Please click on the links on the menu for information about different aspects of school life.

If you would like a paper copy of any of this information, please contact Mrs Welford in the school office and this will be provided free of charge.

The School Trust Deed

Lythe School aims to serve its community by providing an education of the highest quality within the context of Christian belief and practice.  It encourages an understanding of the meaning and significance of faith, and promotes Christian values through the experience it offers to all pupils.

Vision

This can be seen on the home page of our website. 

School Values

The values we hold for our school arise from the teachings and life of Christ who embodies them. 

Everyone in the school community will ensure that our school is a peaceful place to learn, pray, care, laugh, talk, think, play and grow together.

Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) Development and British Values

At Lythe, SMSC development is a cornerstone of our teaching and learning, and British values are promoted in much of what we do. This includes work in Collective Worship, Religious Education lesson, our PHSE learning as well as different aspects which are embedded across the curriculum. British values are integral to behaviour expectations and the vision we have for all our pupils .

As a school, we value and celebrate being part of Britain. In general terms, this means that we celebrate traditions (such as customs in the course of the year) for example, Harvest festival during the autumn term, and Christmas events in December including a British Pantomime! We also value and celebrate national events, including welcoming professional athletes following the Olympic Games, and following the recent Tour de Yorkshire; our World Book Day celebrations this year encourage children to think about British authors and illustrators. 

Democracy is an integral part of our provision: children vote for representatives on the school council and are involved in the recruitment of staff, including the Head Teacher. Pupil Voice surveys take note of children’s views and these are used to contribute to school improvement, for example when reviewing the Behaviour policy. 

The rule of law is promoted through the application of our Behaviour policy and the implementation of our three Golden Rules (Be Kind, Be Safe, Be Respectful) – children are involved in deciding what this will look like in school, and are encouraged to take responsibility for making good choices. We have good links with our local community police officer and other authorities such as the beach lifeguards and the local construction company who visit to explain why we follow certain rules. E-Safety is taught discretely throughout the school and children learn about the some of the laws involved, for example copyright. 

Individual liberty is promoted: children know that they have the right to feel safe and are able to report concerns. We use the language of choice when discussing learning or behaviour with children end encourage children to make their own choices about participating in activities and clubs with active encouragement to overcome stereotypes, for example surrounding gender or our rural location. Children are encouraged to take responsibility and make real decisions, for example for organising Collective Worship and leading lunchtime sports activities.

Our whole school ethos embodies mutual respect and positive relationships are modelled and encouraged. Children’s achievements are celebrated in a weekly achievement assembly and our high level of participation in sports makes respectful behaviour towards other competitors a high priority. Our fund-raising activities, from supporting the local food bank to international refugees, show understanding and respect for the needs different groups in society, and our use of the Roots and Fruits resource for whole-school and classroom Collective Worship actively encourage children to empathise with each other and understand that we are all different but all equally valuable. Our Forest Schools work builds respect for the natural environment and encourages children to share their strengths to support others. 

Tolerance of others is promoted through our RE syllabus which gives a broad and balanced view of other faiths. Different cultures are celebrated through work in subjects such as art, history and geography, and children celebrate festivals such as Chinese New Year and Diwali. A link has been made with a muslim teacher which is being developed into a long-term relationship to help children gain real insight into the lives of muslim families.

British values are promoted in Early Years: children are taught the difference between right and wrong and are encouraged to make choices about activities and issues that affect them. Children learn about people who help us, including those who uphold rules and laws, and about festivals from other cultures. Their curriculum strives to ensure that children understand they are part of a much wider world.

As well as actively promoting British values, we would actively challenge pupils, staff or parents expressing opinions contrary to fundamental British values, including ‘extremist’ views and have a clear procedure displayed for dealing with concerns. Any visitors to the school are investigated prior to their visit and their views discussed (see Extremism and Radicalisation policy).

How do we know our provision is effective?

All these aspects are explicitly monitored using our SMSC Gridmaker, which is the responsibility of a named member of staff. This shows how our SMSC and British Values provision is embedded across the curriculum and allows us to identify areas for development.  Our new separate Extremism & Radicalisation policy helps share our vision with stakeholders and parents and children are asked through questionnaires about issues such as safety and respect.