St Helen's is committed to serving its community and surrounding areas. We recognise the multi-cultural, multi-faith nature of the United Kingdom and understand the crucial role our academy plays in promoting these values.
Through our provision we:
- Enable students to develop their self-knowledge, self-esteem and self-confidence;
- Enable students to distinguish right from wrong and to respect the civil and criminal law of England;
- Encourage students to accept responsibility for their behaviour, show initiative, and to understand how they can contribute positively to the lives of those living and working in the locality of the school and to society more widely;
- Enable students to acquire a broad general knowledge of and respect for public institutions and services in England;
- Further tolerance and harmony between different cultural traditions by enabling students to acquire an appreciation of and respect for their own and other cultures;
- Encourage respect for other people;
- Encourage respect for democracy and support for participation in the democratic processes, including respect for the basis on which the law is made and applied in England
- Promote an understanding of how citizens can influence decision-making through the democratic process;
- Encourage an appreciation that living under the rule of law protects individual citizens and is essential for their wellbeing and safety;
- Promote an understanding that there is a separation of power between the executive and the judiciary, and that while some public bodies such as the police and the army can be held to account through Parliament, others such as the courts maintain independence;
- Teach an understanding that the freedom to choose and hold other faiths and beliefs is protected in law;
- Encourage acceptance that other people having different faiths or beliefs to oneself (or having none) should be accepted and tolerated, and should not be the cause of prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour; and teach an understanding of the importance of identifying and combatting discrimination.
Democracy:
The promotion of democracy is extensive within the school. Pupils have the opportunity to have their voices heard through our School Council and pupil questionnaires. Pupils in each class vote for the children they want to represent them on School Council. Children vote for charities that they wish to support and a variety of events take place during the year to support these charities.
The Rule of Law:
The importance of Laws, whether they be those that govern the class, the school, or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout the school day. Pupils 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. Visits from authorities such as the Police and Fire Service are regular parts of our calendar and help reinforce this message.
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Individual Liberty:
Within school, pupils are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. As a school we provide opportunities for young pupils to make choices within a safe environment. Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms. This happens throughout our curriculum but more specifically in our E-Safety, PSHE and P4C lessons. Pupils are given the freedom to make choices, for example signing up for extra-curricular clubs, choosing the level of challenge in some lessons and deciding what to present at class assemblies to parents.
Mutual Respect:
As a Church of England school, our ethos is based around core Christian values, including respect. Our aims ‘Loving Learning, Loving God and Loving Our Neighbour’ are firmly based on the value of respect, which permeates all aspects of school life, including our school development plan and behaviour policy. This is supported by our values led worship time and main hall display, with a different value each half term. Pairs of classes from different Key Stages are linked as ‘Learning Buddies’. The classes meet each half term to work on different projects, which helps to promote respect between children of different ages.
