Ethos & Values
We hold the highest expectations of everyone within our school community, believing that with the right support and dedicated effort, we are all capable of achieving remarkable things.
Our goal is to nurture pupils into responsible adults who will positively contribute to their community, town, nation and the wider world.
Culture of Success
To realise our vision, we are committed to fostering a culture of success, centred around the following priorities:
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A Broad and Ambitious Curriculum: We provide an enriched, exciting, and ambitious curriculum which equips pupils with the social and cultural capital necessary for successful and fulfilling adult lives.
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Responsive Teaching: We ensure high-quality teaching where every lesson has a clear purpose, offers opportunities to assess and respond to pupils' understanding, and helps them retain and apply their knowlegde over time.
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Positive Attitudes to Learning: Through a celebratory approach, we support pupils in developing exceptional learning attitudes and self-management skills, fostering readiness to learn with resilience, resourcefulness, respect, and reflection.
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Strategic Leadership: We cultivate a pupil-centred leadership culture where leaders are strategic and reflective in their approach.
Kennet School is an inclusive environment where everyone is welcome. We are committed to fostering a school culture which celebrates diversity, making our school, community, and the world an exciting and dynamic place.
We take pride in our dedicated staff, who consistently demonstrate commitment to our pupils through their hard work and reflective practices. Our team actively seeks opportunities to enhance their skills and improve the school continuously.
We celebrate the accomplishments of our pupils, both past and present, recognising their outstanding achievements across diverse fields—whether as computer scientists, Olympians, pilots, nurses, accountants, entrepreneurs, writers, musicians, artists, research scientists, professional athletes, journalists, or teachers.
At Kennet School, we believe that with determination and the right opportunities, we are all capable of achievements.
Our Values
Kennet’s pastoral curriculum is built upon six core values which guide our tutor programme and pastoral initiatives. These values help develop character in our pupils, enabling them to thrive in all aspects of their lives.
Through our pastoral care, we shape individuals who possess the qualities necessary to achieve personal success ('healthy me') and contribute positively to society ('healthy us'). Our core values are integral to this growth.
The curriculum is structured to ensure each value is reinforced and revisited throughout a pupil’s journey at Kennet School.
Promoting British Values
We are committed to serving our community and recognise the multicultural, multi-faith and ever-changing nature of the United Kingdom. We also understand the vital role we have in ensuring that groups or individuals within the school are not subject to intimidation or radicalisation by those wishing to unduly, or illegally, influence them.
The school follows equal opportunities guidance which guarantees that there will be no discrimination against any individual or group, regardless of faith, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, political or financial status, or similar. We are dedicated to preparing our pupils for their adult life in modern Britain, beyond the formal examined curriculum, serving the whole community and actively promoting and reinforcing British values to all our pupils.
The Government emphasises that schools have a duty to ensure that key ‘British Values’ are taught in all UK schools, setting out its definition of British values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy. They are:
- Democracy
- The rule of law
- Individual liberty
- Mutual respect and tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs.
The school uses strategies within the national curriculum and beyond to secure such outcomes for pupils. The examples that follow show some of the many ways Kennet School actively promotes embedded British values.
Democracy
The principle of democracy is consistently reinforced at Kennet School, with democratic processes being used for important decisions within the school community. For instance, elections are part of the process for selecting Head Students (Head Boy and Head Girl) positions and Pupil Council Representatives. Pupils have a voice that is listened to through the School Council and the Executive School Council. The principle of democracy is also explored in History and Religious Education as well as in tutor time and assemblies. A debating society and mock general elections support this value.
The Rule of Law
The importance of laws, whether they be those that govern the class, the school or the country, is consistently reinforced at Kennet School. Pupils are taught the rules and expectations of the school, which are highlighted by the school code of conduct. Within the PSHE curriculum, pupils are taught the value and the reasons behind the laws that govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken. Visits from legal authorities such as the police and magistrates within the school reinforce this message.
Individual Liberty
At Kennet School, pupils are actively encouraged to make independent choices, in the knowledge that they are in a safe, secure and supportive environment. Staff at Kennet educate and provide boundaries for pupils to make informed choices, through a safe environment and an empowering education. Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are advised on how to exercise these safely, for example through e-safety sessions during tutor time. Kennet has a robust anti-bullying policy.
Mutual Respect and Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs
Respect is a strong part of Kennet School. Pupils learn that their behaviour has an effect on their own rights and those of others. All members of the school community are expected to treat each other with respect and this is reiterated through its teaching and learning environments.
- Mutual respect is embraced throughout the curriculum by providing the opportunity for pupils to express their views in a safe environment, with the school’s aim to ‘develop personal responsibility and respect’.
- Tolerance is achieved through equipping pupils with the ability to understand their place in a culturally diverse society and by giving them the opportunities to experience such diversity within the school community. Pupils benefit from a number of international visitors, including pupils from other continents and cultures. Holocaust Memorial Day is marked every year at an assembly. Our Ethics & Philosophy curriculum​​, which is compulsory for all pupils up to the end of Key Stage 3, provides a broad and balanced education on a range of faiths, religions and cultures. The syllabus helps pupils to have a broader understanding of spiritual, moral and sociological issues and encourages them to think about their own spiritual development.
As a school, we are completely committed to ensuring that our pupils leave with the strongest foundation of values upon which to build a successful life in modern Britain and make a successful contribution to our society.