Our Values – The All Saints’ Way

“At its best, education must be a process of shaping human beings to reach out for and enjoy abundant life, and to do so in such strong communities of widely varying ability but distinctive approaches to each student that they and all around them flourish.” Rt Hon Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, Speech in the House of Lords, Dec 8^th, 2017

At our school, we have 10 core Christian Values which support us in our daily actions, enabling us to fulfil our vision and flourish at school.

At NLAS, we nurture an inclusive atmosphere where everyone feels accepted and valued for their unique self. This stems from our belief that part of our mission is to shine as God’s light in the world (Matt 5:14). We believe that we have a duty to leave the world, God’s Kingdom, in a better place than we find it, linking back to our daily attitude to work, each other, the environment and those who we are yet to meet. Children are taught to think of others and serve each other with humility and grace so that we can live out our lives in all their fulness (John 10:10) as we say in our school prayer.

A NLAS child is resilient and feels secure and supported in reaching their potential, ready for the challenges of today and prepared for tomorrow – that’s the All Saints’ Way.

NLAS children, whatever their starting point, make sustained progress that is well above the national average, and have a depth of understanding across the curriculum – that’s the All Saints’ Way.

Our whole school community works together and in partnership with others, to sustain our ethos and create opportunities for everyone to thrive and develop – that’s the All Saints’ Way.

We will develop our environment to create safe, inspiring spaces to learn and work, enable innovative outdoor education and reduce our environmental impact as much as possible – that’s the All Saints’ Way. 

Love, Forgiveness, Respect, Honesty, Hope, Trust, Joy, Patience, Kindness, and Resilience.

We focus on two values per half term, with the final half term of the year used as a recap on all of them.

• Autumn 1: Respect & Kindness
• Autumn 2: Hope & Joy
• Spring 1: Honesty & Trust
• Spring 2: Resilience & Forgiveness
• Summer 1: Patience & Love
• Summer 2: All values returned to weekly linking to Matthew 5:14 & John 10:10

British Values

The Department for Education states that there is a need “to create and enforce a clear and rigorous expectation on all schools to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.”

The government set out its definition of British values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy and these values were reiterated by the Prime Minister in 2014. Our school supports the identification of a clear set of values that promote a culture where every member of the human family is valued and respected within an inclusive, harmonious, loving society. 

The social, moral, spiritual, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils is a priority. This can be seen across our website, within our vision, our curriculum, and our commitment to an exceptional extra-curricular offer. You can also visit our Social Media and Google Classroom pages to see this in action:

At NLAS, British values are incorporated across our curriculum and reinforced regularly and in the following ways:

Democracy

Democracy is embedded in our school. Our pupils 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. Pupils also have the opportunity to air their opinions and ideas through various leadership positions and regular questionnaires and pupil interviews. They are often asked to vote for activities or individuals to represent them.

The rule of law

The importance of laws and rules, whether they are those that govern the school or the country, are consistently reinforced. Our school has rules which are deeply embedded in our work every day and encompass our Christian values. Our children know this as Our All Saints’ Way. Each class discusses and displays the school rules which are clearly understood by all and seen to be necessary to ensure that every pupil is able to learn in a safe and ordered environment. Our pupils are taught the value and reasons behind laws, that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken. Details about school rewards and sanctions, choice and consequences are detailed in our behaviour policy.

Individual liberty

Within our school, pupils are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. As a school, we educate and provide boundaries for our pupils to make choices safely, through the provision of a safe environment, an empowering education and a curriculum based upon clear Christian values. Our pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are advised how to exercise these safely; examples of this can be clearly seen in our Computing and PSHE lessons. Whether it is through the choice of challenge; of how they record or of participation in our numerous extra- curricular activities, our pupils are given the freedom to make choices.

Mutual respect

Respect is one of our core values and key to our school rules and it is deeply embedded in all that we do at the school. Our pupils know and understand that it is expected and imperative that respect is shown to everyone, whatever differences we may have and to everything, however big or small. Our children also value the importance of respecting God’s world. The core value of respect at NLAS underpins our work every day both in and out of the classroom.

Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith

Our core values of respect and kindness ensure tolerance of those who have different faiths and beliefs.NLAS enhances pupils’ understanding of different faiths and beliefs through religious education studiesfollowing the Blackburn Diocese scheme; PSHE work, visits to places of worship, welcoming visitors ofother faiths, respecting the different faiths and beliefs of our own members of staff and enjoying leaning about these during themed weeks as part of our Enrichment Calendar. Through this, our pupils gain anenhanced understanding of their place in a culturally diverse society.