At The Stoke Poges School every individual is valued for who they are and what they contribute to the school.  The Values Education Programme is intended to support the personal, social and spiritual development of every child throughout the school.  The whole staff team and all pupils are involved in promoting the values.  The values developed through the Values Education Programme have been selected by staff, governors and the school community as values which are important within the school community and which will be important throughout life.

Aims

Through the Values Education Programme we aim to:

• Develop our pupils as citizens, contributing positively to their community and the world
• Improve behaviour, conduct and self-confidence by developing strong values within the children at the school
• Develop pupils’ understanding of what values are and why they are important in life
• Encourage pupils to ‘live the values’ in all aspects of their lives both in school and out
• Promote values to pupils in every aspect of school
• Promote values in the way in which adults interact with each other and with pupils
• Display our school values and encourage all visitors to take account of them in their time in the school
• Encourage parents to support the programme at home by promoting the ‘value of the month’ to parents in newsletters and in the entrance foyer
• Enable children to focus upon the positive aspects of themselves that they can value, thereby reminding them of their individual worth, their worth in the school and wider communities and the worth of those communities themselves
• Raise standards by promoting a school ethos that is underpinned by core values which support the development of the whole child as a reflective learner within a calm, caring, happy and purposeful atmosphere

British Values

Fundamental British values are promoted through the values programme and the curriculum.  Children develop their understanding and knowledge of fundamental British values in the following ways:

• School Council elections and procedures support children in developing an understanding of how citizens can influence decision-making through the democratic process.  Resilience and acceptance develop children’s understanding of how to accept the result of an election, whether they agree with the result or not.
• Through clear expectations and boundaries in school, children develop an appreciation that having rules keeps everyone safe.  This, coupled with close links with our local community police officers, develops the understanding that living under the rule of law protects individual citizens and is essential for their well-being and safety.
• Promoting values such as harmony, unity, acceptance and tolerance support the development of an understanding that the freedom to choose and hold other faiths and beliefs is important in a civilised world and is protected by law.  Such values also develop children’s acceptance that other people having different faiths or beliefs should be accepted and tolerated and that we can all live harmoniously together.
• Through values-based education, children develop an appreciation of fairness, friendship and individuality, understanding what discrimination and unfair behaviour looks like and how to combat it.