Aims and Values

Our Mission Statement

As one family working together to be the best that we can be, we live, love and learn with Jesus.

At St. Augustine’s we aim:

With Christ at the centre, to endeavour to respect the uniqueness of all those who are involved in the school community.
To create a happy, organised and stimulating working environment, enabling all children to realise their potential for learning and their capacity for enjoyment.
To encourage co-operation with each other, to be sensitive to the needs of others and to develop an awareness and an appreciation of other races, religions and ways of life.
To encourage parents to take a supportive role in their children’s education and the daily life of the school.

At St. Augustine’s, we value the way in which all children are unique and made in the image and likeness of God. Our curriculum promotes respect for the views of each individual child, as well as for people of all cultures and faiths.
We value the spiritual, moral and physical development of each person, as well as each one’s intellectual and physical growth.
We value the importance of each person in our community. Our curriculum is organised so that we promote co-operation and understanding between all members of our community.
We value the rights enjoyed by each person in our society. We respect each child in our school for who they are and we treat them with fairness and honesty. We aim to enable each person to be successful by providing equal opportunities for all the children in our school.
We value our environment and we aim, through our curriculum, to teach respect for our world. Such respect guides us to caring for the environment and preserving it for future generations as well as for ourselves.
We value the importance of each child using their God-given talents to reach their full potential.

British Values are promoted through the Gospel Values of our school in the manner that Jesus taught us – to love one another.

We actively promote and model democracy by:

Ensuring that our children develop knowledge of and respect for public institutions and services eg visits to/from Police, Fire Service and other organisations.
Teaching our children how they can influence decision making via the democratic process through class voting, assemblies, membership of the local consortium Young People’s Parliament and activities during times of elections (local/general).
Eencouraging pupils to become involved in decision making processes and ensuring they are listened to in school through our School Council (Pupil Voice), an ‘open door policy’ for access to the Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher, consultation groups and liaison between staff and pupils.
Teaching children how public services operate and how they are held to account.
Demonstrating how injustice can be peacefully challenged eg through the examples of the Gospels, by teaching about inspirational figures such as Ghandi, Mandela, Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King.

We actively promote and model the rule of law by:

Ensuring school rules are clear and fair eg through our Whole School Behaviour Policy.
Helping children to distinguish right from wrong eg by using the example of Christ when dealing with behaviour that is not acceptable.
Promoting respect for the law and the basis on which it is made eg through visitors such as PCSOs, Police, Lord Mayor and Member of Parliament into school.
Helping children to understand that living under the rule of law protects individuals eg. through our RE curriculum, focus weeks and a range of visitors.
Having a behaviour policy that is linked to restorative justice eg that is based in the Christian value of forgiveness.

We actively promote and model individual liberty by:

Encouraging and supporting pupils in developing their self-knowledge, self-esteem and self-confidence through our Catholic ethos, our way of treating people, investing in meeting the needs of all children, providing equality of opportunity and understanding the needs of all children.
Encouraging pupils to take responsibility for their behaviour as well as knowing their rights, through linking rights with responsibilities and having a fair and consistent Whole School Behaviour Policy.
Challenging stereotypes with welcoming visitors into school to talk about disability awareness, anti-bullying and anti-racism.
Implementing a strong anti-bullying culture.
Reflecting on the UNICEF Rights Respecting School agenda.
Promoting our own Children’s Charter for Learning.

We actively promote and model respect and tolerance by:

Promoting respect for individual differences through our Catholic ethos and RE curriculum and also through assemblies and masses, multicultural weeks and multi-faith weeks.
Helping children to understand and respect their own and other cultures and ways of life through Religious Education, Geography, International Links, multicultural weeks and multi-faith weeks.
Organising visits to a wide variety of places of worship.
Discussing and celebrating the differences between people such as differences of faith, ethnicity, disability, gender and different family situations such as being a looked after child or a young carer.