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Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development


At Gossops Green, we believe that it is essential that our pupils are equipped with the tools they need to support them in growing up in modern British society. We want all pupils that attend our school to have the opportunity to develop a strong set of values and principles, and question and understand what it means to grow up in British society.

Our Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural curriculum sits alongside the academic subjects and is woven throughout lessons. It is designed to ensure that our pupils have the opportunity to learn and reflect on the British values that underpin our lives and to recognise the valuable role that they play as emerging citizens in British society.

As a school we welcome children from all backgrounds and are proud of how children and their families from other cultures are welcomed by our children and the rest of the school community.

In all teaching the teachers look to inspire the children. Teachers look to develop a love of learning and a working atmosphere where children enjoy learning. Children are given opportunities to take on responsibility around the school: House Captains, Change Champions, Reading Ambassadors, Mental Health Ambassadors, Song Leaders and Y6 Prefects.

The school has a clear behaviour policy that sets high expectations and promotes a good moral understanding, mutual respect, tolerance and understanding. Each class has the opportunity each year to perform to other year groups and their parents through a range of performances. Friendship, respect and tolerance are taught as part of our Personal, Social, Health Education program. Through a combination of approaches the school is able to ensure that children develop an understanding of the key British Values: Democracy, Rule of Law, Mutual Respect, Personal Liberty and Tolerance of other faiths and cultures.

Spiritual Development

The spiritual development of pupils is shown by their:

  • ability to be reflective about their own beliefs (religious or otherwise) and perspective on life
  • knowledge of, and respect for, different people’s faiths, feelings and values
  • sense of enjoyment and fascination in learning about themselves, others and the world around them
  • use of imagination and creativity in their learning
  • willingness to reflect on their experiences

At Gossops Green, this is achieved through:

  • our Religion and Worldviews curriculum, which is designed to develop children’s curiosity and fascination about the world and its people that will remain with them for the rest of their lives
  • a culturally diverse community with an emphasis on respect and celebration of different beliefs
  • enhancing opportunities to build links with local faith communities, including visiting places of worship in the local area
  • a zero tolerance approach to discrimination on the basis of faith

Moral

The moral development of pupils is shown by their:

  • ability to recognise the difference between right and wrong and to readily apply this understanding in their own lives, recognise legal boundaries and, in so doing, respect the civil and criminal law of England
  • understanding of the consequences of their behaviour and actions
  • interest in investigating and offering reasoned views about moral and ethical issues and ability to understand and appreciate the viewpoints of others on these issues.

At Gossops Green, this is achieved through:

  • a progressive and supportive PSHE curriculum, which promotes an understanding of the basic concepts of right and wrong
  • consistent application of a behaviour policy that focuses on reflection
  • assemblies on world issues, which are delivered in non-judgemental and age-appropriate ways
  • a zero tolerance approach to discrimination
  • children being encouraged to develop their own opinions, ideas and thoughts, whether this be about local or school issues or events in the wider world. 

Social Development

The social development of pupils is shown by their:

  • use of a range of social skills in different contexts, for example working and socialising with other pupils, including those from different religious, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds
  • willingness to participate in a variety of communities and social settings, including by volunteering, cooperating well with others and being able to resolve conflicts effectively
  • acceptance of and engagement with the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs; they develop and demonstrate skills and attitudes that will allow them to participate fully in and contribute positively to life in modern Britain.

At Gossops Green, this is achieved through:

  • an ethos of respect
  • providing children with opportunities to volunteer and become whole-school student leaders in the form of Change Champions, Prefects, Sports Crew, Mental Health Ambassadors, Song Leaders, and Reading Ambassadors – see below
  • giving children class responsibilities and expecting all pupils to contribute to the smooth running of the class community
  • the implementation of ‘Positive Playtimes’ and ‘Mindful Mealtimes’, promoting mutual respect and co-operation throughout the school day

Cultural

The cultural development of pupils is shown by their:

  • understanding and appreciation of the wide range of cultural influences that have shaped their own heritage and that of others
  • understanding and appreciation of the range of different cultures in the school and further afield as an essential element of their preparation for life in modern Britain
  • ability to recognise, and value, the things we share in common across cultural, religious, ethnic and socio-economic communities
  • knowledge of Britain’s democratic parliamentary system and its central role in shaping our history and values, and in continuing to develop Britain
  • willingness to participate in and respond positively to artistic, musical, sporting and cultural opportunities
  • interest in exploring, improving understanding of and showing respect for different faiths and cultural diversity and the extent to which they understand, accept and respect diversity. This is shown by their respect and attitudes towards different religious, ethnic and socio-economic groups in the local, national and global communities

At Gossops Green, this is achieved through:

  • a drive for equity across everything we do
  • celebrating our culturally diverse community through lessons, events and assemblies
  • our geography curriculum, which is designed to develop children’s curiosity and fascination about the world and its people
  • a wide range of sporting, musical and art opportunities for all pupils
  • participation in UK Parliament Week in November

Pupil Responsibilities


Our children have a range of opportunities to support each other and contribute to the life of the school. These increase as the children move from Key Stage 1 into Key Stage 2. Below are some of the opportunities that our children can volunteer for, often giving up their own time to help others.  

Change Champions

Gossops Green places huge emphasis on the fundamental British Value of democracy and fully believes that pupils should have an active say in how their school is run. We have a very active and well established Change Champions’ group, who are a group of pupils from Year 2 to Year 6, who represent the views of all pupils and work to improve the school. The Change Champions meet regularly and share ideas from their peers that have been put forward during class councils. Mindfulness Mealtimes and Positive Playtimes are just two of the initiatives that have been introduced following suggestions from the Change Champions. 

House Captains

Every child in the school is allocated to a House – Emerald (green), Ruby (red), Sapphire (blue) or Topaz (yellow). Pupils earn house points which are tallied up each week and the winning house is announced in Assembly. Houses also compete against each other on Sports Day. Each house has two House Captains, who are voted in by the children. 

Prefects

Every year, Year 6 pupils volunteer for a range of prefect roles across the school, teaching them about responsibility and collaboration. 

Mental Health Ambassadors

Gossops Green is one of the first primary schools  in West Sussex to work alongside the local Mental Health Support Team in empowering our own Year 5 pupils to support the mental wellbeing of their peers every lunchtime.  A specially trained group of children are at hand to listen, be a friendly face and to offer suggestions and advice to make lunchtimes a positive experience for all children.  They work under the mentorship of our Learning Mentors in our Nurture Team.

Mental Health Ambassador Mentors

We are grateful to last year’s Mental Health Ambassadors, who have volunteered to become MHA Mentors this year, supporting our new Mental Health Ambassadors in their role.  

Reading Ambassadors

Each class in EYFS, Year 1 and Year 2 have a Reading Ambassador who is a child in Year 4 or 5, who will support them with reading with the younger children, ensuring their reading areas are looking inviting and encouraging reading for pleasure. 

Sports Crew

Year 6 children volunteer to become Sports Crew, supporting other children in their play during lunchtimes.

Song Leaders

Year 6 choir members take on the role of Song Leaders to lead the Singing Playgrounds initiative on the KS1 and EYFS playgrounds.Singing Playgrounds is a whole-school primary school programme with child-led singing play at its heart. The song leader’s role is to lead, share and adapt singing -play together, which will in turn boost their self-confidence and self-esteem. We started this project in 2022-23 and it was very successful alongside our positive playtime initiative on the KS1 playground.