world around them
• use of imagination and creativity in their learning
• willingness to reflect on their experiences.

Cultural Development

British Values: MUTUAL RESPECT, TOLERANCE OF DIFFERENT FAITHS AND BELIEFS

Christian values: RESPECT

As a ‘Gold Arts Mark’ school, our commitment to cultural development is clearly identified. We provide a programme of opportunities for children, including annual trips to the theatre, dance workshops and visiting artists and musicians.

Extra-curricular activities are offered to the children such as an art club, an African drumming club, a choir, an orchestra, visits to museums and a drama club.

Alongside this we promote national events in various ways. For instance during the Olympics we ran an Olympic and cultural event, including all the children in sporting and cultural activities. Classes will get involved in other sporting events such as the World Cup or the Commonwealth games. We also celebrate jubilees with the children, developing an understanding of the role of the Royal Family.

Every year we hold a Summer Dance Day where children perform traditional and modern dances. As a part of this event, the children vote for a Summer King and Queen, who lead the procession of children onto the playground. This tradition has always been a part of the school, although evolves over time to ensure the children look forward to and enjoy the day.

In Year 3 the children study local history and Geography

There are strong links with the local Church.

In Year 6 the children study a topic on London. Within this topic the children consider how London has changed and  how this change has been influenced by the industrial revolution, the Blitz, The Great Fire of London.

In Year 6 the children study a Shakespeare play and act this out to the rest of the school and parents.

In election years the Year 6 children hold a mock election for the rest of the school mirroring the election process.

In Year 6 the children study the Magna Carta.

In RE, in line with locally agreed syllabus the children study a range of religions and visit places of worship. There is a focus on children understanding the key beliefs of different faiths.

• understanding and appreciation of the wide range of cultural influences that have shaped their own heritage and that of others
• understanding and appreciation of the range of different cultures within school and further afield as an essential element of their preparation for life in modern Britain
• knowledge of Britain's democratic parliamentary system and its central role in shaping our history and values, and in continuing to develop Britain
• willingness to participate in and respond positively to artistic, sporting and cultural opportunities
• interest in exploring, improving understanding of and showing respect for different faiths and cultural diversity, and the extent to which they understand, accept, respect and celebrate diversity, as shown by their tolerance and attitudes towards different religious, ethnic and socio-economic groups in the local, national and global communities.