Values at St. Wilfrid’s Catholic Primary School

Teaching and Learning policy

Review date summer term 2015

-Vision Statement-

…”St Wilfrid's is committed to enriching the life of everyone that passes through our school by living out the gospel values and seeing Jesus in each other. Children will have the independence to make up their own minds and the courage to act and think for themselves. We give our children the freedom to think outside the box knowing that their individuality is valued. Our curriculum encourages children to be creative through collaborative learning. Children will enjoy the education they receive enabling them to reach their full potential and aspire to be life long learners.”…-Mission Statement-Hope in GodHere at St Wilfrid’s we work together to live like JesusOur vision is to enrich the life of everyone that passes through our schoolPraising and celebrating effort and successEnsuring fairness where every child matters Inviting our school, parish and locality friends to support us on our journey of faithNurturing spiritual growth through our Catholic ethos Giving each other the opportunity for development in learning, worship and serving othersOffering a safe and happy school where every person is valuedDoing our best to see Jesus in one another   

At St Wilfrid’s collaboration is moving forward together towards a common goal, through active participation from the whole school community at all levels. Helping, supporting and challenging each other, is encouraged so no one person ever feels alone. We understand, acknowledge and celebrate that success come from working together.  

• Be able to work with a range of different people

• Show active watching and listening

• Be inclusive of everyone showing encouragement, help and support verbally and practically

• Be able to participate in different ways and take on different roles

• Value everyone’s ideas and thoughts showing adaptation and compromise

• Show confidence to participate in a safe environment where peers will respect each other.

•  

Lear

ners

will

:

• Provide opportunities for children to work with a range of different people

• Model the skills need for collaboration included with children and adults

• Offer advice and praise at appropriate times

• Build up a family ethos in class so children feel valued and accepted by everyone for who they are

• Encourage children to recognise their own and others strengths and weakness

Facilitators will:

Collaboration

Facilitators and learners will listen and learn from each other. ‘Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much’ – Helen

Keller‘Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.’

Ryuno Sukesatoro 

At St Wilfrid’s enjoyment is at the heart of everything we do and believe in. It is our aim to enjoy all aspects of school life, building and strengthening our community. Enjoyment builds self-esteem and encourages participation by all to experience a positive journey and a sense of belonging. Happiness and success will create enjoyable memories, which can be reflected on for life. We believe that fun is a key element in developing a passion for life long learning.

• Have fun whilst learning• Enjoying the learning

journey they are on• Be engaged on task and

challenge themselves to succeed

• Show a positive attitude to wards challenges and barriers

• Be open to new experiences• Enjoy successes and sharing

those with others, building on achievements

• Be enthusiastic about learning

Lear

ners

will

:Facilitators w

ill:Enjoyment

• Have fun!• Enjoy the journey with the

children• Provide engaging and exciting

activities• Give access to fun colourful

stimulating learning environments

• Allow children to lead their own learning, be flexible

• Model positive attitudes towards challenges and barriers

• Show an openness to new experiences

Facilitators and learners will be happy! “The secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes, but in liking what one has to do.” J M Barrie“People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.” Dale Carnegie 

  

 

At St Wilfrid’s creativity is the freedom to develop confidence and express yourself, your thoughts and ideas without limits and knowing that it is ok to make mistakes. Thinking outside the box is encouraged and all ideas are valued, explored and given appropriate time for creativity to be nurtured and developed.

Lear

ners

will

:Facilitators w

ill:

• Use imagination• Think outside box• Make mistakes• Have confidence to share

ideas (practically and verbally)

• Have confidence to change direction and adapt ideas and show flexibility

• Explore a range of experiences

Creativity

• Model the ethos of creativity in the opportunities we provide for children and in the way we are as people

• Show children we are not perfect and that we make mistakes and learn from these

• Give the children choices• Help the children to have

confidence and self esteem so they can be creative

• Ask appropriate questions to stimulate dialogue and challenge thinking

Facilitators and learners will be contagious and buzz with excitement.

