Values:
Our school values ‘The Six C’s are reinforced throughout the school curriculum, in assemblies, through positive behaviour expectations (Behaviour Principles) and by the school’s active school councils.
Protected characteristics:
The school curriculum covers and promotes awareness of all protected characteristics, those are interwoven throughout subject areas alongside discrete opportunities to discuss, promote understanding and demonstrate knowledge of those characteristics.
British Values:
Knowledge of fundamental British Values is driven through our curriculum, our assemblies, our correspondence to parents and the community. Understanding is woven through the Reading, History, PHSE curriculum.
British values are woven throughout our curriculum, assemblies, school activities and events. Our children demonstrate British values through activities such as providing support to our local homeless shelter during the winter months, where children show respect and care for others.
Wider opportunities:
Our curriculum provides rich experiences that enhance personal development and are key in developing well rounded citizens and character.
Extra-curricular activities, educational visits and residentials provide children with an abundance of experiences that promote physical and social development and opportunities to develop well as part of a team. These opportunities are subsidised, so they are accessible to all. The attendance of disadvantaged and SEND children is monitored and attendance is supported and encouraged by the school. Please click the following link to see our Overview of trips, visitors, residentials and club opportunities.
Health education:
Healthy Eating is taught through the EYFS, Science and PSHE curriculum and links with our Creating Active Schools (CAS) framework. This prioritises healthy lifestyles and food choices to help counter childhood obesity.
Children are aware of how to keep themselves healthy and the school continues to enhance the physical learning across all subjects as a priority, building on the success of the Creating Active Schools (CAS) framework that is well embedded within our school curriculum.
Mental Health awareness is prioritised across the curriculum, with opportunities provided to support resilience and the development of self-esteem across activities such as debate, spelling bee and challenging residential visits. Newsletters indicate successes of children both inside and outside of school and Chance to Shine assemblies provide further opportunity to celebrate the achievements of our children.
The opportunities provided throughout a child’s time at the school offer children the chance to develop their character and become more resilient citizens who are prepared for the next phase of their education and personal development.
Character, confidence and resilience:
Termly debate championships provide children with an additional opportunity to discuss and debate key issues and ideas in a considered and well organised way. Children are respectful of varying views and opinions and are equipped with the knowledge and understanding to counter or challenge statements made by their peers in an appropriate and proportionate manor.
The Arts:
Westerton enables opportunity for children to develop and extend their talents and interests. Children can join school choirs, or access individual instrument tuition. They can join our orchestra or brass band and perform at local venues and events.
We have whole class instrumental lessons across four different year groups in the school, in order to provide exposure and a progressive pathway to learning an instrument whilst at the school. These include whole class recorders in Year 2, whole class xylophones in Year 4, whole class Pcornets in Year 5 and whole class keyboards in Year 6. We are proud to have been awarded the Music Mark for our work within the Arts.
Sporting offer:
Sport is very important and our PE co-ordinator works closely with the Morley Family of Schools Sports Association and is a Lead catalyst for the National Network of Wellbeing and Physical Activity.
Children have the opportunity to play football, rugby, swim etc. and the quality of support has led to the School Games Gold Award. Our year 6 football team won the Champions of Champions Cup in 2023 (the highest award for primary school pupils in Leeds). Year on year our sporting teams reach finals of competitons and there are children across the school with varying talents outside of school that are celebrated and shared with their peers through the school newsletter.
Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development:
The school values ‘The Six C’s’ underpin school leaders strive to develop the highest standards of spiritual, moral, social and cultural well-being for all pupils and prepare them for life in modern Britain. They promote kindness, thoughtfulness, care and consideration for others so that children grow to be able to live and learn alongside people with different beliefs, cultures and lifestyles
This is supplemented by our curricular links that enable children to understand diversity and equality through the knowledge that we live in a diverse world. Knowledge about various faiths, cultures and beliefs are shared and explored in depth in order for our children to have deepened understanding and consideration for others.
Our Preventative curriculum promotes an age appropriate understanding of key current risks locally and nationally in order to enable our children to protect themselves and others. This learning supports their ability to identify and address abuse that happens in the home and outside of the home; and abuse that happens online.
The curriculum further enhances our children's knowledge on how to protect one another. This is progressive across the school and addresses key national issues as well as local issues such as: anti-social behaviour, stickering (promoting extremist and radical views), Knife crime and Child sexual exploitation. Each of these issues are interwoven into our preventative curriculum and PHSE curriculum and enhance children’s ability to be responsible and active citizens in society.
We are proactive in our attempts to reduce and challenge any forms of bias and generalisations. Our curriculum contains opportunity for exploration of bias past and present. We explore cultural norms and generalisations made by individuals and groups of people, so that children have the knowledge and tools required to deal with all situations appropriately.
Wider safety relevant to our context:
We provide water safety learning, advice and reminders being closely located to Ardsley Reservoir. We readily explore contextual issues that are known within our community and react instantly to new or emerging issues with adjustment to the content of our curriculum.
