Ethos and Values

At Wilbraham, we firmly believe that children learn better and achieve more when they are happy and when they are stimulated by their curriculum.  We wanted to embed this idea in all aspects of school life, so we set about creating our school vision for what this would look like.

We have a core set of values which we believe encapsulate this:

“We want children at Wilbraham Primary School to be safe, happy, polite, confident, creative and unique.”

This shared vision was arrived at by engaging all stakeholders in the school.  First, our school council were asked to produce a short video saying what they thought a child at our school should be like and what qualities they should have.  All staff were given the opportunity to view the video at a training day and add their own suggestions.  These were taken back to the school council who then shared them with the classes they represent.  The classes voted for their favourite qualities and the statement of aspirations was created.

Our values are displayed around the school and all children have the opportunity to discuss them with their class and teachers.  Pupil voice forms an important part of how we evaluate how well we are doing in providing an educational experience which lives up to our values.

British Values

According to the Government, British values are:

• Democracy;
• The rule of law;
• Individual liberty;
• Mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith.

At Wilbraham Primary School, we use the Philosophy for Children (P4C) approach to instill British values.  All children have the opportunity to discuss issues in a fair and democratic manner.  In a typical session, ground rules will be discussed and referred to throughout the session (The rule of law).  Children will choose a question to be discussed by the whole group by voting (Democracy).  Everyone will be free to say what they want and challenge what other people say in an appropriate manner (Individual liberty and mutual respect).

In addtion to our P4C sessions, the children are taught about their own and other people's religions using the Agreed Manchester Syllabus. This further encourages the mutual respect for and tolerance of other people's faiths and beliefs including those without faith.

We survey the children about their understanding of British values.  The School Council (which is voted for by the children) discuss any issues that children bring to them and these issues are also discussed in our P4C sessions.