The culture and ethos of a school stems from the vision and values. We focus on being a school "where we all flourish" and our aim for culture and ethos is to have a community where caring and challenge and citizenship are fundamental to the curriculum and to the daily living.

Four areas where we feel our culture and ethos ensures flourishing:

Safeguarding

We recognise our moral and statutory responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children with their best interests at the centre of our work. We strive to create an environment in which children feel safe, secure and respected. We encourage them to talk openly about anything that worries them; and help them feel confident that they will be listened to. Adults in our school take all welfare concerns seriously, are alert to the signs of abuse and neglect, and trained to follow our robust procedures to ensure that children receive effective support, protection and justice.

If you have a concern that a child or children are being harmed, at risk of harm, or you receive a disclosure (intentionally or unintentionally) you must report it immediately to one of our designated safeguarding leads:

• Designated Safeguarding Lead: Victoria Beevers - head@st-johns-pri.gloucs.sch.uk
• Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead: Joe Vaughan - jvaughan@st-johns-pri.gloucs.sch.uk
• Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead: Debbie Kimber - dkimber@st-johns-pri.gloucs.sch.uk
• Chair of Governors: Jenny Faulkner - chair@st-johns-pri.gloucs.sch.uk
• Safeguarding Governor: Patrick Wheaton - pwheaton@st-johns-pri.gloucs.sch.uk

Behaviour and Relationships

We strive to create an environment in which children feel safe, secure and respected. We want life at school to be enjoyable for every pupil. Pupils should be able to engage in their lessons and make friends in a calm, friendly environment. We want to encourage good behaviour and discourage behaviour that undermines learning or confidence between pupils or pupils and staff. We work towards pupils understanding the consequences of their choices and behaviours.

With regards to bullying, our focus is on prevention. Preventing bullying is far easier than responding to incidents when they occur. To prevent bullying, we promote an anti-bullying approach in which we are supportive of each other, provide positive role models and shared values, and are clear that we will not tolerate unacceptable behaviour. If bullying is suspected or reported, the incident will be dealt with immediately by the member of staff who has been approached. We will record a clear account of the incident and we will support affected pupils by offering immediate and continuous support, working to restore self-esteem and confidence. We will work with pupils guilty of bullying by discussing what happened and explaining why it was wrong, understanding why they became involved. We will keep families informed of bullying incidents and discuss relevant strategies for change together. If you are concerned that a child could be experiencing bullying, please let us know as soon as possible and we will work together to resolve the situation.

Health and Well-Being

We want every pupil to develop a healthy, active lifestyle that will set them up well for the future. We teach pupils about the importance and benefits of healthy habits and we promote physical activity, a balanced diet and self-care activities throughout the curriculum and school life. We promote positive mental health for every pupil and member of staff and we maintain a whole-school approach to mental health, alongside specialised, targeted approaches for vulnerable students. We ensure that pupils receive regular exercise. Lessons are designed to raise the heart rate and improve overall fitness, stamina and flexibility and our playtimes encourage game-playing and physical interactions as appropriate to the age of the children. 

Diversity and Inclusion

We aim to build a diverse and inclusive organisation where everyone – staff and pupils – can do their best and achieve their full potential. Our pupils know and understand the importance of showing respect to everyone, whatever differences we may have, and to everything, whether it is a school resource or a religious belief. We promote and celebrate diversity by celebrating events, such as different religious festivals and Black History, over the course of each year. We are committed to providing an accessible environment, which values and includes all pupils, staff, parents, carers and visitors, regardless of their education, physical, sensory, social, spiritual, emotional and cultural needs. We are committed to challenging negative attitudes about disability and accessibility and to developing a culture of awareness, tolerance and inclusion. We reflect and represent diverse perspectives throughout our curriculum, through our choice of topics, reading materials and trips out into the community. We want to reflect and represent diverse perspectives across our organisation because we know that doing so will make us stronger, more connected and enhance our pupils' education. Saint John's is an equal opportunity employer. Applications from individuals are encouraged regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships.

Please see School Policies for additional detail regarding each of these areas.