Ethos and Values
At Garway Primary School children really matter. Our curriculum is strongly focussed on meeting pupils’ individual needs and ensuring all our children are interested and motivated to learn.
We encourage children to develop into independent, resilient, creative and reflective learners, but also good collaborators who communicate well and can play an active part in a team.
We promote enjoyment of learning through an active, enquiry based approach which often takes learning into the outdoor environment.
We have high expectations, and every child’s ability is recognised, developed and rewarded. Clear procedures are in place to identify and meet children’s individual needs, providing extra support and new challenges where appropriate, to help every child make good progress.
Whilst we have a strong focus on the core skills of literacy and numeracy, we recognise the value and importance of scientific and creative skills in developing well rounded individuals. We have developed an integrated curriculum with a diverse range of topics which embrace all the subjects of the National Curriculum.
Values Education
As a small school, we are able to know each child very well and can support them in the social and emotional aspects of growing up. At Garway School, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is explored through a number of agreed ‘values’ which underpin the ethos and work of our school.
Values are principles that drive behaviour. They influence our actions and attitude and become our framework for living. Values-based Education is an approach that focusses on a set of values to create a strong learning environment, enhancing academic attainment and self-motivation, developing pupils’ social and relationship skills and ensuring behaviour is calm and purposeful.
At Garway, we have a whole school ‘Value of the Month’ which is explored across the school through assemblies and circle time activities.
Pupils begin to understand values through a combination of practice and direct teaching. Positive values are modelled by staff so that pupils learn how to recognise them and how people react to them. Through assemblies and class ‘circle times’ they learn how to apply and talk about values appropriately. The children are actively encouraged to grapple with ‘big’ philosophical questions and use a wide ethical vocabulary confidently.