7 September 2024
In my times Caldecott Community had the old Charter setting out principles. Some of you will be aware that the present Caldecott School has Values. I doubtless cannot please all people but I hope that these may be of interest.
RESPECT
Our aim is to have respect at the centre of everything we do at Caldecott School. We give respect - we expect respect. Everyone is valued - everyone listened to. We respect others even if they are different to us - we just accept others for who they are. Respect doesn't always come naturally - we have to learn how to do this.
WELL- BEING
Our aim is to be well - both physically and mentally. ...Being with others - having friends to talk to and people who will listen is important... Being at Caldecott School helps us stay well. We care for each other and notice when our friends are sad. We make each other laugh. We spend time playing outdoors and go out on trips. At school, staff can help us with our work, so we don't need to worry when we can't do the work straightaway.
We aim to keep ourselves well by: talking about our fears; sharing our worries; playing sport and keeping fit; learning how to bake healthy food; playing and having fun with friends; engaging in activities that build our self-esteem and boost our confidence; doing acts of kindness.
KINDNESS
Our aim is to be known as a school where acts of random kindness (ARKs) can be seen all the time.
We are encouraged to be generous and considerate to each other and give without expecting something in return. Each day we want to see kind people who are: being good listeners, not judging each other; people being kind and patient; people giving without expecting anything in return; people who respect the feelings and needs of others.
FRIENDSHIP
Our aim is to learn how to be a good friend. A friend is someone who: protects you; keeps you safe; defends you; helps you anytime, anywhere; knows you well; disagrees with you sometimes; knows your faults and still likes you; doesn't try to change you; stays with you in good times and bad.
A friend will do all these things without any thought of getting a reward for themselves. Affection can be found in a friendship. A deep friendship built on trust. It can go through difficult times and survive. There can be intimacy when a friend shares something personal with you.
TRUST
Our aim is for our relationships at Caldecott School to be built on trust. To build a relationship on trust we must learn to believe in the character, the strength and the honesty of that person. We don't want to let each other down. We must also believe that the other person is not trying to harm us.
Trust is important as we need to feel safe, but sometimes we struggle because we feel vulnerable. To succeed in life, we must learn to judge who we can trust, and who we can't. Good judgement is required and that's not always easy. To grow trust, we need to have positive relationships that remain the same - day in and day out. Sometimes it's hard work building a relationship built on trust but we learn to persevere and soon begin to realise that a relationship like this is worth having.
HONESTY
Our aim is to be sincere, fair and upright. Deceit, lies or fraud have no place at our Caldecott School. We don't exaggerate to make ourselves look good. We don't gossip about people behind their backs. Our actions match our words. We keep our promises.