Our Ethos and Values
At Dorchester Primary School we believe that the high quality teaching , alongside the nurturing and pastoral care of children, is fundamental to them achieving excellence. We want our children to be happy and to know that they are appreciated and valued. Our community is centred around care; we care passionately about the children who come to us and want the very best for each and every one of them. We help children to learn how to care for themselves, care for others and care for our world.
Our ethos is underpinned by a set of values.
Our children have opportunities to explore our values through regular Values Days during which they will consider one of the values, learning about people who demonstrated the value and thinking about how they can apply the value to their own lives.
We also refer to our values within the curriculum and reflect on them during our assemblies.
responsibility
We do what is right. We ask for help when we need it, both in the classroom and in the playground. We take on additional responsibilities with pride and enjoy having leadership roles in our school. We take responsibility for our actions and do what we can to make things right when we make a poor choice.
empathy
We learn how to be kind to one another and treat everyone with respect. We try to see things from other peoples' points of view and understand different views and opinions. We recognise when others are facing difficulties and do what we can to support them.
self-belief
We know that we are important and that our ideas are valued. Our opinions matter and we can create change, both individually and by working together on causes that are important to us. We understand that we can achieve anything if we stretch ourselves and are committed to it.
perseverance
We enjoy being in the 'stretch zone' and don't give up when things get tricky. We don't mind getting things wrong because we know that this helps us to learn and allows us to challenge ourselves. If we get everything right we can already do it - we aren't learning anything.
enquiry
We want to find out about new things and we love to ask questions. We enjoy discussing the 'big questions' that even our teachers can't answer, and exploring the views of others.
creativity
We use our imagination and are not afraid to think differently. We believe that it is important to take risks and try new things - it is better to try things that don't work than to never give it a shot.
togetherness
Our caring community is inclusive and diverse. We welcome children whatever their backgrounds and have a culture where everyone belongs and no-one feels left out. We know we are all different - some of us are academic, some sporty, some quiet, some loud, some make great leaders, some are very organised....the list goes on. We all have our 'something' and those things make our community special.
RESPECT
We show respect to everyone and everything. We are polite and make sure we put others before ourselves. We say 'Good morning' or 'Good afternoon' when we pass others in school and we step back to let others go through doorways first. We respect our school and the property of the school and others. We look after our belongings so we are not wasteful of the earths' resources.