Our Values
At St James C of E Primary, our Christian values of KINDNESS, RESPECT, WISDOM and JOY are at the core of all we do. Each of our classes champions one of these values and studies it in depth - sharing their ideas with the rest of the school through assemblies. We also have a Golden Book and Values Tree in our school hall where every week, different children are celebrated for demonstrating one of our values and bringing it to life within school.
They also help to drive our ethos and behaviour guidelines in school so that our children know that they should be ready, be safe and be respectful.
In addition to our Christian values we also promote our British Values through our spiritual, moral, social and cultural education which permeates through the schools’ 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.
KINDNESS, RESPECT, WISDOM, JOY
Thankfulness Trust Peace Forgiveness Friendship Justice Creation Humility Endurance Service Compassion Reverence
Our British Values
Democracy
The ability to communicate is the most important area of learning. Children, staff, parents and Governors have many opportunities for their voices to be heard at St James. In particular we ensure that our pupils are empowered by giving them opportunities to make choices about the things that they believe to be important. Through our School Council, pupil questionnaires and by regularly listening to, responding to and valuing each ‘voice’, we demonstrate that we support democracy and liberty.
Rule of law
The importance of rules and laws, whether they are those that govern our country or our school are referred to and reinforced regularly during the school day. At the start of each academic year, we involve children in setting codes of behaviour in their classroom; helping pupils to make decisions and choices that are acceptable to the school community and society at large.
During their time at St James, children are helped to learn to manage their behaviour and take responsibility for their actions. They are taught the value and the reason behind the laws that govern and protect us. Our staff are committed to providing a consistent environment within school where we help children 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
We promote freedom of choice and the right to respectfully express views and beliefs and we do this by providing sensible boundaries within which our children make informed choices through a supportive and safe environment. Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedom and adults within the school community are proactive in building trusting and respectful relationships with the children to boost their self esteem and to enable them to make good, confident choices.
Respect and Tolerance
We are lucky to be a school in the capital of Britain with all the advantages that London has to offer with its cultural and religious diversity. Mutual respect is at the heart of our ethos - respect for individuals, for belongings, for our behaviour is a theme that is closely linked to many of our Christian values. We believe in every child’s inclusion, where possible, in a range of activities and settings and locations and we are committed to introducing our children to their wider community beyond the school gates.
We hope that be engendering a deep mutual respect of each other, this will lead to a widespread tolerance of different ideas, faiths and beliefs. Every child and adult within our school community is respected and valued equally without regard to ability, gender, faith, heritage or race.
Cultural appreciation and development forms part of our curriculum and we place a great emphasis on providing participation in events and celebrations to broaden all pupils’ experiences and awareness of others.
Our Christian worship helps all pupils to find out about themselves and others linking their lives to the communities in which they belong. Through our assemblies and RE and PSHE lesson as we regularly learn about our Christian values of friendship, compassion, trust and thankfulness and these link closely with this idea..
