At East Whitby we take pride in developing outstanding teaching and learning by holding the highest expectations of all our pupils and knowing the children well. We challenge all children to strive for academic, creative, sporting and personal accomplishment within a broad, vibrant and enriched curriculum. Our students are given time to explore subjects and develop deep understanding.  We celebrate perseverance, resilience and risk taking, ensuring children welcome challenge and are not frightened to make mistakes.

We encourage children to take ownership of and responsibility for their learning, so they have the confidence and curiosity to ask questions, solve problems and respond to quality feedback. Children are praised for hard work, determination and having a positive attitude. In order to create an inclusive school where everyone can flourish, whatever their background, we promote an ethos of respect and empathy, where diversity is valued and celebrated – both within school and the wider world.

Pupils are taught the virtues of kindness, appreciation and what it means to be courageous. Special care is taken to educate everyone in the East Whitby community about the needs of others and how best to meet them.

We foster open and honest communication with parents, carers and specialists and actively seek to engage with all members of the East Whitby community in a positive supportive manner. High quality teaching is a key priority at East Whitby and the relationship between staff and children underpins inspirational, supportive and effective teaching and learning.

Staff are actively involved in identifying their support and training needs and this leads to careers with clear progression. We ensure that there is a wide range of quality training available and that staff are able to learn from each other and share good practice.

It is our aim for all children to leave East Whitby as confident learners with self-belief and an abiding respect for others. We aim to instil a lifelong love for learning and a strong grounding for future success.

We promote achievement by:

Holding the highest expectations for all

Striving for every child to make the very best possible progress

Being restless in our pursuit of excellence

We develop as confident and independent learners by:

Providing learning which excites passion and curiosity.

Embracing challenge and not giving up

Trying our best without fear of failure

Speaking knowledgeably about our strengths and areas of improvement

We value supportive and positive relationships by:

Bringing out the best in each other

Showing pride in one another’s achievements

Creating strong partnerships between home, school and the wider community

We appreciate others by:

Valuing and respecting the rights of others

Making sure everybody feels listened to

Promoting good manners and caring attitude

The Government set out its definition of British values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy, and these values have been reiterated this year (2014).  At East Whitby these values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways. We keep an up to date audit of all such teaching and learning opportunities.

Democracy

East Whitby follows aspects of the UNICEF Rights Respecting agenda. Each year the children decide upon their class charter and the rights associated with these. All the children contribute to the drawing up of the charter.

Children have many opportunities for their voices to be heard. We have a school council which meets regularly to discuss issues raised in class council meetings. The council can genuinely effect change within the school (for example the MUGA in the KS2 yard was driven by the school council). Council members for each year group are voted in by their class. Our last election was on polling day.

Children have an annual questionnaire with which they are able to put forward their views about the school.

The Rule of Law

The importance of Laws, whether they be those that govern the class, the school, or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout regular school days, as well as when dealing with behaviour and through school assemblies. 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. Visits from authorities such as the Police and Fire Service help reinforce this message.

Individual Liberty

Within 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 young pupils to make choices safely, through provision of a safe environment and empowering education.  Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and advised how to exercise these safely, for example through our E-Safety and PSHE lessons. Whether it be through choice of learning challenge, of participation in our numerous extra-curricular clubs and opportunities, pupils are given the freedom to make choices.

Mutual Respect

Mutual respect is at the heart of our values. Children learn that their behaviours have an effect on their own rights and those of others. All members of the school community treat each other with respect.

Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs)

East Whitby is situated in an area which is not greatly culturally diverse, therefore we place a great emphasis on promoting diversity with the children. Assemblies are regularly planned to address this issue either directly or through the inclusion of stories and celebrations from a variety of faiths and cultures. Our RE, PSHE and RRSA teaching reinforce this. Members of different faiths or religions are encouraged to share their knowledge to enhance learning within classes and the school. Children visit places of worship that are important to different faiths.

At East Whitby we will actively challenge pupils, staff or parents expressing opinions contrary to fundamental British Values, including ‘extremist’ views.