School Values and Ethos
Our Vision
Happiness and a sense of belonging are the keys to success and at St Monica Primary School we hold this at the heart of all we do. We are committed to providing a positive, safe and stimulating environment that supports us in delivering memorable and purposeful learning experiences.
We have very high expectations for our children and will strive to achieve the best possible outcomes.
At St Monica, we will empower all the children to be the best they can be, which includes creating curious minds, encouraging a thirst for learning and a willingness to take risks and a sense of pride in their achievements.
We nurture all children within our St Monica family and encourage them to be polite, well-mannered & respectful of themselves, each other and of our community.
Our Values
Innovation - trying out new things
Nurture - growing in a community of care and support
Success - achieving our best
Passion - developing enthusiasm and a love for learning
Integrity - being honest
Responsibility - accepting accountability for our actions
Excellence - achieving the extraordinary
Our Learning Powers
At St Monica Primary School, we are on a journey to grow our 'Learning Power.' In other words, we are all learning to be better learners.
Lifelong learning and the promotion and development of independent learners is a key objective for our school.
In our school, we follow Professor Guy Claxton’s work on Building Learning Power (BLP). Guy Claxton’s work suggests that there are four key learning dispositions – Resilience, Resourcefulness, Reflectiveness and Reciprocity. (We have changed Reciprocity to Relationships here.) The four Rs of learning. Each of the four Rs is made up of a number of areas of learning which are called muscles.
At St Monica, we teach the children all about these skills and learning muscles and how that just as we can build our physical muscles with the right kinds of exercise, we can also exercise our learning muscles to develop their strength and stamina.
We will use BLP to develop our ‘Language for Learning’ in school and this will enable us to engage all pupils in a dialogue using a common language to support and develop our understanding of how we learn. It is our intention that the children use the language for learning to explain ways in which they achieved or approached tasks and how they can move on to the next chapter in their learning.
We hope that this information helps to make you aware of the language we use and you can use the same language to discuss and support your child’s learning.
You may have already heard these Rs. Here’s a bit more information about what they mean.
Relationship
The key elements of this disposition are Imitation, Interdependence, Listening and Collaboration.
The children will learn how, why and when it is best to learn on their own, with a partner or within a group and develop the skills they need to be a valued member of a team and a learning community.
Resourcefulness
The key elements of this are disposition Questioning, Capitalising, Making Links, Reasoning and Imagining.
The children will develop their ability to ask and answer questions, use resources around them to help them with their learning, make links between the different areas of their learning and of course, use their imaginations!
Resilience
The key elements of this disposition are Perseverance, Noticing, Managing Distractions and Absorption.
The children will learn how to stay locked onto their learning, the importance of never giving up and the benefits of learning when getting un-stuck.
Reflectiveness
The key elements of this disposition are Planning, Meta-learning, Distilling and Revising.
The children will learn how and why they learn and will be encouraged to regularly look back on their learning to see whether they have met their targets and objectives. They will be asked to think about future targets and areas for improvement.
We hope that this information will give you an idea of Building Learning Power.
Aims
We believe that the primary years at school are a vital part of the whole development of each child. In support of that belief we strive to:
- Achieve the highest standards in learning and behaviour
- Encourage a sense of self-worth as well as respect and tolerance for others
- Encourage children to develop positive attitudes to life and to learning
- Provide an exciting curriculum that is motivating, creative and fun
- Actively promote British Values - tolerance, rule of law, justice, respect and liberty
- Ensure that all children flourish and achieve their full potential
- Engage the support of parents and community in the process of learning.
- Encourage all children to develop personal, spiritual and cultural values
- Our ultimate aim is to give all our children the confidence and enthusiasm to become lifelong learners in a changing world
Positive Behaviours
At St Monica Primary School, we like to keep our expectations for behaviour clear and simple so that they can be easily understood by our whole school community.
In our school, we ask that everyone is 'Respectful, Safe and Ready.'
