Values

Church schools within the Diocese of Gloucester have been at the forefront of pioneering work on Values Education for some years.

Most use the Values Toolkit resources written by Shahne Vickery, Gloucester Diocesan Adviser for School Development (Values & Resourcing the Christian Foundation), with a team of diocesan advisers and published by Jumping Fish. Schools identify a set of Christian values which will underpin the whole life of their community. These values inform the school's vision, aims and ethos, the design of curriculum, all policies, the planning for spiritual and moral development as well as the school's management and governance.

One value is taken as a particular focus for each term and the Values for Life material is used as a key resource to support the theme in Collective Worship. The Kingdom values demonstrated, and lived out, by Jesus Christ are the basis for the 18 values in Values for Life. Every opportunity is taken to celebrate the outworking of these values in children's behaviour, both in school and also in events taking place in the local and wider communities. Interactive displays in the school building and outdoor spaces encourage children to reflect on aspects of the values which are pertinent at the time.

Following the latest Ofsted schedule, with its enhanced emphasis on Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development (SMSC), Values Education has become an important aspect of the judgements reached concerning a school's effectiveness in Ofsted, as well as in SIAS inspections.

At Fairford CE Primary School we worked closely with parents, staff, governors and our children in choosing 6 values that underpin our ethos.

Our Values are as follows:

• Perseverance
• Respect
• Trust
• Forgiveness
• Friendship
• Thankfulness

Each term we focus on a different value. This is developed in Monday worship, singing, visitor assemblies, Open the Book and in celebration with ‘Shining Stars’ each Friday. We have display areas in our main entrance area, a prayer board in our hall and a celebration board for each value, every term. We highlight SMSC (Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural) development on all our planning as it is the thread that binds our curriculum together.

The children of Fairford Primary School made banners representing the values of their school in celebration of the school’s Jubilee 2014.