Our Core Values

Releasing the magic in our Ralph Butterfield Primary School Community

At Ralph Butterfield Primary School, we aim to support children's academic and personal development, so that every individual is well prepared for each new stage in their learning, becoming the best that they can be and able to enjoy life as a good citizen. Our motto encourages children to ‘Imagine, Believe, Strive and Achieve’ so that they become self-confident learners with positive self-esteem, working towards goals that bring them joy. We want our children to be curious, asking questions and being enthusiastic in their learning, discovering new talents and skills and being inspired as to what the world has to offer. We want our children to have a deep respect and understanding for other people, ensuring equality and celebrating diversity.

We are passionate about our whole community working together and supporting each other, releasing the magic in everyone. We believe positive relationships between all stakeholders are vital for children to be most successful and we work proactively with parents/carers from the outset, with an ‘open door’ that encourages daily interactions with us.

Our whole school community has agreed that we support our children to develop and work with the values of:

Respect

Everyone at Ralph Butterfield Primary School is encouraged and/or taught to be respectful; respect is one of our three key school expectations for children. Respect means accepting everyone for who they are, including where there is such as difference in personality, culture and opinion. Diversity and inclusion are promoted and celebrated here, with children explicitly taught to understand, empathise and be respectful toward others, whatever the differences between people. Children are explicitly taught how to be respectful towards others with a focus on kindness, consideration and the importance of gratitude. Respect in relationships builds feelings of trust, safety and wellbeing. All adults in our school community are also expected to be respectful within all relationships.

Ambition

Ralph Butterfield Primary School’s motto is ‘Imagine, Believe, Strive, Achieve’; ambition is an important driver for personal development and academic achievement. Children and adults are encouraged and supported to be their best self, developing positive self-belief and high ambitions and expectations for themselves. The school’s culture and ambitious curriculum supports children to overcome any barriers and strive to know more, do more, give more and be more. This gives purpose and supports an internal drive that leads children to be creative, dream bigger and go further.

Determination

Determination is vital for sustaining motivation towards achieving ambitions in personal growth and/or academic achievement. At Ralph Butterfield Primary School, children are taught to be determined through being supported to develop their resilience, independence and ability to manage self. Our culture of high expectations around positive behaviour and attitudes, also supports children to be hardworking, focused and resolute in striving to successfully achieve their goals. This is within a safe culture where the value of making mistakes is modelled and supported.

Integrity

Integrity encompasses many personal positive attributes and is about endeavouring to consistently behave ethically. Everyone at Ralph Butterfield Primary School is expected to behave with integrity and we are passionate about giving children the foundations upon which to grow their own innate integrity. We do this through teaching children to be true to their own self, being proud of who they are and embracing differences from others without adapting to ‘fit in’. Children are taught how to be responsible and take responsibility; to be honest; to own mistakes and to forgive others theirs’; to be trustworthy and to understand whom they can trust.

We also encourage everyone in our community, to work together with the same core values. This is the culture and ethos developed in recent years, that we strive to live in our school, also supported by our restorative practices (see restorative values page) and British Values work (see British Values page). In this way, we aim for our children to leave our school:

• Well prepared for enjoying their next steps in learning and set up well for their future life

• As independent, resilient people who have the strategies to cope well with personal and academic challenges, including taking personal responsibility

• With enthusiasm for, and interest in, a wide range of subjects and the world around them, including aspirations for themselves

• With good manners

• With respect and understanding for everyone in our diverse world and an ability to work well with others

• As happy and confident individuals with a self-belief and a positive attitude
  
  

We hope that throughout our website you will find the information helpful in further explaining our philosophy of teaching and learning and how we strive to inspire children to have a thirst for knowledge and an enthusiasm for learning new skills, alongside supporting them with their personal development.