Promoting A Culture of Values

Sally Kennedy

Wednesday 19th September 2007

Allan’s Primary School

Current documentation Curriculum for Excellence Education Scotland Act 2000 Being Well, Doing Well Standard for Headship Chartered Teacher Programme Journey to Excellence HGIOS 3

UN Conventions on the Rights of the Child.

Curriculum for Excellence

RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS

EFFECTIVE CONTRIBUTORS

CONFIDENT INDIVIDUALS

SUCCESSFUL LEARNERS

Young people

will become

What are values? Building blocks To guide us Think about what matters Guide behaviour Inform decisions and judgements Good , active citizens

We use our values as guiding principles which inform our decision making, how we treat one another, what matters , collective understanding, think beyond self, citizenship , to contribute, looking after legacy

Aim

To agree a set of shared values to underpin the life and work of our school community:

As a point of reference for all children and adults

Through wide consultation

Why?

Defines our moral environment( operation of policies, goals, plans)

Shared reference points‘ small beacons of certainty in a troubled world ‘.-J Gardner

To specify behaviours and expectations

The Process- how ?????

Staff development session Pupil voice Parent focus groups Community focus group

Our Values

RESPECT :To be considerate of ourselves, others and

our environment COURAGE:To face challenges with confidence and

self-beliefINTEGRITY:To be honest in your intentionsENDEAVOUR:To be all you can beLOVE:To feel and act sincerely

Behaviours

Taking care of each other’s property / possessions

Listening to each other Valuing opinions Responding suitably to other’s actions

and feelings Giving praise Making time for others Recognise and celebrate differences Compromise / meet half way / give and

take Agree a solution

RESPECT

COURAGE

Have a ‘can do’ attitude ( and have a go)

Be heard Make good choices- don’t follow the

‘crowd’ Be true to yourself Stand up for yourself Have the confidence to embrace

change Accept criticism, learn from it and

move forward

INTEGRITY Be trustworthy Keep a confidence( but know when to

tell) Be open and honest Know what the right thing FOR YOU is Do the right thing for yourself and

others Learn from mistakes Believe you can do it Understand the ‘why’ of things

LOVE

Be happy and proud of yourself Be able to share thoughts and

feelings Give and accept praise Make time for others See the good in others Be welcoming Make a fresh start and move on

ENDEAVOUR

:Self-improvement Fulfil/ reach your potential- be all you can be Striving for your own goals Being happy with your effort Go the extra mile Being honest and realistic in expectations Aim to achieve realistic expectations Recognise that improvement can be in ANY and ALL areas –

excelling at one thing doesn’t signify excellence in all Build on your strengths Continually improve- regardless of your start point,

irrespective of others Persevere when things are difficult / challenging Think about steps needed to achieve goals Recognise that improving can be difficult and everything

doesn’t have to be perfect / correct for improvement to take place

Living the values

What can we do to demonstrate our values?

•develop ideas for involving parents in values eg class survey, research project, values book

•write to community members , politicians etc seeking views of their important values , collate and shar

•Circle time

•Poster design

•Leaflet design

And……… Scenarios , moral dilemmas

Doodles

Drawing

Agreed suggestions for behaviours which demonstrate each value eg brainstorming , mind mapping , lists etc

Fables, stories, poems

Citizenship and thinking skills resources

Or even……. Interact materials Sharing sessions – 10-15minutes per

week Pupil of the week format for value focus Comments Box (including pre-printed

slips for each value) Envelopes with names – to recognise and

celebrate individual contribution Message board Main school (or class) display /post it

board

Celebrating Success Book of Achievement Journey to Excellence wall display Awards- headteacher, interval, staff Values wheels Cars Inspirational story, poem , music Golden Book Scrolling screen in foyer

What people say about a values culture…..

We have celebrating success assemblies and a board and values called respect, courage, integrity, endeavour and love. Altogether it’s pride

P5

What I like about the values is that they are transferable

to home too! It’s great to see the individual child achieve

and then build towards class and school goals.

The Golden Book is lovely

The values have made a difference to the school and celebrating success assemblies help a lot as

well.

We have 5 different values and it helps us be a better school

I like the values because we have to put stickers on the wheels to show that we are helpful and kind

P4

P5

The consultation process ensured that

our whole school community really

bought into the values approach we wished

to promote .

In dealings with children , parents and the wider community

we can quote our values and agreed

behaviours

There is a marked difference in the ethos and sense of pride in our school and

values continue to impact positively everyday.

I have been surprised by my son’s understanding of the school

values. He is able to explain what each value means and , more

importantly, what they look like in terms of his attitudes and actions. I find myself referring to the values

at home

I think it’s good to have values everywhere, not

just school. I try my best to show the values but sometimes it can be

hardP2