Broughton Primary School: a statement of Principles and Practices

Broughton Primary School is the place for our children to develop an interest in learning and to understand the opportunities that education will open up for them. It’s the place to try as many different things as possible and discover that passion that will fuel them as they move on. It is a safe, warm and welcoming place, where mistakes can be made and learned from and worries and fears faced in proactive and practical ways. We know that the world that our children live in creates demands and stresses that we must equip them for, and it is crucial that this process begins with us.

This is a school where we practice the philosophy that “One size does NOT fit all”, that children need different support, interactions and provisions according to their circumstances and that this can alter as they move through the school and experience change in wider life. Our practice is that the children at Broughton Primary School are known and valued in all ways as individuals and this enables us to meet and develop both their educational and emotional needs.

At Broughton Primary School this is a shared philosophy between all staff, parents and children. All the staff at the school have a shared belief that the children only have one opportunity at primary education and it is our privilege to be responsible for ensuring that this is the best it can possibly be.

Vision statement

The children at Broughton Primary School will……. (in no particular order):

• Be pro-actively engaged in their education and feel responsible for their successes and achievements both academically and socially.
• Have the ability to evaluate the choices they can make and make conscious decisions based on these evaluations.
• Feel empowered and unafraid of challenge or initial failure.
• Have a developed sense of shared responsibility for things outside their immediate person.
• Love/look forward to coming to school (the majority of the time!).

Personal Development

To realise the statement of principle and the vision for our learners, we have identified four areas that we promote actively to the children in all areas of school life. When the children actively show these qualities in school, they can be praised and rewarded, with the benefits high-lighted and awareness raised.

We have found that it can be difficult for all children to identify with values / growth mind-sets when they have unfamiliar and long names attached to them. We have, therefore, sought to make them child-friendly:

• We want our children to develop resilience, to take on challenge, be courageous and unafraid of failure. These children may be recognised as 'The have a go hero/ heroine'. (articles 28 & 29)
• We want our children to take responsibility and ownership for their learning and have the confidence to show initiative. They may also be making the right choices in learning or behaving. These children are showing that they are 'In the driving seat'. (articles 6 & 24)
• Importantly we want to develop the children’s critical thinking skills, encourage them to make connections between different areas of learning and be unafraid to think or act differently to 'the normal'. These children are 'Thinking Outside the box'. (articles 3 & 19)
• We want the children to demonstrate care, kindness, respect and empathy. These children are 'Spreading sunshine'. (articles 2, 12, 13, 14 & 15)

We also hold to the fundamental British Values of:

• Democracy (article 12)
• The Rule of Law (article 37)
• Mutual Respect (article 2 & 23)
• Individual Liberty (article 13 & 15)
• Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs (articles 14 ,20 & 30)

As a rights-respecting school, these values, shared with many other people around the world, are actively promoted through our Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural learning in PSHE lessons, assemblies and in our day-to-day interactions.