Preparing Northwood children for life in Modern Britain
As a Rights Respecting School, Northwood Primary School promotes tolerance and respect for all cultures, faiths and lifestyles through our purpose, values, motto and golden rules. These elements run through our curriculum and indeed all that we do. We also ensure that the British values of democracy and respect for the Rule of Law are promoted at every opportunity.
Our purpose and values are displayed around the school with pupils’ thoughts and responses to each element.
We have Rights Respecting ambassadors from each year group from Year 1 to Year 6. They are given responsibilities around the school and they hold a weekly Assembly on a Wednesday.
We have a duty to prepare our children for life in modern Britain and to keep them safe. We value the importance of the current Ofsted guidance:
“ensure that they and the school promote tolerance of and respect for people of all faiths (or those of no faith), cultures and lifestyles; and support and help, through their words, actions and influence within the school and more widely in the community, to prepare children and young people positively for life in modern Britain”
We value the diverse ethnic backgrounds of all pupils and families and undertake a variety of events and lessons to celebrate these. We have found this approach to be enriching for all parties as it teaches tolerance and respect for the differences in our community and the wider world. Underpinning all this are a range of curriculum topics which have strong links to British History.
Key Stage 1 study the lives of significant historical figures and key events in British history e.g. Bonfire night and the story of Guy Fawkes, as well as studying local history.
In Key Stage 2 British history is taught chronologically through Years 3 to Year 5, starting with a broader local study of our area. Periods then studied are The Stone Age to the Iron Age in Year 3, Roman Empire and its significant figures and their impact on Britain in Year 4, Anglo Saxons and Vikings in Year 5. In Year 6 they study an extended period including significant turning points in British History,
Each year we celebrate Remembrance Day commemorations where children purchase poppies and a two minutes silence is held. This year, 2014, being the commemoration of the outbreak of the First World War we held a special Assembly.
As a whole school, we have celebrated the World Cup with a whole school interest as well as an event in each class. We celebrated the Olympics, with a visiting artist who worked with a group of children to produce an Olympic themed display. In recent years, we celebrated the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the birth of Prince George with special Assemblies and themed lessons. The Golden Jubilee was another high profile event celebrated by the school with a concert featuring music from each decade of the Queen’s reign. We have supported Help for Heroes by collecting plastic caps from milk cartons and by collecting goods to send to the forces at Christmas.
As a Rights Respecting School we do a great deal of work through Assemblies and Stay and Learn sessions on global issues and we highlight the contrast in the lives of children in other parts of the world to the lives of those children at Northwood.
We are currently supporting a project which is collecting shoes for refugees arriving in Iraq.
Through the Rights Respecting global work we now support our International charity which is Water Aid. We also support a national charity, Children in Need, and we support a local charity, the Thamesmead Food Bank.
Rights Respecting Ambassadors are very involved in this work and encourage the rest of the school to support the initiatives.
On a general level, the school undertakes daily assemblies which uphold traditional values of empathy, respect and tolerance. We use a variety of materials including some UNICEF materials for school Assemblies. These values are also taught within formal RE and philosophy lessons and on an informal nature throughout the school days.
All staff are expected to represent our purpose, values, motto and golden rules whatever their role within the school.
Our RE curriculum is planned directly from the new 2014 Bexley Syllabus and is based on key faiths. This further embeds respect for others which is based on a deeper knowledge and understanding.
Democracy is evident within our school. All stakeholders have a voice and pupils’ contributions are taken seriously by all adults.
Each class has a focus group which is chaired by the Rights Respecting leader along with the ambassadors from that class. The focus group represents the opinions of that class and raise any issues that need to be dealt with.
We have a school dinner forum with members from all year groups from year 2 to year 6. They meet regularly with the catering company to share the views of all children collected in regular surveys. Our children are confident in meeting with adults because they know that their opinions and comments are valued and taken seriously. They have seen things change because of their input.
Peer mentors apply for their posts and are given various daily responsibilities around the school.
Our pupils are taught about keeping safe, both physically and in the broader sense of issues like e-safety. Pupils are offered training on a termly basis to ensure that personal safety remains high profile. Pupils feel safe at Northwood and their parents believe that the school keeps their children safe. This is evident in all feedback including the parents’ questionnaire, the results of which are published on our website.
Regarding the Rule of Law, pupils understand the importance of rules both in school and in the wider society and one of our golden rules promotes the respect of all others and all property. We teach children the reasons behind rules, and they understand that the main purpose of rules is to protect us and to keep us safe. They also understand that if rules are broken there are consequences. Our school behaviour code flow chart is a clear example of this. Adults always discuss with children which aspect of the code has been broken and children understand what the consequence of that action is and why it’s being given.
We also have a house system and an achievement book which allows those children who follow the rules to be rewarded for their good choices.
We have a very positive relationship with our PCSOs who visit regularly and attend special school events when their working pattern allows.
We are very proud at Northwood School as we feel our Northwood Values are a true reflection of British Values.
Northwood School Purpose:
At Northwood we make a difference by:
so that we can become lifelong learners.
Northwood School Values
RESPECT yourself and others at all times
Be inspired to learn and INSPIRE others
Work hard to ACHIEVE the very best that you can
Proud of Achievement, Determined to Improve