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Character Teaching

Staff Expectations

Character can be both explicitly taught but also caught in building a positive ethos in school. Caught approaches to character education place importance on the quality relationships between students and staff within all school activities and emphasises the importance of teachers acting as positive role models for their students.

As form tutors, during registrations, our expectations are:

  • To uphold uniform standards, basic manners and courtesy, praise students’ values such as integrity, compassion etc.
  • Delivery of one PSHCE session each week linked to character.
  • Monitoring tutor groups academic mentoring around our core values.
  • Supporting form groups in delivering an assembly linked to a given value.
  • Role-modelling at all times our values such as respecting students by not shouting in their face.

As subject teachers, during lessons, our expectations are:

  • To promote our core values and use praise points to acknowledge students’ participation of these.
  • Role-modelling at all times our values such as respecting students by not shouting in their face.
  • Taking opportunities to praise students’ values, particularly the intellectual and performance ones which encourage greater independent learning.
  • Take other opportunities to highlight the different values which naturally link with subject lessons and where possible take time to discuss and debate them within the subject context.

As an adult around the school, our expectations are:

  • Setting and upholding uniform standards, basic manners and courtesy, and praise students’ values such as respect.
  • Actively supervise students and encourage students to make the right choices through use of the language of character.
  • Proactively monitor the environment and encourage students to make the right choices e.g., not drop litter, no graffiti etc – show respect to the environment.
  • Sanction any negative language/behaviour that goes against our core values.
  • Role-model at all times our values such as respecting students by not shouting in their face.

Civic Values

‘Character traits that are necessary for engaged responsible citizenship, contributing to the common good.’

These are values that we learn to respect as citizens. They are values that involve thinking of others instead of yourself and are important to develop our young people as they grow into our next citizens.

Values Include:

  • Service

  • Neighbourliness

  • Citizenship

  • Community awareness

  • Volunteering

  • Social justice

As an Academy we are already looking at developing these through various initiatives like:

  • Food Bank collections

  • School Council

  • PSHE programme

  • Assemblies

 Intellectual Values

'Character traits necessary for discernment, right action and the pursuit of knowledge, truth and understanding.'

Intellectual virtues are qualities of mind and character that promote intellectual flourishing, critical thinking, and the pursuit of truth. These are important to our young people as they prepare them for further education and future careers.

Values Include:

  • Reflection

  • Focus

  • Critical thinking

  • Reason and judgement

  • Curiosity

  • Resourcefulness

  • Open mindedness

  • Wisdom

  • Creativity

As an Academy we are already looking at developing these through various initiatives like:

  •  Brilliant club

  • Debating Club

  • Mentoring programmes

Moral Values

‘Character traits that enable us to act well in situations that require an ethical response.’

These are values that are important when making difficult decisions and ‘doing the right thing’. It is about us teaching the students about the importance of being a good person and making the right choices even when under external pressures.

Values Include:

  • Courage

  • Compassion

  • Gratitude

  • Justice

  • Honesty

  • Humility

  • Modesty

  • Self-discipline

  • Tolerance

  • Integrity

  • Friendliness

  • Respect

  • Trust

Performance Values

‘Character traits that have an instrumental value in enabling the intellectual, moral and civic virtues.’

These values are important in the day-to-day lives of our young people and within these then all other values are not supported. These values will again help support our young people as they move forward in their lives.

Values Include:

  • Resilience

  • Perseverance

  • Determination

  • Leadership

  • Teamwork

  • Confidence

  • Motivation

  • Ambition

  • Problem-solving

  • Communication

Two of the values (Teamwork and Resilience) we have chosen to focus on as a school are within this area.