SMSC

Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Statement.

At Avenue Primary School we recognise that the personal development of children – spiritually, morally, socially and culturally (SMSC) – plays a significant role in their ability to learn and achieve. We therefore aim to provide an education that provides children with opportunities to explore and develop:

• their own value and beliefs;
• their own spiritual awareness;
• their own high standard of personal behaviour;
• a positive, caring attitude towards other people;
• an understanding of their social and cultural traditions;
• an appreciation of the diversity and richness of their cultures

The Golden Thread of SMSC through our curriculum at Avenue Primary School

SMSC development is the golden thread that runs throughout our curriculum and is embedded in our ethos and can be seen throughout our school in our day-to-day practices and in many of our policies and procedures. It is important to note that many policies directly influence, support and promote SMSC (RSE, PSHE and RSE, Behaviour and Equal opportunities, Online Safety, Anti-bullying.)

A key part of the Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural development is our understanding and engagement with Fundamental British Values. At Avenue we value the diverse backgrounds of our pupils and their families. We nurture our pupils on their journey through life so they grow into caring, responsible and respectful adults who make a positive difference to British society and the wider world. We encourage them to be creative, open minded and responsible individuals who care for others in our local community and beyond. 

What are the 5 Fundamental British Values?

• Democracy
• The rule of law
• Individual liberty
• Mutual respect
• Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

Fundamental British Values are a set of values that underpin British society and culture. There are many ways that these values can be embedded in the children’s teaching and learning. The school upholds our behaviour policy (Good to be Green) with celebrations and consequences. In school we have our Avenue Charter, Vision tree and Class rules to help each child think about their behaviour within our community. We use Picture News to develop awareness as well as festival and celebration focused assemblies. Through awareness days and our Avenue Parliament, the children have lots of opportunities to explore, question, debate and think about a range of issues. Children are encouraged to have conversations about what is happening around them and to see how these 5 important values play out in the real world. All children need to have their voices heard and class assemblies allow for smaller discussion groups and learning about our Fundamental British Values.

Our Parliament is a fantastic way in which our children can embed democracy into our curriculum and school culture. The children have the opportunity to vote and represent themselves and their class. By allowing young people to take on the role of a politician they can consider how they would like to support and change their school community. Our Parliament promotes individual liberty by giving the students responsibility for their own learning and to make decisions that will affect what is going on around them.

Picture News is a resource we use at Avenue Primary School and it actively promotes “learning from the world around us!” Each week a current news story is chosen, a picture is provided and a thought-provoking question along with a variety of informative captions. The information given is designed to promote children “learning from what is going on in the world and to develop a deep respect for other’s beliefs, feelings and faiths. The thought-provoking question of the week is to encourage exploration, discussion, challenge and inspire children to learn.” By teaching children about the environment and personal health, we are equipping them with the knowledge and skills they need to make good informed choices for them now and as an adult in our society.

Fundamental British values isn’t just taught in RE but is embedded across our curriculum through our conversations, teaching and learning, Picture News assemblies, festival celebrations and in our Parliament. Teachers are committed in helping students to understand the importance of these 5 Fundamental British Values and how they can be applied in real life.

What do we do at Avenue Primary?

As you know at Avenue Primary School, we recognise that the personal development of pupils, spiritually, morally, socially and culturally play a significant part in their ability to learn and achieve. We therefore aim to provide an education that provides children with opportunities to explore and develop their own values and beliefs, spiritual awareness, high standards of personal behaviour, a positive and caring attitude towards other people, an understanding of their social and cultural traditions and an appreciation of the diversity and richness of other cultures. This is embedded throughout all aspects of school life.

At Avenue Primary School SMSC is delivered through:

• The everyday teaching and learning that occur daily within the school day.
• The plethora of extra-curricular and non-class based opportunities, including whole school assemblies, an education at Avenue provides for pupils.
• The school’s established rules, procedures and behaviour management policies and strategies.

Within lessons

SMSC skills and understanding are developed through:

• The RE curriculum which encourages pupils to explore spiritual thinking through their own and others’ beliefs and values, and to develop an awe and wonder for the natural world.
• The Art curriculum which affords pupils the chance to explore spiritualism and reflect on their feelings and motivations, and respond visually to these.
• The English curriculum which gives pupils opportunities to consider moral codes and rules through units of work on, for examples, fables and other morality tales.
• The PSHE curriculum which promotes a spiritual, reflective approach to considering and celebrating difference and diversity between people.
• The Science curriculum which encompasses pupils’ spiritual development in acquiring a wonder and awe in the natural world.
• The History curriculum which includes important aspects of pupils acquiring and appreciating the origins and reasons for contemporary culture and society.
• All curriculum subjects during group work and peer assessment when social skills are used and developed.

Outside lessons

Avenue’s provision for SMSC learning opportunities outside of curriculum subjects permeates pupils’ lives at Avenue.

Here are just a few examples of how SMSC skills and understanding are developed through:

• The School Learning Council and the eco-monitors afford children personal investments in the moral codes of the school, and therefore support their moral development.
• Whole-school and class assemblies are often vehicles for the promotion of moral values and ethics (for example, anti-bullying assemblies, recycling).
• The distribution of food collected in during Harvest festival to the needy and elderly in the local community encourages moral understanding by valuing all members of society.
• Educational visits, in particular residential visits involve the development of many social skills for pupils.
• A range of musical, artistic and creative performances (such as the Year 6 production, EYFS Christmas production, brass band and orchestra, Musical Theatre Club) provide opportunities for pupils to develop social skills through team working, and also promote cultural appreciation and reflection of artistic, music and thespian talents.
• Sports teams necessitate social development by sharing effort and endeavour in order to succeed.  (Participation in competitions and inclusion festivals).
• The Outdoor Working Party have been working on environmental improvements to our small playground (including designing a wildlife garden, reflective corner, art/book shed and placing a grant application for their ideas) thereby utilising and developing their social skills to work collaboratively.
• Our International Picnic day (alternate years) celebrates social skills and cultural diversity.
• The school’s orchestra, brass band, recorder club, choir, school singing sessions and peripatetic music tuition in a variety of instruments, provides pupils with rich cultural learning opportunities through music.
• Theatre and pantomime performances within school introduce pupils to the cultural arena of the theatre.
• The school’s  Who Do You Think You Are? (alternate years) celebrates other cultures and their traditions.