| OTHER- |
| ‘People who are compassionate, who appreciate the value and preciousness of each and every person and all life on earth.’ |
| We are committed to:- |
| ● our school being a loving school because love ‘always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.’ Corinthians 13:7-8
We look to follow Jesus’s command to ‘Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.’ We stress to the children that we should see everyone as our neighbour, to love ‘everybody, always’- Bob Goff We revisit the Parable of the Lost Coin At the heart of our project there must be ‘love’; our school needs to be ‘a place where the future is bursting with possibility. A place where they are loved and can learn to love’ -Debra Kidd, 2014. We revisit The Parable of the Sower ‘Where love stops, power begins. And violence, and terror.’ The Undiscovered Self -Carl Jung Perhaps the most powerful way adults can support children is through the quality of their presence and the atmosphere that this creates in the in-between times of any day. Children will absorb this. “With love for mankind and hatred of sins.” – St. Augustine Letter 211, c. 424 We believe in people. “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.” -Martin Luther King |
| ● a culture of caring, of listening; of empathy; a place of safety, where everyone has the best chance at self -regulation
We maintain high levels of pastoral care, for example we offer a variety of therapies ‘Children are more likely to grow into caring people if they know they themselves are cared about….if children feel safe, they can take risks, ask questions, make mistakes, learn to trust, share their feelings, and grow.’ (Alfie Cohen) We encourage our children to think before they speak– ‘is it true? is it helpful? Is it inspiring? Is it necessary? Is it kind? We are committed to developing emotional intelligence and growing empathy for others; We emphasize to the children, “Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.” (B. Meltzer) It is imperative that we display empathy if our pupils are to develop empathy. “Empathy is not sympathy. Sympathy is a form of agreement, a form of judgment. And it is sometimes the more appropriate emotion and response. But people often feed on sympathy. It makes them dependent. The essence of empathic listening is not that you agree with someone; it’s that you fully, deeply, understand that person, emotionally as well as intellectually.” Many children would be able to tell you the difference between empathy and sympathy “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply… Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” -Stephen Covey. We use Restorative and Relational Practices in school. ‘If we can share our story with someone who responds with empathy and understanding, shame can’t survive.”- Brene Brown We listen ‘because to do so is the best possible concrete evidence of your esteem you can give (a) child…. Listen to your child enough and you will come to realise that he or she is a quite extraordinary individual… the more children know that you value them… the more they will be willing to listen to you and afford you the same esteem.’ (M. Scott Peck -The Road Less Travelled) Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry (James1:19) Policy and practice that epitomize this: Through Zones of Regulation we talk about our feelings Staff talk about PACE when approaching children who are struggling- it stands for Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity and Empathy. During Philosophy for Children we talk about conducting ourselves in a caring way
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| ● a place full of giving. We aim to think more about others than we think about ourselves. We use the words of John Wesley as a school prayer: ‘Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.’ We revisit the parable of ‘The rich man and the widow’ ‘The wise person who has recalibrated his desires in line with what is absolutely necessary will, Epicurus wrote, ‘understand better how to share than to take- so large is the fund of self-sufficiency that they have discovered.’ We often come back to the truism, ‘Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about- be kind’ We recognise that to flourish together is a generous activity. We would want our pupils to be as pleased about the success/ achievement of their peers as they would be of their own. We aim for the school to be a place of giving as opposed to competition. |
| a place full of compassion
Compassion is one of our 6 core values May all beings know love. We often revisit the Parable of the Good Samaritan ‘Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry’-James 1:19 Some of our children would be able to explain to you the root of the word compassion- that passio in Latin means suffering; that com-passion means a willingness to suffer with another. ‘…genuine compassion is based on the rationale that all human beings have an innate desire to be happy and overcome suffering, just like myself. And, just like myself, they have the natural right to fulfill this fundamental aspiration. On the basis of the recognition of this equality and commonality, you develop a sense of affinity and closeness with others. With this as a foundation, you can feel compassion regardless of whether you view the other person as a friend of an enemy. It is based on the other’s fundamental rights as opposed to your own mental projection.’ Dalai Lama in ‘The Art of Happiness.’ One of our core curriculum threads is Eco-awareness- we expect pupils to develop compassion for the planet We encourage our children to ‘Have Compassion’ Who is our neighbour? (Luke 12:36) We have a school prayer devoted to compassion |
| ● we work hard to appreciate difference, not simply accepting it.
We would all say, ‘We look to appreciate each other’s differences’ Rather than expecting consensus and becoming frustrated at differences of opinion, we look to draw strength from our differences and from the ensuing dialogue. ‘We must look to appreciate our differences; must look to adopt an approach that means ‘disengaging temporarily from our own sense of right and wrong and opening ourselves to the moral logic of people with whom we disagree.’ D McGarvey. We revisit the Parable of the Speck and the Log Our school identity then would be ‘defined by conflicts and dilemmas more than by agreements.’ Yuval Noah Harari. We might refer to John 13:34: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.’ Policy and practice that epitomize this: pupil led assemblies about their difference, link to Nkokoto We treasure the individual as unique, Glory be to God for dappled things; each with the potential to make a valued and unique contribution to the whole. Appreciating difference is one of our Curriculum Threads ‘That everyone is different and unique to one another and I have learnt to appreciate that.’ Yr 6 Leaver 2023 We revisit the Parable of the ‘The Good Samaritan’ We might refer to Thessalonians 5:16-18- ‘Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.’ |
| ● to staying humble
Humility is one of our 6 core values Pride leads to disgrace but with humility comes wisdom (Proverbs 11:2) We encourage our children to Show Humility ’’He who desires to be the greatest, let him be the least among you’’ (Mark 9:34) … ‘For our entire being is founded purely on a process of becoming nothingness.’ Meister Eckhart And how does a person benefit if he gains the whole world and loses his soul in the process? We revisit the parable, The Spec and the log’ –Let the one who is without sin be the first to throw stones Humility mixed with awe—see video of size |
| ● community and a sense of belonging, of solidarity; to friendship and democratic participation; to promoting willing reciprocity. While we cherish the individual, we emphasize the collective and building a dense web of reciprocal obligations.