“You can’t use up creativity.  The more you use, the more you have” – Maya Angelou“Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it” – Salvador Dali

 

At St Wilfrid’s independence is nurtured from a young age and developed and encouraged during the learning process. To have the confidence to know our own mind and courage to act and think for ourselves, even when others think differently. Individuality is celebrated, praised and respected with each member of the school family understanding and recognising their role.

independence

• Be able to speak their mind freely• Think for themselves• Show confidence to tackle

challenges alone• Accept their mistakes, learn from

them and build on them• Celebrate praise and reward each

others individual efforts• Understand when to seek out help

and support• Take responsibility for their own

learning• Take responsibility for resources

and equipment, choosing it, using it and looking after it safely.

Lear

ners

will

:Facilitators w

ill:

• Give children freedom to make independent decisions

• Value children’s ideas and opinions showing praise and respect

• Teach children to persevere• Create opportunities for

children to be independent learners

• Encourage and teach children to use resources effectively

• Work with children to celebrate independent efforts

• Learners and facilitators will be themselves

Facilitators and learners will be themselves! 

“The things that make me different are the things that make me.”  A A Milne“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.” Coco Chanel

  

 

At St Wilfrid’s spirituality is at the heart of our school. We see Jesus in each other and encourage everyone to live out the Gospel Values. Our aim is to nurture spiritual growth to develop and deepen our relationship with God. We take every opportunity to see awe and wonder in the world around us and reflect on the moment and how it impacts on us. Our mission is to open our hearts and minds and encourage spiritual growth through prayer, forgiveness, acceptance and love.

• Live out the ethos and gospel values of the school

• Take an interest in the world around them

• Have awe and wonder about the world

• Be able to reflect and pray understanding how to use environments effectively

• Respect and accept everyone is different

• Work for the common good of all

• Live like Jesus teaches us to live

Lear

ners

will

:Facilitators w

ill:spirituality

• Model the gospel values and ethos of the school

• Encourage the children to ask big questions

• Provide opportunities and time for reflection and sharing faith

• Teach children how to pray, reflect and forgive

• Give children access to reflective environments

• Work for and teach children to journey towards the common good

Facilitators and learners will love one another.“Do not abandon yourself to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.” Pope John Paul II “In the end it doesn’t matter how many breaths you take, but how many moments took your breath away.” Shing Xiong  

  

 

PLANNING /CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT

•Complete an environmental planner.•Create an overview of learning for the term to show activities being learnt in each subject.•Plan a stunning start to begin a new topic. •Plan a fabulous finish to each topic.•Plan learning journey from the whole school skills map to ensure that ALL skills are being taught.•Meet and plan with the Teaching and Learning Coordinator at the start and end of each topic.•Invite parents in at the end of the topic to show work/learning.

•Create areas within the class for children to explore self initiated learning/ tasks from environmental planner.•Set up a productive learning area within the first 2 weeks of a new topic, that is used daily.•Create practical learning activities not worksheet based learning.•Make an exciting topic book to reflect the learning journey.•Use the outside area/local area and businesses to extend and develop learning opportunities.

What we believe about learning and teaching…….

What we think makes good learning!At St. Wilfrid’s we believe that positive, enthusiastic and motivated teaching underpins good learning. We promote independence throughout our school using carefully targeted and differentiated questions, some of which are open ended to develop thinking skills and problem solving. Good learning stems from thorough planning and knowing our learners.

Good teaching and learning allows each child to have a voice, it is our role to inspire and raise aspirations to enable all children to reach their full potential. Children have opportunities to be involved in planning their learning. Safety, self-esteem and the feeling of belonging is extremely important to us.

These foundations make children believe in themselves and want to learn new skills that they will use for life. We value all learning at all levels and abilities; we want our children to leave St Wilfrid’s knowing they achieved their very best.

EnvironmentsAt St. Wifrid’s we believe each learning environment needs to be bright, colourful and engaging. There should be areas dedicated to celebrating and valuing achievements in learning, resources to aid independence and purposeful prompts to target learning linked to the current topics.

Our learning environment will be consistently organised and tidy with labelled areas to promote our school values. We believe that an organised, respected and effective learning environment encourages our children to have established learning behaviours and be passionate about their education.

Learning environments needs to be purposeful and create an atmosphere that promotes excellence. Children need to have time to work quietly and also times to engage in a task with others. Our classrooms are adaptable, but consistently set high standards throughout the school.