Values (Our A, B, Cs)
We have six values which guide what and how we teach at Downs Infant School. We focus on a different value each half term throughout the year, but we refer to them throughout everything we do. Each value is introduced in an assembly, and then added to our hall displays.
Our values are: Ambition, Belonging, Creativity, Diversity, Empathy, Flexibility
Ambition
We are ambitious for all our children, including those with SEN (Special Educational Needs) or other additional needs. We believe that children need support to help them persevere and keep trying to improve and achieve their best. We teach children that they shouldn't accept any barriers to their ambitions and goals.
Belonging
Everyone belongs at Downs Infant School. We try to make everyone feel welcome, and we look after each other by being kind, working together, and helping people.
Creativity
Our creative and artistic community is represented in our school as we join in with the Brighton Children's Parade, 'Let's Dance' and other community events. We follow a creative curriculum, looking for links between different areas of learning. We provide opportunities for children to make their own resources for learning, for example, through our desconstructed role play areas in Reception, and through using the learning environment in Key Stage 1.
Diversity
We are proud of the diversity in our school community and teach a gender and trans-inclusive relationships curriculum as part of our PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) curriculum. We do not have as ethnically diverse staff as we would like, so we particularly welcome volunteers from BME families. We celebrate the achievements of our pupils with additional needs and disabilities so that our children all grow up recognising the contributions everyone can make.
Empathy
Learning to see things from others' points of view is a difficult skill for children to learn, so we model it, and teach it in a variety of ways. We promote a high level of emotional literacy through our use of the 'Just Right' system throughout the school.
Flexibility
'Can I do this another way?' is a key component of successful problem-solving. We try to use this principle in ensuring all children get what they need from school, as well as teaching children to be reflective and try different ways. This also underpins our work on transition, so that children are given the skills and support they need to move through the different stages of education.
We link our school values to the wider values of the society in which we live (which are known in schools as our ‘British Values’):
- Democracy
- Respect for the law
- Individual Liberty
- Mutual Respect
- Tolerance
and we help equip children with the understanding and skills they need to embody all these values through our work with our ‘Learning Heroes'.