Democracy,

Democracy is central to how we operate and is important value at our school. Children have the opportunity to have their voices heard through a variety of mechanisms. The election of the School Council members reflects our British electoral system and demonstrates democracy in action: candidates make speeches, children consider characteristics important for an elected representative, children vote in secret using ballot boxes etc. Made up of two representatives from each class, the School Council meets regularly to discuss issues raised by the different classes. The council is able to genuinely effect change within the school. We have democratic processes for

Children have responsibilities and are encouraged to be involved in decision making through pupil voice, class and school council, our parish council team, ambassadors and worship leaders.

Children agree their Class Contract and the rights associated with these; all children contribute to the drawing up of this each year, this feeds into our school rules.

Children nominate various charities and through school council, charitable work is planned and delivered by the children.

Children are always listened to by adults and are taught to listen carefully and with concern to each other, respecting the right of every individual to have their opinions and voices heard. We encourage children to take ownership of not only their school but also of their own learning and progress. This encourages a heightened sense of both personal and social responsibility and is demonstrated on a daily basis by our children.

We provide children with a broad general knowledge of, and promote respect for, public institutions and services – we have parish council leads who attend parish council meetings and whole classes learn about how the parish council sits in the structure of our democratic society.

We write and hold debates.

The rule of law

Children understand the importance of class and school rules and expectations, our structured reward and sanction system supports children's management of self-control and responsibility. They understand that their choices have consequences.

Children explore civil and criminal law as appropriate through local issues such as the consideration of road safety and through curriculum learning.

Our school values support the understanding of the reasons behind the rules of our classes, school and into the wider laws of the land. This is supported by visits and visitors, i.e. councillors and the police

We teach right and wrong. We always explore right and wrong when considering choices the children have made and consequences of their actions, reflecting on the impact of their actions and the right choices they should have made.

We teach the commandments.

The importance of rules and laws, whether they be those that govern our school or our country, are referred to and reinforced often, such as in worship, when reflecting on behaviour choices. at the start of the school year, each class discusses and sets its own Class Charter, a set of principles that are clearly understood by all and seen to be necessary to ensure that every class member is able to learn in a safe and ordered environment.

Children are taught the value and reasons behind laws, that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves, and the consequences when laws are broken. These values are reinforced in different ways:

We have booked visits from the police and prison service in safety week.

We engender fair play

Individual liberty

We promote freedom of choice and the right to respectfully express views and beliefs. Through the provision of a safe, supportive environment and empowering education, we provide boundaries for our young children to make choices safely; for example:

• choices about their learning * activities.
• choices about how they record their learning
• choices around the participation in extra-curricular activities

Pride and respect in learning, children’ expectations for a good education and achievement is seen in books and in their response to feedback.

We support children to develop their self-knowledge, self-esteem and self-confidence through good relationships with children and nurture provision.

We have a strong anti bullying culture and pledge scheme.
 

Mutual respect

Our mission statement, aims and values foster a culture of mutual respect. The ‘Fruits of the Spirit’ from Galatians 5:22 also form our character traits and are rooted in the Christian values that we expect from all members of our community. Children, Staff, Parents and Governors were all involved in the development of our mission statement, aims, slogan and values to express in words what our school stood for. These were designed and became our Forest Federation Values tree. 

Personal, social, emotional development and citizenship encompasses all the British values and our emotionally intelligent staff and targeted nurture intervention supports children's specific needs around esteem development, self-worth and love, and managing the challenges of life such as anxiety, bereavement, separation and anger management.

Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.

The Forest federation is culturally diverse with children with different languages and failths, cultures and backgrounds as well as a range of disabilities.  We are proud to promote and celebrate our different backgrounds and beliefs. 

Mutual respect is an important part of our ethos.  

We develop children's understanding of their place in a culturally diverse school community, the UK and world. We have a variety of visitors from different cultural and religious backgrounds and explore our similarities and differences supporting an understanding of tolerance and respect.

We value and celebrate the diverse heritages of everybody across the Forest Federation and our communities. Alongside this, we value and celebrate being part of Britain. In general terms, this means that we celebrate traditions, such as customs in the course of the year; for example, Remembrance during the Autumn term.

Good links with our Uganda ‘Little Angels Primary school’ enable us to explore our global Christian community and supports a strong understanding of children in a different country.