Ethos and Values
Alderman White is A Community of Opportunity for all.
A community…
First and foremost, our school is a community. Our actions affect others within our community, and their actions affect us. We encourage and expect our students to be positive and pro-active members of our school community, enabling everyone within that community to progress, develop and achieve. We are actively engaged in our local and national communities and are active global citizens through our engagement with other countries and their cultures and global issues.
Our sense of community is based around our INSPIRE values of integrity, nurture, success, perseverance, innovation, responsibility and engagement. Every member of our school community is encouraged to embrace these values and to demonstrate them through their attitude and conduct both within school and in the wider community.
Our expectations and rules enable us to demonstrate these values in the way we conduct ourselves. Politeness and respect for others are key to this. Our behaviour policy allows demonstrating these values to be recognised and celebrated and for there to be a consequence to making the wrong choices and not following the school expectations. The aim is always to encourage students to adapt their behaviour, make the right choices and learn from any mistakes. Assemblies, our tutor programme, and Citizenship lessons as well as many areas of the curriculum actively teach the values and behaviours that we want our students to develop and demonstrate.
…of opportunity…
We aim to provide every member of our community with the opportunity to find and develop their talents, knowledge, skills and interests.
Our curriculum is ambitious and designed to give all students the essential knowledge and cultural capital they need to be educated citizens, introducing them to the best that has been thought and said, and helping to engender an appreciation of human creativity and achievement. All students study the National Curriculum, and have the opportunity to study the full EBacc at Key Stage 4 alongside a range of academic and technical / vocational subject specialisms. Our teachers are skilled practitioners and achievement and progress are significantly above national levels. We provide high quality impartial careers and post-16 guidance to support students in pursuing ambitious education, training and career paths.
We recognise the importance of our exciting and engaging enrichment programme to our students’ engagement in school life, sense of belonging, and character and personal development. When able to do so, we offer a wide range of trips, expeditions and overseas visits and exchanges. We are committed to outdoor education and many of our students take part in the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. When possible, we have a termly school production, and a large Concert Band as well as smaller ensemble groups. We engender a love of reading through our library, daily DEAR time and reading enrichment activities. We offer a wider range of sports clubs and teams. We expect every student to be actively involved in at least one enrichment activity at school or in the community.
Our curriculum, enrichment programme and character and Citizenship education are dynamic and evolving with opportunities for all to contribute and take on leadership roles.
…for all
We are a small school with a focus on getting to know every member of our community as an individual and enabling them to thrive.
We are an inclusive school that actively welcomes people of diverse identities. We take our responsibilities to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster excellent relations between people with different identities within the framework of the Equality Act 2010seriously. We encourage under-represented groups to have a voice in the community, and provide opportunities for everyone to understand the perspective of others and to celebrate our diversity as a community, as well as understanding our British Values.
We offer opportunities for staff, parents and other community members. Staff wellbeing and professional development are important to us and we offer a wider range of opportunities through our school, Trust and local partnerships. Parents and carers are encouraged to be actively involved in the life of the school through attending events on site, our Parent Forum or joining our PTA or Governing Body. We run a well-established Language College offering classes in numerous languages to our students, staff, parents and other members of our community. We also host a number of local community programmes and groups including Premier Soccer Coaching, Footlights Theatre Group, and the Nottingham Chinese School.
