Spiritual, Moral, Social, Cultural and Religious Education
Spiritual Development
Our School aims to encourage spiritual development by:
- Giving pupils the opportunity to explore values and beliefs, including religious beliefs and the way in which they impact on peoples’ lives
- Encouraging pupils to explore and develop what animates themselves and others
- Giving pupils the opportunity to understand human feelings and emotions. The way they impact on people and how an understanding of them can be helpful
- Developing a climate or ethos within which all pupils can grow and flourish, respect others and are respected
- Accommodating diversity and respecting the integrity of individuals
- Promoting teaching styles which value pupils’ questions and give them space for their own thoughts, ideas and concerns e.g. via School Council
- Enabling pupils to make connections between aspects of their learning
- Encouraging pupils to relate their learning to a wider frame of reference e.g questioning ‘why’, ‘how’ and ‘where’ as well as ‘what’ and monitoring in simple pragmatic ways, the success of what is provided.
Moral Development
Our school aims to encourage pupils’ moral development by:
- Providing a clear moral code as a basis for behaviour that is promoted consistently throughout all aspects of school life
- Promoting racial, religious and other forms of equality
- Giving pupils opportunities across the curriculum to explore and develop moral concepts and values – for example, personal rights and responsibilities, truth, justice, equality of opportunity, right and wrong; also linked to School Council work
- Developing an open and safe learning environment in which pupils can express their views and are able to practice moral decision making
- Rewarding expressions of moral insights and good behaviour
- Modelling, through the quality of relationships and interactions the principles which we wish to promote – for example fairness, integrity, respect for pupils’ welfare, respect for minority interests, resolution of conflict, keeping promises and contracts
- recognising and respecting the codes and morals of the different culture represented in the school and wider community
- Encouraging pupils to take responsibility for their actions, for example, respect for property, care of the environment, and developing codes of behaviour, providing models of moral virtue through literature, humanities, sciences, arts and assemblies
- Reinforcing the school’s values through images, posters, classroom displays, etc. and monitoring in simple ways, the success of what is provided (whole school ‘no bullying’ posters around the school)
Social Development
Our school aims to encourage pupils’ social development by:
- Reinforcing the key values and principles on which school and community life is based
- Fostering a sense of community, with common, inclusive values underpinned by the ‘Jubilee Wood jigsaw’
- Promoting racial, religious and other forms of equality
- Encouraging pupils to work co-operatively (talking partners, learning buddies)
- Encouraging pupils to recognise and respect social differences and similarities
- Providing positive corporate experiences – for example, through assemblies, team
- activities, school productions and sharing our talents with the wider community
- Helping pupils develop personal qualities which are valued in a civilised society, for example, thoughtfulness, honesty, respect for difference, moral principles, independence, interdependence and self-respect
- Helping pupils resolve tensions between their own aspirations and those of the group or wider society
- Providing conceptual and linguistic framework within which to understand and debate social issues both in class and via the school council
- Providing opportunities for engaging in the democratic process and participating in community life e.g voting for own school council representatives
- Providing opportunities for pupils to exercise leadership and responsibility i.e. ‘playground pals’, school council and classroom monitors at lunchtimes
- Providing positive and effective links with the world of work and the wider community e.g visits to the council office and working alongside the parish council
- Monitoring in simple, pragmatic ways, the success of what is provided.
Cultural Development and British values
Our school aims to encourage pupils’ cultural development by:
- Presenting authentic accounts of the attitudes, values and traditions of diverse cultures, addressing racism and promoting race equality
- Using opportunities to promote and reflect fundamental British values and mark British traditions appropriately (eg Remembrance day, elections, civic events etc)
- Extending pupils’ knowledge and use of cultural imagery and language
- Encouraging them to think about special events in life and how they are celebrated
- Recognising and nurturing particular gifts and talents (through MA and Talented programme within the MK school community and via school performances)
- Providing opportunities for pupils, to participate in literature, drama, music, art, crafts and other cultural events (e.g. Creative Arts week and Woughton Liaison Productions) and encouraging pupils to reflect on their significance; developing partnerships with outside agencies and individuals to extent pupils’ cultural awareness, for example, theatre, museum, concert and gallery visits
- Reinforcing the school’s cultural links through displays, posters, exhibitions, etc.;
- Auditing the quality and nature of opportunities for pupils to extend their cultural development across the curriculum and monitoring in simple ways, the success of what is provided