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St Thomas' CE Primary School
St Clement & St James CE Primary School
St Thomas' Federation - Stronger together
School Gateway
Vision and Values
LifeFull Schools vision and ethos
Our LifeFull Schools name is inspired by the words of Jesus in John 10:10:
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Our vision is to create thriving school communities, rooted in faith and united by purpose. We are committed to educational excellence, equity and joy — offering every child the opportunity to flourish by discovering who they are and what they can achieve.
Our shared ethos:
- Belong – everyone included, everyone welcome.
- Learn – Love to learn, gain knowledge.
- Grow – grow spiritually, in confidence and in courage.
Anti-racist Schools
We are committed to being actively anti-racist across all areas of school life. This means:
- Embedding anti-racism into our curriculum, staffing, and policies;
- Listening to and learning from the lived experiences of our communities;
- Equipping children with the language, empathy, and confidence to challenge injustice.
Our federation values the diversity of our families, and we believe inclusive practice is not an add-on — it’s foundational.
In line with the 2010 Equality Act, we seek to ensure that no student, member of staff, parent or any other person through their contact with the school receives less favourable treatment on any grounds which cannot be shown to be justified. This covers race, ethnic or national origin, language, religion or belief, gender or gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy, marital status, disability, age, responsibility for children or other dependants, political views and social class.
British Values
The Department of 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 and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs”.
What is meant by British values?
Learning about British values forms a key part of children’s spiritual, moral, cultural and social education. The five British values that the Government has identified for schools to focus on are:
- Democracy
- The rule of law
- Individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs
- Developing personal and social responsibility
- Respect for British Institutions
Within the federation, our schools reflect British values in all that we do. We aim to nurture our children on their journey through life so they can grow into safe, caring, democratic, responsible adults who make a positive difference to British society and to the world and the wider world. We support the development and understanding of British Values in a range of ways throughout the year so that they are an integral part of school life.
1. Democracy - everyone has a say in decision making
- Children understanding what the democratic process is and seeing it in action in their school community, even through simply taking turns during activities
- Democratically elected Eco Committees with representatives from each Key Stage
- Democratically elected Head Pupils for Year 6
- Learning Leaders - each child has the opportunity to become a learning leader throughout the year
- Year 6 pupils have jobs of responsibility around the school
- Children are encouraged to have input into community projects
- In Early Years, children vote on the most tidy areas in the learning environment at the end of the day and elect a tidy up inspector
2. Rule of Law - we respect the rules of the school and laws in society
- Implementing our procedures and protocols for dealing with any behavioural or bullying issues and incidents of racial, homophobic and other forms of discrimination, which demonstrates to pupils that we take these issues very seriously.
- Teaching children to learn about the process of law-making and the part that citizens can play in that process
- Police Awareness programme- workshops delivered to all year groups by Police Liaison officers
3. Individual liberty - the freedom to make our own choices
- Teaching an understanding of the concept of freedom and choice.
- Teaching our RE curriculum, which develops values of understanding, respect for others, including those of other faiths.
- Teaching children an understanding of human rights through collective worship and class lessons.
- Providing our extra-curricular provision, which offers equal opportunities for all children, boys and girls, and children with Special Educational Needs in sport, tuition, clubs and intervention / catch up programmes.
- Holding discussions in RE, English and other subjects, which allow children to develop respect for the opinions, values and beliefs of others.
4. Mutual respect - we respect everyone and expect respect in return
- ‘World of Friends’ collective worship and weekly prayer circles follow a carefully planned programme that focuses on respect (as one of the school’s values)
- RE and RSHE curricula in particular give opportunities for discussion and debate about mutual respect
- Through our school ethos, values, vision and curriculum, we actively strive for our schools to become visibly anti-racist. We aim for our schools to be places which are safe for all - both physically and psychologically. We are committed to learning, listening, reflecting and improving, both as individuals and as a collective. We continually review and make changes to our curriculum to ensure that the curriculum is inclusive of the experiences and histories of a diverse range of people. Through this, we aim to provide positive representation of the many communities and individuals who are part of our schools and beyond.
- BBC Newsround and First News newspapers help children understand and keep abreast of world affairs
5. Respect of those with different faiths and beliefs - together we are one community who care for and understand each other
- Teaching our RE curriculum, which develops values of understanding, tolerance and respect for others, including those of other faiths.
- Local History Projects help the children understand their place in the world and how immigration shaped their world
- Courageous Advocates week encourage children to notice where injustices are happening and empower them to make small changes to help
Within LifeFull Schools, we value the diversity of the backgrounds of all pupils, families and the wider school community and strongly believe in upholding British values through all aspects of our school provision.