Ethos & Values
At Stokesley School and Sixth Form College our ethos is embodied by our motto ‘being the best we can be’. All students and staff strive for excellence and to make the most of their unique skills, qualities and talents. Our positive conduct system aims to reward students for their positive effort, attitude and contributions.
Furthermore, we promote the development of character and academic ability through our core values of all students and staff being ambitious, ready and respectful. What these individual words mean for us is explained below:
BRITISH VALUES
The government has published a statement of British Values; these are entirely in-keeping with our own school values and ethos.
The areas highlighted by the government are:
- democracy
- the rule of law
- individual liberty
- mutual respect
- tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs
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, through school assemblies and during learning for life lessons or events. Students are taught the values and reasons behind laws; that laws are there to govern and protect us, and the consequences when laws are broken.
Students are helped to learn to manage their behaviour and to take responsibility for their actions. Staff are committed to providing a consistent and predictable environment within the school and beyond. An environment of this type enables students to feel safe and secure; this, in turn, promotes the optimum conditions for learning to take place and achievement to be celebrated.
INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY
Our educational philosophy includes a commitment to personalise learning whenever possible. We also work hard to enable students to make informed personal choices, in their learning and in their wider contribution to and participation in school events. We offer a very wide choice of extra-curricular activities – many of them initiated and led by students themselves. We encourage our students to take the initiative, trust them to enjoy their social time and expect them to exercise their rights and freedoms. We put a great deal of emphasis on safety, including e-safety, personal safety and the fact that with liberty comes responsibility to respect others’ rights and liberty.
MUTUAL RESPECT
The supportive and purposeful culture in our school, often commented upon by visitors, depends on mutual respect. We expect the adults and the students to show each other respect. This is one of our three core values and is constantly promoted and reinforced within school.
TOLERANCE OF DIFFERENT FAITHS AND BELIEFS
In this part of North Yorkshire we are very fortunate to live and work in a beautiful area. Our school community is largely mono-cultural, which makes it all the more important to actively promote tolerance as students may not be exposed to difference every day. We actively seek to ensure that our curriculum fills the gaps that children in more diverse communities take for granted. We consciously seek to develop a culturally rich and diverse curriculum including active study and experience of all major religions. Our children are growing up in a complex and ever-changing world: we ensure that we draw upon events on a national and global scale in our learning for life curriculum and assemblies, creating opportunities for students to discuss their ideas, challenge each other’s views in a safe and supportive environment and grow in confidence in questioning narrow-mindedness and radicalism, in all its forms.