Core Values and Mission Statement
Coombe Wood School Mission Statement
Displaying and developing the human values of teamwork, respect, enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship in our daily lives, as we journey together towards discovering and reaching our true personal bests.
Striving to become the healthiest school in the country.
Coombe Wood School Values
Coombe Wood School has five core values which will permeate every aspect of the school curriculum:
- Teamwork – working together and effectively participating is the most satisfying feeling for any young person in seeking their next positive experience. There is comfort in numbers when things go well and when things don’t. Remembering the core belief that a school should not have any ‘islands’ within it, the school community will act like a team around the individual to ensure they feel loved and well supported. Even the person working on their own like a time trial cyclist has a team behind them which projects them into a winning position. A student struggling to understand a key concept in maths can be supported by their friends, their teacher and their parents. Together they can aspire, together they will achieve.
- Respect – people learn from the habits of others - parents, friends and teachers. A school which has weak links of respect within it fails to model the way to excellence. Modelling high expectations and high standards for others is the first step to gaining respect and creating a healthy environment which shares and celebrates people’s achievements. People give respect to those who are genuine in their intentions and who work tirelessly for the benefit of others. When respect can be held for another person there becomes a more positive relationship which in turn develops trust. Trust creates an environment where anything is possible.
- Enjoyment – when people are enjoying themselves, they hold their head up high and look around them. When they are unhappy their head drops and they miss out on so many opportunities. Schools are full of opportunities for students, staff and parents. The school community therefore, must offer enjoyable and memorable experiences for people. All students and staff must open their eyes in the morning and be excited about what lies ahead. The goal is that staff and students wake up in the morning and say to themselves; ‘today is going to be a great day’. Life moves fast so you might as well enjoy it. Even when things are tough don’t turn your back, don’t give up. Enjoy and embrace the challenge knowing that when you win you will be happy and when you have lost but done your best you will be satisfied.
- Discipline – every school has a behaviour policy but discipline needs to run deeper than this. Discipline is more to do with conduct. The way in which a person self-regulates their behaviour. To have self-discipline means that a calm environment can be maintained at all times. People must be thoughtful of others in their words and actions to create opportunities to succeed. To be successful, specific pathways must be followed. If people falter along their journey it may mean they fail to reach their personal best. To be disciplined in life does not mean to just follow laws and consume energy from those who watch over us. To be disciplined means to embrace the message of the law and produce energy which others can feed upon. Living a disciplined life inside and outside of school, making the right choices and meeting with triumph and disaster with the same positive attitude will lead to a well-rounded and well-grounded existence.
- Sportsmanship – when things are difficult people must be encouraged to have a go and show endeavour. To opt out and turn your back on your team mates or the task in hand fails to improve our intellect and understanding. People must all try their hardest in everything, knowing that should they falter along the journey there is always someone to support them and give them the recognition they deserve. There is nothing more satisfying than giving something your all and being able to say to others when the battle is over – ‘well done I admire your courage’. Sportsmanship displays more than self-regulated discipline or team work. It is an empathetic attitude which benefits and celebrates others’ achievements. A school community which is permeated with sportsmanship enjoys the challenge and shows respect for the work that those within the community demonstrate.
Of course these are values traditionally associated with the sporting arena and they are indeed key ingredients of a successful sportsperson. However, at Coombe Wood School we believe in the positive power of these values in every area of our lives. That is why in our induction pack, we ask that students begin to think about how we must live out these values even before they have set foot in the school. They shape the behaviour for learning and behaviour for Health Related Fitness posters that we display everywhere and students are rewarded for living out these values through our rewards scheme. They form the bedrock upon which our students develop into outstanding, rounded young adults.
At CWS we firmly believe that as part of a broad and balanced curriculum people must be well supported in their spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development. Part of this is the way the School promotes British values. It is right that all members of the CWS Community are encouraged to regard people of all faiths, races and cultures with respect and tolerance. While people are different we should understand that people hold different views about what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ but at the same time all people living in England are subject to its law. This Culture & Ethos Policy supports the rule of English civil law and criminal law and we will not teach anything that undermines it.
Through our relationships with one another we aim to do the following:
- Enable all to develop their self-knowledge, self-esteem and self-confidence
- Enable all to distinguish right from wrong and to respect the civil and criminal law of England
- Encourage all to accept responsibility for their behaviour, show initiative, and to understand how they can contribute positively to the lives of those living and working in the locality of the School and society more widely
- Enable all to acquire a broad general knowledge of and respect for public institutions and services in England
- Further tolerance and harmony between different cultural traditions by enabling people to acquire an appreciation of and respect for their own and other cultures
- Encourage respect for other people
- Encourage respect for democracy and support for participation in the democratic processes, including respect for the basis on which the law is made and applied in England
We promote on a daily basis within our community the following fundamental British values:
- Democracy – influencing decision-making
- The Rule of Law – protecting people’s well-being and safety
- Individual Liberty – freedom of choice
- Mutual Respect – accepting of other people’s faiths or beliefs
- Tolerance – identifying and combatting discrimination