Values & Vision
Our Falkland vision is...
To develop all our children to be healthy, confident, articulate, lifelong learners who are making a positive contribution to society.
To ensure all our children leave us with the skills, knowledge and mind-set to reach their full potential.
Our school will nurture and support every child, encouraging them to achieve their full potential in a safe and caring environment, where everyone is valued and respected.
“Everyone is a learner and every experience is a learning opportunity.”
We will do this by
- Proudly owning ‘WE ARE FALKLAND’
- Keep children at the centre of all we do
- Embed our Falkland values in all that we do
- Have high expectations of ourselves and all our children
- Recognise the contribution that everyone can make to children’s learning
- Encourage everyone to be a problem solver with a ‘can do’ attitude
- Build self-confidence by supporting risk taking
- Provide challenging active learning that gives choice and independence
- Ensure our school is an inclusive, stimulating environment that reflects and celebrates our creative learning
- Develop a meaningful partnership with all our parents and carers and our local community
- Make use of our location so that children experience and feel part of our local community
- Enable our pupils to understand they are citizens of a wider global community
Falkland Values
What are values?
Values are the things we believe in, such as kindness, equality and respect, that help us to make decisions about how to behave. They are a set of tools that we carry with us all our lives that guide our actions.
At Falkland Primary School, we believe in the importance of developing children’s understanding of our school values so that they can demonstrate these through their behaviour and actions towards others. We actively encourage the development of understanding why these values are important for a harmonious school community as well as in the wider world.
Our school values were chosen by consulting with the whole school community, where we agreed on 6 values – one to focus on each half term. These are: kindness, resilience, honesty, resourcefulness, reflectiveness and teamwork. Through whole school and phase assemblies, we explore the meaning and develop their understanding through the use of discussion, stories and real life examples. At Falkland Primary School, all adults are encouraged to model values and to give time for reflective practices. Pupils are encouraged to think about how we can demonstrate these values in the way we behave towards others.
We recognise and celebrate where children have actively modelled these values in their learning and the wider community. This encourages others to do so and ensures that our children and staff are aware of how they can all individually and collectively have a positive impact on our school environment and in their interactions with everyone they meet. Our Friday celebration assembly is one of the most special moments of the school week. The whole school meets to celebrate those pupils and members of staff who have demonstrated our Falkland values that week.
British Values
At Falkland Primary School, we also take every opportunity to promote British Values, defined by the government as: Democracy, The Rule of Law, Individual Liberty, Mutual Respect and Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs. We aim to promote these values both in lessons and in extra-curricular activities to ensure our children leave school fully prepared for life in modern Britain.
At Falkland Primary School, children are not specifically taught British values; rather they are reinforced regularly. Examples as to how these are integrated into the curriculum are given below:
Democracy:
Democracy is embedded in Falkland Primary School. Children are always listened to by adults and are taught to listen carefully and with concern to each other, respecting the right of every individual to have their opinions and voices heard. Every member of the school community; children, parents, staff have an opportunity for their voices to be heard through annual surveys.
In 2023, staff recognised the need to increase the power of pupil voices and so moved away from a traditional school council. In its place, we introduced a range of pupil roles to promote greater engagement of children in the running of their school. Roles include: Falkland Ambassadors, Sport Leaders, Reading Champions, Digital Leaders, Eco Warriors, Music Leaders and Wellbeing Leaders. Each year approximately 20% of the whole pupil population are selected for these roles.
Additionally, children are given the opportunity annually to elect a boy and girl to be House Captain and Vice-Captain.
Democracy is promoted through:
- Providing children with a broad general knowledge of, and promoting respect for, public institutions and services
- Teaching children how they can influence decision-making through the democratic process
- Including in the curriculum information on the advantages and disadvantages of democracy and how it works in Britain
- Encouraging the children to become involved in the decision making processes and ensure they are listened to in school
- Holding `mock elections’ so children learn how to argue and defend points of view
- Helping children to express their views
- Teaching children how public services operate and how they are held to account
- Modelling how perceived injustice can be peacefully challenged.
The Rule of Law:
The importance of laws, whether they govern the class, the school or the country, is consistently reinforced at Falkland Primary. Children are taught the value and the reasons behind rules and laws; that they protect us and give structure to our lives and the responsibilities we all have to follow them. They are also taught that breaking rules will result in a consequence. Visits from authorities such as the Police, British Transport and the Fire Service help to reinforce this message.
The Rule of Law is promoted through:
- Ensuring school rules and expectations are clear and fair
- Helping children to distinguish right from wrong
- Helping children to respect the law and the basis on which it is made
- Helping children to understand that living under the rule of law protects individuals
- Including visits from the police and fire service in the curriculum
- Teaching children aspects of both civil and criminal law and discuss how this might differ from some religious laws
- Developing restorative justice approaches to resolving conflicts
Individual Liberty:
Children are actively encouraged to make decisions within a safe and supportive environment. They are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are advised on how to do so safely. We aim to provide an empowering education for all children through the wider curriculum.
Individual Liberty is promoted through:
- Supporting children to develop their self-knowledge, self-esteem and self confidence
- Encouraging children to take responsibility for their behaviour, as well as knowing their rights
- Modelling freedom of speech through pupil participation, while ensuring protection of vulnerable children and promoting critical analysis of evidence
- Challenging stereotypes
- Implementing a strong anti-bullying culture
Mutual Respect:
Children learn that their behaviours have an effect on others and that they are responsible for ensuring all members of the school community are treated appropriately. They understand how we show respect through our actions and words.
Tolerance of Different Faiths and Beliefs:
At Falkland, while we acknowledge that we are not the most diverse school, we recognise the importance of working even harder to foster tolerance and respect. Through a range of celebratory events, we strive to create a welcoming environment that promotes understanding of different cultures and backgrounds. Our robust SMSC provision, alongside our Religious Education and PSHE lessons, reinforces these values. We encourage members of different faiths and religions in our school and wider community to share their knowledge, enriching learning experiences both in the classroom and throughout the school.
Mutual Respect and Tolerance is promoted through:
- Promoting respect for individual differences
- Helping children to acquire an understanding of, and respect for, their own and others’ culture and ways of life
- Challenging prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour
- Organising visits to places of worship
- Developing links with faith communities
- Developing initial personal thinking skills
- Discuss differences between people, such as differences of faith, ethnicity, disability, gender or sexuality and differences of family situations, such as looked-after children or young carers, as well as wealth and the distribution of wealth and support from the government through funding such as pupil premium and other benefits that support educationally.
School Development Plan (SDP)
falkland sdp priorities 2024.pdf