At Thorpe Hesley Primary School we understand that the society we live in is diverse and our curriculum and life within school reflects this. We continually weave the thread of social, cultural, moral and spiritual British values throughout day to day school life and underpinning this are the values and understanding of democracy, law, liberty, respect, tolerance, tradition and heritage. We celebrate the role of Britain both historically and in the present. We want pupils to have knowledge of and be proud of their British heritage and the cultural and historical traditions that we are renowned for the world over. This involves celebrating Royal events, Remembrance Day, festivals such as Harvest, Christmas, Easter alongside those from other cultures such as Eid, Diwali and Chinese New Year, for example. We visit the local church at least four times a year to mark these celebrations. The children visit places of cultural significance as part of their wider curriculum.
Tolerance of different faiths and beliefs
We teach our pupils a rich and creative curriculum based around many faiths including Islam, Buddhism and Judaism. We teach information around different faiths, these lessons are learning experiences and are approached with lots of practical, creative and fun activities. Children are introduced to different faiths, they are shown that we can all have different beliefs and are free to express them in different ways. Individuals have the freedom to choose what they believe, not everyone is the same and we encourage our children to know and understand this. We visit a variety of places where faiths are celebrated. We celebrate a variety of religions including Diwali, the Eid festival and Harvest Festivals. We also run a Multi-Cultural half term every year, this centres around sharing the culture of a different part of the world with the children who live in Thorpe Hesley.
Mutual Respect
We teach mutual respect through our Behaviour systems, linked to our Anti-Bullying Policy. This is a positive behaviour model which celebrates success and has a positive attitude towards good behaviour, enabling children to earn back any Golden Time lost. Our Golden Rules are incorporated into every day at THPS. We have an active Pupil Council.
We have Playtime Buddies who support others at playtimes, ensuring everyone has a good playtime. Our lunchtimes engender mutual respect where good manners are the norm, children queue patiently, are encouraged to say please and thank you and clear up after themselves. Our lunch time helpers take responsibility for others.
Our wide ranging curriculum encourages creativity and supports diversity; this is supplemented by specific worldwide foci such as our Multi Cultural half term. In the past we have had a Bollywood Dance Team which took part in various events. This was limited due to the pandemic but will be returning.
We run various charity events including Children in Need, Red Nose Day, Save the Children, Sheffield Children’s Hospital (also in conjunction with our partner CCAT schools), Shiloh (charity for the homeless), British Heart Foundation, Salvation Army Christmas Gift Service, Special care Baby Units etc. Some of these are initiated and run by pupils themselves.
We celebrate achievements (sporting, social and academic) both in and out of school in assemblies, through certificates, on displays, on the website, Twitter and Instagram as well as on the weekly whole school newsletters home.
We have introduced a Head Boy and Girl (Year 6) and a Deputy Head Boy and Girl (Year 5) to add to our Pupil Council activity.
Individual Liberty
We encourage our children to make choices, eg: play time, choosing school dinners.
Our homework curriculum is specifically designed to promote collaboration and independent choice and children are invited to be part of a weekly Homework Club to widen their choices.
Children are encouraged to be inquisitive and enquiring but to take no risks where safeguarding is concerned. All pupils receive eSafety training termly in class. Other safeguarding issues are covered in assemblies and lessons. We have a ‘Worry Box’ in each building where children can write any worry and a member of staff reads them and deals with the issue confidentially, maybe just taking time to chat or giving a child a chance to voice a concern. Larger issues are dealt with as soon as possible by our SEMH / Wellbeing Team.
Our school curriculum promotes independence with children from the onset of F1 supported to independently access the curriculum, organising themselves and finding resources to aid their learning. This is also built upon through KS1and into KS2 making our children independent learners and citizens.
Children are encouraged to make choices about their lifestyle, for example, participation in after school and lunchtime clubs as well as supported to initiate their own clubs and charitable events.
The ‘Equality Act 2010’ protects all individuals from discrimination and it is the schools duty to ensure that all individuals have equal access and opportunity to all that is on offer. Funding, including that for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and disadvantaged pupils, is used to target inequalities, to ensure equality. As part of our PSHCE curriculum we place a huge emphasis on the social and emotional learning of our children and feel we send them off to secondary school as well rounded individuals.
Democracy
We have democratic systems in school which children are aware of and take part in, this involves our Pupil Council. This is made up of a pupil from each class who has been democratically elected by their peers after either writing or speaking a manifesto. Meetings take place frequently and their role is to ensure the smooth running of school, voice their peers’ thoughts and suggest and implement activities which will improve our school. They also contribute to ensuring our role within the local community is a positive one. We also have a Head Boy / Girl and Deputy Head Boy / Girl.
Our Governing Board is a very active group within school, reviewing and visiting regularly as well as presenting Governor Awards to pupils who are nominated by others and then recognised by the Governing Body.
Rule of Law
All children and their parents sign a yearly contract with school called the ‘Home School Agreement’. We also have our own school ‘laws’, The Golden Rules. These feature regularly in assemblies as well as in class. Our Golden Rules are the way we live our lives at THPS, ensuring we have respect and consideration for others by following them. All staff in school expect children to adhere to them at all times, no poor behaviour is ever ignored or tolerated.
We teach our pupils to be good citizens of the future and ensure that they understand and respect the laws of being a good member of any community. Good manners are an expectation and pupils hold doors open for adults, step out of the way when necessary and greet visitors pleasantly.
Our Y6 pupils visit Crucial Crew which shares life skills and teaches them how to avoid a range of potentially hazardous situations. This supports understanding of the law and what it means in practise. Visits from authorities such as the Police and Fire Service help reinforce this message for all year groups.
We teach all our children about laws and commandments regarding religion eg: 10 commandments, 5 pillars. They are taught about the different ‘rules’ which apply to faiths, eg: wearing a turban. Our history curriculum talks about the evolution of laws and democracy ranging from Ancient Greece and Egypt to modern life.
