Our School Ethos: ‘Every Child Can’

At Gorse Hill Primary School and Nursery, believe in the unlimited potential of every child, where every child can. We aim to provide your child with the best possible education and the securest of learning environments.

We work to provide all pupils with a solid academic footing, which ensures that every child reaches their full potential, especially in the key areas of literacy and numeracy, whilst offering a broad, balanced and ambitious curriculum for all. Our school also aims to help our children to develop as individuals, who take care of themselves, others and the world they live in, secure in knowing who they are and what they want from life.

Our teaching philosophy is simple: we aim to combine the best of tried-and-tested methodology with new and innovative ways of teaching.

Our School CARE Values:

All members of our school community are encouraged to be the best version of themselves, all of the time, and this ethos is underpinned by our CARE values: Courage, Appreciation, Respect, Responsibility and Excellence, which encourage our community to take care of ourselves, others and the world we live in. Our core values enable our pupils to grow into responsible, independent and considerate citizens.

C - We show courage when faced with a challenge;

A - We show appreciation for the rights, faiths and beliefs of others;

R - We respect and take responsibility for ourselves, each other and our environment;

E - We aim for excellence through having high expectations.

Promoting the British Values

At Gorse Hill Primary School and Nursery, we actively promote British values through our school vision, ethos, agreed rules, curriculum, and teaching. As such, we promote tolerance of, and respect for, people of all faiths (or those with no faith), cultures, and lifestyles.

The government defines British values as:

  • Democracy.
  • Rule of law.
  • Individual liberty.
  • Mutual respect.
  • Tolerance of those of different faiths.

We prepare children and young people positively for life in modern Britain by supporting them through our words, actions, and influence, not just within school, but also within the wider community.

At Gorse Hill Primary School and Nursery, we value the diverse ethnic backgrounds of all pupils and families and undertake a variety of events and lessons to celebrate these. We have found this approach to be enriching for all parties as it teaches tolerance and respect for the differences in our community and the wider world. We actively challenge children, staff, and parents expressing opinions contrary to fundamental British values, including ‘extremist’ views.

As part of The White Horse Federation, we passionately believe that by working together, the children are able to have a higher quality of education, and that as colleagues, we will also benefit from and reap the rewards of a values-based organisation where no one is left behind.