St Michael's Vision and Values

Shine as Lights in the World

Our hope is for all our children to have the confidence to use their talents and skills, to make responsible decisions as they learn and grow and contribute positively to the wider world.

The children are encouraged to recognise feelings and emotions in themselves and others, taught through the 'Zones of Regulation’. We have one golden rule in our school – to treat others in the same way you expect to be treated. This helps us to establish our community as an inclusive and supportive environment with nurture and wellbeing at its core.   

We enhance dignity through our curriculum and policies, which are both underpinned by our school values and ‘My Personal Best’. These teach Christian values and core life skills to help the children become the best that they can be; demonstrating resilience, care for others and honesty.

We build wisdom in our pupils by encouraging them to be curious learners, constantly questioning and striving to find the answers, so that they develop into lifelong learners.

We have 11 school values at St Michael's which, together with My Personal Best ((MPB), are embedded within our school ethos. These are honesty, sharing, courage, love, peace, perseverance, friendship, hope, cooperation, trust and appreciation. For more information about how we include them in our daily school lives, please click on the link below:

Promoting British Values

The Government set out its definition of British Values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy and these values have been reiterated by the Prime Minister in 2014.

Many of our school values link to the British Values of Democracy, Rule of Law, Mutual Respect & Tolerance and Individual Liberty. These are also covered as part of our PSHE and RE curriculum, as well as being reinforced regularly.

Democracy: We have a Pupil Council and representatives are voted in by their class peers. We also like to listen to our pupils' opinions and teachers ask questions about the different subjects in the curriculum and the learning they are engaging in. Democracy is explored and discussed through History topics.

The Rule of Law: Classes learn about our school rules and classroom rules and these are referred to throughout the day and reinforced by our school values. Our school values are promoted through our collective worship as well as through PSHE. Pupils learn about responsibility and what this entails as well as the consequences when rules are broken.

Individual Liberty: Our children are always encouraged to make choices in a supportive environment. Through discussion, paired talk and BIG questions the children are encouraged to give their opinions and listen to others point of view. Choices can often be made in the way that children plan and record their ideas and whether they work collaboratively or on their own. They can also choose whether to attend lunchtime and after school clubs.

Mutual Respect & Tolerance: Our school ethos incorporates our Christian Values, such as Love, Peace & Honesty. This is linked to My Personal Best which is about teaching life skills and being the best that we can be, so that our St Michael's pupils will always 'Shine as Lights in the World.'

Our Golden Rule is - 'We will treat one another in a fair and equal way and treat others in the way we wish to be treated.' Matthew 7.12. Through our curriculum and collective worship, we teach respect and tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs and support pupils in understanding their place in a culturally diverse society.

My Personal Best

Healthy Me, Thinking Me and Social Me. It's about being the best that you can be!

This is an initiative set up by the Youth Sport Trust, which is a national charity working to ensure every child enjoys the life-changing benefits that come from playing sport. The aim is to achieve the personal development of the whole child through PE, giving them skills that they can transfer into other lessons, to life in school and to their wider environment.

The scheme is structured around the key themes of Thinking Me, Social Me and Healthy Me, which will help the children to:

• Develop and apply life skills that will support them to flourish in PE, school and life in general.
• Improve health & wellbeing and personal skills
• Grow understanding and working with others (social skills)
• Create opportunities, overcome challenges and make choices (thinking skills)
• Increase their potential achievement and readiness for life