Values and Vision

Our VALUES

We aim to nurture, challenge and inspire in everything we do at CFS, in and outside the classroom. Our practice is rooted in engaging and inspiring lessons, where academic rigour is achieved by building on pupils’ prior learning. We encourage our pupils to show resilience in lessons, challenge them to achieve the best that they can and inspire them through creative approaches which fire a desire to learn. Our intention is to ensure pupils make outstanding progress and that our inclusive and adaptive curriculum removes any potential barriers to learning and prepares our young people for the outside world.

Nurture

Individual talent and skills are nurtured; pupils are given varied opportunities and are actively encouraged to pursue their dreams and ambitions. We nurture our pupils through the development of positive relationships with staff and each other. Our committed team are concerned about the emotional development of the children and adults in our school on a day-to-day basis and recognise the importance of safety, security and confidence in every member of the school community.

Challenge

Our pupils are stimulated and challenged, both in and out of the classroom, developing a lifelong passion for learning. Our pupils are challenged to be the best they can be throughout the course of every day, providing opportunities both to engage in independent learning and to work with others. They develop curiosity, ambition and resilience and are not afraid to be intrepid. Children do best in classrooms where the work is intellectually challenging, where curiosity and wonder is promoted and celebrated; we aim to create classrooms where the pupils’ exercise both cognitive and metacognitive skills.

Inspire

We create opportunities to ensure our pupils flourish as lifelong learners. At CFS, we create an atmosphere of excitement, vibrancy and purpose, which inspires and fosters a love of learning and intellectual curiosity and promotes dignity, integrity, self-discipline and self-esteem. We will create confident, happy, creative and articulate young people, who will emerge with a clear vision for their future.

Our Strategy

To achieve our vision we have a clear strategy, which is flexible and constantly under review. Our strategy promotes:

• Excellence – We have consistently high expectations of our pupils and staffs
• Opportunity – We provide a range of inspiring opportunities to enable staff and pupils to fulfil their potential
• Experiences through Cultural Capital – We provide our pupils with experiences, knowledge, skills and behaviours to confidently engage with others, and challenge social divides
• Community and Family – We recognise the importance of community and family on a pupil’s education, building strong and positive relationships between pupils, staff and parents

The CFS strategy for 2024-2027 can be found here.

Our Vision

It is our aim that all learners leave CFS:

• achieving Accelerated Academic Progress – pupils’ potential is maximised, enabling them to embrace a world of opportunities.
• with Resilience – pupils confidently face challenges, emerging stronger and able to thrive in their lives.
• as Global Citizens – pupils take responsibility for their impact on others.
• with a Love of Learning – pupils are motivated, curious, self-directed learners who continuously challenge themselves to seek out new information and experiences throughout their lives.

The CFS Way

Underpinning all of this work is the ‘CFS Way’.

CFS is a school where we have high expectations, high challenge and high celebration.

All pupils are encouraged to SHINE; to be Selfless, Hardworking, Independent, Noble and Empowering.

From Year R to Year 11, a pupil friendly colour system encourages a culture of inclusive ambition for all. This is a truly inclusive and sophisticated approach which takes into account every child’s own personal context. For example, all children – regardless of ability – can be ‘purple’ in their academic achievement if they are making strong progress in their own personal learning journey. No child is set up to ‘fail’, as can often be the case when focusing purely on attainment. Conversely, pupils who are achieving higher academic results are not allowed to coast – if their progress is currently ‘orange’ we will support them to push themselves even higher.

This system is also a consistent and clear method of showing parents and pupils how well our learners are doing in all aspects of their education – their academic progress, their approach to learning, and their House Point achievements. And allows for clear transition through the All Through School.

When you walk into CFS classrooms, in both the Primary and Secondary phases, you will see the ‘CFS Way’ in action – not only in our colourful posters but also in the daily learning that is taking place.

Please do have a look at some of the ways in which this inclusive and ambitious approach is embedded through our:

• Rewards and Sanctions system – primary and secondary
• Academic On Track monitoring – link here
• Learning Profiles – link here

British Values

British Values at CFS

At CFS we encourage, promote and reflect on the five key British Values of:

• Democracy
• Rule of Law
• Individual Liberty
• Respect
• Tolerance

These underpin key aspects of our School’s values of Nurture, Challenge and Inspire, as well as our curriculum implementation through Cultural Capital and Community.

It is our belief that the British Values are integral our core aim for all pupils to be truly Global Citizens.

The British Values are both implicitly and explicitly developed through our curriculum and co-curricular in the following ways:

• The House System, focusing on Celebration, Community, Competition and Charity
• PSHE curriculum in both Primary and Secondary
• Cultural Capital opportunities – link here
• Primary assemblies.
• Secondary Tutor group assemblies.
• Secondary Tutor Time activities.
• Celebrated displays around the School.
• Through our Culture of Kindness initiative.
• Pupil engagement in the CFS Passport and UniFrog.
• Pupil Voice opportunities – link here
• Pupil Leadership opportunities – link here

At CFS, we encourage healthy and respectful debate and discussion around British Values. For example, a recent discussion has considered whether ‘tolerance is always enough’, and the concepts of greater acceptance and understanding were explored.

Staff are trained annually in the teaching of British Values. Whilst all staff take responsibility for the development of British Values at CFS, as Assistant Head Teacher: All Through Pupil Development, Mr Rob Angell leads on the School’s strategy, supported by Mrs Gemma Clark.