‘I think Minch is different because we are all so close as a community.’ Yr 6 Leaver 2020 A sense of community is one of our core curriculum threads ● We are all important in this community but no one person is any more important than the next person. We have a sense of duty towards the collective as well as towards ourselves: we are society minded because this serves us and others well. ‘We cannot deliberate about common purposes and ends without a sense of belonging; without seeing ourselves as members of a community to which we are indebted. Only insofar as we depend on others, and recognise our dependence, do we have reason to appreciate their contribution to our collective wellbeing.’ Sandel- Tyranny of Merit |
| ● taking responsibility for ourselves and others. We look to run a school and teach a curriculum that practices responsibility; that emotionally engages people in their learning; that acquires knowledge that is powerful because it helps to socially connect people; because it is used compassionately to help make the world a better place.
Responsibility is one of our 6 core values ‘None of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself’ (Romans 14:7). see https://www.minchacademy.net/our-vision-and-values/— 9. Behind the Scenes ● To take responsibility for our responses and our actions. to recognise we all play our part and we all have impact on the world. ‘Of all the existing things some are in our power, and others are not in our power. In our power are thought, impulse, will to get, and will to avoid, and, in a word, everything which is our own doing.’ Epictetus- Enchiridion ●We encourage our children to ‘Take Responsibility’ Eco awareness- stewardship and responsible for what we can do |
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● committed to the common good -an education that encourages and enables all students and adults to contribute to the common good. We aim to be an ethical community. We see this as good for learning. Dorothy Heathcote said we must be careful not to mistake compliance for engagement or entertainment for engagement. She maintained there was a place of learning beyond engagement, away from a dependency on the teacher and towards a more independent form of learning. She used words like ‘concern’ and ‘investment’ and ‘obsession’ to describe the kind of learning we should be aiming for and described the ‘bridge of concern’ as the key way to take them from engagement to investment. ● We use the word ‘bothered’ to describe how we want our children to feel about their learning ‘…theories of contributive justice teach us that we are most fully human when we contribute to the common good and earn the esteem of our fellow citizens for the contributions we make. ….the fundamental human need is to be needed by those with whom we share a common life.’ Sandel- Tyranny of Merit |
| ● committed to social justice… we are committed to an education that benefits us all, to a socially just, more equal society.
We look to consider how Jesus encountered people- often people on the fringe, on the periphery of society- how he showed compassion towards (the face of God)- how he challenged injustice; accepted and appreciated difference. ‘Knowledge, like air, is vital to life. Like air, no-one should be denied it’ Alan Munro.’We feel equal in class. Other people don’t come across as better than me. They may know more about something but the teachers want us to share our learning.’ Pupil self-report 2020 We are inspired by many great leaders, like Jesus, who have always taught us to be radically humane; to celebrate the worth of everyone; to make space for hope, to avoid comparison and condemnation and to look beyond existing rules and conventional wisdom to do what is right and good. Jesus’s teachings require us to teach from the heart; to maintain a sense of awe and of limitless possibilities; to persevere in humility. Policy and practice that epitomise this:- growth mindset language; |
| ● to relationships which are respectful and positive and constructive.
● We recognise emotional intelligence and relationships lie at the heart of a healthy human existence. ‘If you were designing a curriculum in proportion to its eventual contribution to a good life, half of it at least would be devoted to relationships.’ Alain De Botton ● We want to encourage/ allow for concentrated relationships; to support active listening and the deeper understanding of others which push us to respond to them with compassion and care. ‘I learnt how to make great friendships and what a great friendship is.’ Yr 6 Leaver 2020 ‘I have learnt that there are many people out there that can be your friend.’ Yr 6 Leaver 2020 ‘The qualities of …..close relationships in general are essentially regulatory qualities; the capacity to listen, to notice, to regulate behaviour and to be able to restore good feelings through some kind of physical, emotional or mental contact, through a touch, a smile, a way of putting feelings and thoughts into words. These capacities are personal ones, but they cannot be expressed fully in an environment that puts children to the margins. To be able to notice and respond to other people’s feelings takes up time. It requires a kind of mental space to be allocated to feelings, and a willingness to prioritize relationships.’ Sue Gerhardt -Why Love Matters ‘We employ PACE as a way of thinking, feeling, communicating and behaving in order to foster positive relationships. PACE stands for Playfulness, Acceptance,Curiosity and Empathy. We have a Relationships Policy We focus on relationships rather than punishment and reward..‘…rewards and punishments are not opposites at all; they are two sides of the same coin…the same psychological model, one that conceives of motivation as nothing more than the manipulation of behaviour.’ A Cohen We use Restorative Practices to‘find and fix as opposed to name and blame.’ One TA said, ‘It has transformed my practice…even little ones can do it…it really does work…they resolve things themselves.’ We recognise that relationships are all the stronger for having been through rough patches and come out the other side and it is therefore part of our role to help manage this. We have a Relationships Charter see our policies page |