Values & Ethos
Autumn 2023 Update:
We are in the process of 'refreshing' our school ethos. The school community voted for 'kind, safe, positive learning' as our ethos words and we are now in the exciting process of embedding the ethos into our curriculum and school life.
Ethos statement - in perpetual consultation...
“It’s hard to say what your best is, because your best is always changing. My best tomorrow will be better than my best today.” FS
We understand that the same words can mean different things to different people based on their experiences and beliefs. An ethos statement is only meaningful if it reflects reality. With this in mind, we believe the best way to explain our ethos is to show you. For that reason we would encourage you to talk to our community; view our live website and, where possible, visit our school. This will show you whether the following words of intent match the culture and habits of our community. We think they do - but we always encourage children to think for themselves and check the evidence!
As a school we have developed a few key phrases to help us reflect on what is important to us as a school. The ethos headlines of: Community Wellbeing, Attitude to Learning and Powerful Knowledge simplify the complexity of a school community and allow a guest or visitor to capture a little of our approach.
"we are better learners when we approach things with an ‘I can’t yet’ approach"
We are all working as a whole Community supporting all of our Wellbeing - we aspire to be a therapeutic school where we understand that behaviour communicates and experiences shape the brain. In consultation with the whole school community we are developing an ethos of ‘kind, safe, positive learning’. We are kind and safe, and build trusting relationships. We understand that learning is a journey of mistakes and that mistakes prove you are trying. We use the ‘I can’t yet’ approach to develop a positive and growth mindset. We encourage children to take risks in their safe learning environment and to challenge themselves in their learning.
"model the model"
As a school we believe fundamentally in the principle that we are all learners and, therefore, we have a responsibility to ‘model the model’ to our children. Our staff, governors and parents are in a continual dialogue to identify the best and better ways we can support our children to support themselves, each other, and the rest of the school community.
"relevant, memorable, hands on experiences that will give purpose and reason"
With this in mind, part of the staff’s reflection on curriculum has been to highlight some key principles we aspire to build into, what we call, our ‘Living Curriculum’. We call it a living curriculum because we constantly work to make sure our curriculum delivers relevant, memorable, hands on experiences that will give purpose and reason to all the subjects in the curriculum. These principles are: Hands on, Real Life, Connected, Voice and Choice-filled, Purposeful and Challenging. I would encourage you to look at our subject sections on the website, School Development Plan and also read the Curriculum Research on the SDP and for more information about how our research led and leading approach to education is continually developing.
That’s a lot of words so let me reduce this to a simple truth:
Little Green Junior School is committed to doing our best so that your children can do their best.
In a whole school assembly I asked what ‘your best’ is and one child’s response best sums up the Little Green ethos - maybe this is all we need to say:
“It’s hard to say what your best is, because your best is always changing. My best tomorrow will be better than my best today.” FS