Our Values Statement
We promote ‘British Values’ through our spiritual, moral, social and cultural education which permeates through the school’s curriculum and supports the development of the ‘whole child’.
We recognise that such development is most successful when those values and attitudes are promoted by all the staff and provide a model of behaviour for our pupils.
The curriculum in all phases offers broad and balanced opportunities.
Our Assemblies help all pupils to find out about themselves and others linking their lives to the communities in which they belong. The themes cover areas such as: friendships, helping others and celebrations from a range of faiths and world events.
Pupils are encouraged to experience British Culture through our curriculum themes. As a school, we take part in sporting activities and trust events which helps to instil ‘fair play’ and engender a ’team spirit’.
Although some of our pupils may find it difficult to articulate their feelings and concerns; staff are attuned to changes in demeanour and well-being that may indicate anxiety. If they are concerned about a pupil our accepted practice links to the Safeguarding Policy which entrusts a duty of care to all staff to actively protect and promote the welfare of children.
The staff work closely with parents, carers and other professionals to ensure that the pupils at Newstead Academy are happy, well cared for and enabled to learn the skills they need to live a fulfilling life as part of their community.
Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC)
SMSC is embedded throughout the curriculum at Newstead Academy. This integrated approach ensures that aspects of SMSC are considered in all subject areas. The senior leadership team audits SMSC and Governors monitor it across school.
Newstead Academy has a strong commitment to the personal and social development of all pupils. The school vision and values, put together by all the staff, support spiritual, moral, social and cultural characteristics in all pupils.
We provide a personalised curriculum that focuses on each child’s current achievements and is tailored towards small steps and next steps to boost self awareness, self esteem, confidence and knowledge. Our links with home share the current focus areas and look to develop these ensuring parents, and children are aware. The way in which we share celebrations of strengths and qualities are used to tailor learning and engagement for individual children and the cohort as a whole.
What is SMSC – Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development?
Our SMSC curriculum is tailored to individual need and covers the following key components as follows;
Spiritual development is when we:
Explore beliefs and experience; respect faiths, feelings and values; enjoy learning about oneself, others and the surrounding world; use imagination and creativity; reflect.
Moral development is when we:
Recognise right and wrong; respect the law; understand consequences; investigate moral and ethical issues; offer reasoned views.
Social development is when we:
Use a range of social skills; participate in the local community; appreciate diverse viewpoints; participate, volunteer and cooperate; resolve conflict; engage with the ‘British values’ of democracy, the rule of law, liberty, respect and tolerance.
Cultural development is when we:
Appreciate cultural influences; appreciate the role of Britain’s parliamentary system; participate in culture opportunities; understand, accept, respect and celebrate diversity.
Within the setting we have a clear focus around expressing needs and understanding how another person feels and their needs. We explicitly teach asking for items/ needs through pictoral prompts, which are used in a wide range of contexts. Our highly visual environment is used to encourage communication, interaction, back and forth interactions and turn taking with others.
In addition to this we have links with the local community particularly the community shop and local allotments, we currently have plans for the children to help to dig the soil, plant vegetables and harvest them. We also have plans to develop children’s cooking skills in the community kitchen. We will then use all of these skills back in school when we develop our own school garden area where we will grow our own fruit and vegetables which we will then use in our own kitchen!
Democracy
The ability to understand and communicate are the most important areas of learning. We ensure that pupils are given a ‘voice’ to communicate. This ‘voice’ could be using words, objects, photographs, pictures, symbols, touch cues, eye pointing or body language.
We empower our pupils by giving them opportunities to make choices about the things that they believe to be important. By valuing each ‘voice’ and by listening and responding to that voice we demonstrate that we support democracy and liberty.
Rule of Law
We involve pupils in setting codes of behaviour; helping pupils to make decisions and choices that are acceptable to the school community and society at large.
Pupils are supported to learn to manage their behaviour and take responsibility for their actions. Staff are committed to providing a consistent and predictable environment within the school and beyond. We can help some pupils to understand the connection between actions and consequences. This type of environment enables pupils to feel safe and secure; this in turn, promotes the optimum conditions for learning to take place.
Individual Liberty
Pupils are encouraged to become good and valued citizens. We do this by supporting each pupil to become as independent as possible. We endeavour to demonstrate that everyone has rights; this includes the right to say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to ideas or activities. Some pupils will be able to take responsibility for particular roles and to understand that with certain rights comes a level of responsibility. Learning to do things independently is an important part of learning to understand yourself. We support others by participating in charitable events such as, Red Nose Day/Comic Relief and Children in Need.
We believe that engendering a caring and helpful environment and promoting independence can boost and nurture a healthy self-esteem.
Mutual Respect
We promote each pupil’s inclusion in activities, settings and locations that are appropriate to them individually to meet their needs. Within school, pupils work with a range of people and interactions with others are always positively promoted on a personalised basis for each individual. This may include working with students from other schools, coaches, theatre groups etc. The curriculum is personalised and planned for pupils and may include transitioning within the range of resources and places on the site and going into the community to meet with a range of people in a variety of situations which include: sports events, community events and shared participation with other schools/colleges.
Tolerance of Different Faiths and Beliefs
We are part of a school and local community where each person is respected and valued equally without regard to ability, gender, faith, heritage or race.
Cultural appreciation and development forms part of our curriculum. We place great emphasis on providing encounters and participation in events and celebrations to broaden all pupils’ experiences and awareness of others.
Two of our pupils are members of Waterton’s Children parliament to represent our views and work with the wider council on current initiatives.
