Thank you for your interest in our school. The children, staff, parents and governors have created our Rainbow Values at Exminster Community Primary School.
Rainbow Values: ‘The EPICentre of Learning’
What are our Rainbow Values? Our Rainbow Values are a set of school-wide list of positive characteristics that are desirable goals for children’s and adult behaviour. It is an intrinsically valuable aspect of our school wide-life that we relate to both home and school. These values are made explicit by teaching, modelling, scaffolding and discussing. Our values convey the beliefs that positively influence our behaviour and the way we interact with individuals, groups and communities. They represent the deepest beliefs and sentiments to which we can aspire, and they shape our School community.
How did they come about? A few years ago, we had lots of things we talked about in school – our Rainbow rules, our characteristics of learning and our EPIC vision. They were all great parts of school but because there were so many, they were not embedded across the school and not a real focus throughout the school. So, we got together with all of our stakeholders (children, staff, parents, governors) and asked everyone about how they wanted themselves or their child to be at the end of their primary school career. We pulled everything people said together and came up with our vision ‘The EPICentre of Learning’ alongside our values. Our EPIC stands for the first 4 values of Enjoyment, Potential, Inclusion and Community. The last 3 values, Thinking, Motivation and Engagement, link to the characteristics of learning that start as soon as children enter into our Reception unit and they continue right through the school. Below are the values written for our children, they are simplified for our younger children.
When do we talk about them in school? We talk about them within our learning, on the playground, when we have noticed them outside of school, in assemblies, on our School Learning Team, within governor meetings, in our weekly staff SHOUT OUT and bulletin. They underpin our school decision making, bringing everything back to our values and the learning.
Why are they NOT a reward system? Our values are not used as a reward for positive behavior. We expect everyone to behave well. We believe in intrinsic motivation; doing something for your own personal satisfaction where the primary motivator is internal – you do not expect anything in return. We want children to be intrinsically motivated because it feels good to them, it gives them personal challenge and/or a sense of achievement.
We asked our children, ‘Which is your favourite Rainbow Value and why?’
‘Enjoyment because it encourages people to have fun.’
‘Potential because I can always reach my goals.’
‘Potential because it shows that you have gone above and beyond in your learning.’
‘Inclusion because I want everyone to feel respected.’
‘Inclusion because you get to play with other people and be nice to new people to feel really nice and make the other person happy.’
‘Community because we work as a team.’
‘Community because I have lovely friends and I`m happy. To be honest I`ve got too many friends.’
‘Thinking because it pushes me to my maximum.’
‘Motivation because it helps you carry on no matter if there is a distraction.’
‘I like engagement because it encourages people to get involved.’