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Avenue Primary School

Where learning springs to life

Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural

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

Spiritual development

Moral development

Social development

Cultural development

  • Assemblies
  • Celebrations of different religions and festivals
  • Celebrating external achievements
  • Visits to different religious buildings
  • Visitors, visits and residentials
  • Theme days and weeks in school
  • Picture news assemblies and class assemblies previously Vote for schools
  • Books in our library
  • RE curriculum
  • Remembrance Day activities and assemblies
  • Chinese New Year and Chinese Culture Day
  • Active Math’s week including Eid Pattern day

 

  • Visits from outside agencies
  • Children follow our Good to be Green behaviour policy and this is positively reinforced
  • Achievement assemblies for following the rules
  • Class rules
  • Our Avenue Charter is displayed in every room
  • Our Avenue Vision Tree is displayed in every area of the school
  • Growth mindset part of our school culture and part of our continued improvement (currently a focus in our staff meetings considering classroom environments and pupil voice)
  • Picture News assemblies and class assemblies – voting and debating, questioning and exploring issues
  • Charity fundraisers – global disasters, Children in Need and Comic Relief
  • Avenue Parliament and class representatives voted for by each member of each class
  • PSHE discussions
  • Online safety
  • Anti-Bullying week
  • Eco committee
  • Dog’s Trust assembly and visit
  • School council training for children and staff
  • Kandola Cups awarded to one child per class for trying hard and having a great attitude to learning
  • Parents’ evenings
  • Environment Week – sustainability, recycling
  • Clubs and before/after school provision
  • Sports competitions
  • Nurture groups
  • Growth mindset
  • Transitions to other year groups and secondary schools
  • Music lessons and productions
  • Avenue promotes talking partners during lessons
  • Collaborative learning opportunities
  • Film nights after school
  • Christmas and Summer fairs
  • Who do you think you are day with parents
  • International Picnic day in the playground with parents and their special foods to share
  • Winter Wonderland whole school craft session
  • Carol concert sing along in the playground for KS1 and 2
  • Links with other schools – Triad group, local secondary schools, our twinned school
  • Role models and inspirational people
  • World Explorer’s day
  • Winter wonderland craft activity sessions
  • Books in the library
  • Theme weeks
  • Black history month
  • Celebrating main sporting events globally and nationally
  • Community SEND coffee mornings
  • Who do you want to be day with visitors and guests in to talk about different careers
  • Who do you think you are day with parents in to work with their children
  • International Picnic day
  • Year group festival and celebration assemblies
  • Explorer’s Day
  • Local area walks
  • Swimming lessons in Yr 4, Bikeability in Yr 6
  • French Day and performance from visiting theatre
  • Themed lunches throughout the year celebrating food from different cultures/countries
  • Road safety week
  • Favourite composer day
  • Stone age workshop Yr 3 & 4
  • Visits – sporting events, Snowdrome, New Walk Museum, theatre
  • Famous Architect Day
  • Pyjama readathon
  • Sponsored events – walking
  • Children’s Mental health Week
  • Mind and Body Matter’s week
  • International Women’s Day
  • Science week

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?

Democracy

The rule of law

Individual liberty

Mutual respect and tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

  • Avenue Parliament, class voting for representative
  • Vision Tree, Avenue Charter, Class rules
  • Good to be Green behaviour system
  • Voting in Picture News, Votes for school
  • Provide pupils with a broad general knowledge of, and respect for public institutions and services
  • Teach pupils how they can influence decision making through their school democratic process and then later on in life
  • Taught through our school assemblies and curriculum
  • Encourage pupils to speak and to be listened to
  • Staff help children to express their views and beliefs in calm and  creative ways
  • School Parliament training for staff and children
  • We ensure school rules and expectations are clear and fair
  • We celebrate adhering to these rules through celebration assemblies, certificates and the Kandola Cup, team points, Start and Stop behaviours as part of 123 Magic
  • We help pupils to distinguish between right and wrong
  • Help pupils to understand the history and reasons for laws and how they are protected by the law
  • Online safety rules
  • Staff support pupils to develop their self-knowledge, self-esteem, self confidence
  • Encourage pupils to take responsibility for their behaviour as well as know their own rights
  • Model freedom of speech through pupils participating but staff also ensure that vulnerable pupils have a say
  • Critical analysis of evidence by looking at different pictures and news stories
  • Challenge stereotypes and generalisations
  • We implement a strong anti-bullying culture with our policy and Anti bullying themed week, Kindness Corner
  • Online safety taught
  • Cambridge Scheme of learning for PSHE
  • Picture News to foster respect and understanding of critical news events
  • Staff challenge prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour
  • Visits to places of worship
  • Certain year groups perform a celebrations assembly (Diwali, Eid, Christmas, Easter, Harvest Festival, Remembrance Day etc)
  • Our RE scheme ensures that our children have a good understanding of a range of religious beliefs and customs
  • Staff help pupils to acquire an understanding of, and respect for, their own and other culture’s way of life
  • Who do you think you are day
  • What do you want to be day
  • International picnic day
  • Charity days
  • Anti-bullying week
  • Mind and body matter’s week
  • International women’s day

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.

 

 

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