Benenden Church of England Primary School

Vision & Values

Our Vision is to be a learning community that enables people to live life in all its fullness in a changing world.

In order to achieve this, our Mission is to build meaningful relationships within our communities to develop and fulfill our potential.

We aspire to create a happy, secure and stimulating environment underpinned by our Christian Values.

We want to be known for being a learning community that is: “Adventurous Together” - our school motto.

 

Our Values

Benenden Church of England Primary School seeks to live out the values of Jesus Christ.   The following Christian values that link centrally to the parable of 'The Good Samaritan' to help us remember them. Within the parable, they follow this order:

 

 Our values underpin everything we do; we promote these values by our words and deeds.  We provide a curriculum, which is broad and balanced, recognising that every pupil is unique and is created in the image of God (Gen 1:27). Our curriculum is designed to enable every pupil to be adventurous,  discern their vocation and to be well-equipped to follow it as active citizens in service to the world.

At Benenden, we also promote the following fundamental British values:

Justice & the Law

  • an understanding of how citizens can influence decision-making through the democratic process;
  • an appreciation that living under the rule of law protects individual citizens and is essential for their wellbeing and safety;
  • an understanding that there is a separation of power between the executive and the judiciary, and that while some public bodies such as the police and the army can be held to account through Parliament, others such as the courts maintain independence;
  • an understanding that the freedom to choose and hold other faiths and beliefs is protected in law;
  • an acceptance that other people having different faiths or beliefs to oneself (or having none) should be accepted and tolerated, and should not be the cause of prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour; and
  • an understanding of the importance of identifying and combatting discrimination.

Democracy

  • Having a school council;
  • Highlighting the development of democratic ideas in history lessons;
  • Allowing pupils to vote in a range of situations linked to school life e.g. classes selecting a charity they wish to support via a class ballot;
  • Ensuring all pupils are listened to by adults;
  • Inviting MPs and other speakers to the school;
  • Holding mock elections.                                                                 

The Rule of Law

  • The whole school creating taking a Pride in their school and how that works inconjunction with school rules.
  • Having a clear behaviour policy that is explained to all;
  • Highlighting the rules of the Church and God in the RE curriculum, for example the 10 commandments and the Precepts of the Church.  

Personal Responsibility and Individual Liberty

  • Encouraging children to be independent in their learning;
  • Providing children with opportunities for reflection. 

Mutual respect

  • Having a mission statement that is inclusive;
  • Constantly promoting respect for others as good manners;
  • Reinforcing the value of everyone’s opinions in class discussions;
  • Having an effective anti-bullying policy;
  • Emphasising in RE and PSHE lessons that every person is unique and “created in the image of God”;
  • Having active educational links with other schools;
  • Supporting charitable works. 

Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs

  • Highlight how Religious Education provides pupils with a deep understanding of their own faith as well as awareness of the faith and traditions of other religious communities as a basis for understanding and respecting them;
  • Show how Jesus encouraged tolerance in stories such as The Good Samaritan and The Women at the Well.