SMSC stands for Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development. Character and a shared culture are also developed through the school's pastoral tuition and PSHCE curriculm as well as inter-House events and competitions.
Spiritual: explore beliefs and experience; respect values; discover oneself and the surrounding world; use imagination and creativity; reflect.
Moral: recognise right and wrong; understand consequences; investigate moral and ethical issues; offer reasoned views.
Social: use social skills in different contexts; work well with others; resolve conflicts; understand how communities work.
Cultural: appreciate cultural influences; participate in culture opportunities; understand, accept, respect and celebrate diversity.
Students embed the core values of Bishop Ramsey School and are mindful of one another’s views, demonstrating tolerance to differences in opinions. We encourage students to be reflective learners, showing curiosity and a thirst for knowledge in order to improve as individuals. This enables them to develop holistically and become active participants in modern British life. This is a real strength of Bishop Ramsey and is embedded in the curriculum through drop down ‘curriculum thematic days’ twice a year, Tutor time activities, a debating programme, educational visits, the student leadership programme, co- and extra-curricular enrichment, the Assembly programme and through Collective Worship.
To promote spiritual development, all students study Religious Ediucation from Year 7 through to GCSE. This encourages students to reflect on their own beliefs and those of others. Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Sikhism are studied and other belief systems are examined.
All students also study a full range of creative subjects throughout Key Stage 3 including Art, Music, Drama, Dance and STEM, allowing them to engage their imaginations and be creative in their learning.
The moral development of our students is also promoted through Tutor time, PSHCE lessons, Assemblies and Collective Worship. The school's core values provide a shared language for talking about moral issues which is well integrated into the school's vernacular. Students reflect on the difference between right and wrong, and they are equipped to apply reasoning and critical thinking skills to their own lives, based on a moral compass as part of our Christian approach to life and the world. All students study ethics, including different points of view, and learn about how to make ethical decisions. Students reflect on their own moral decision-making through a focus on restorative justice integrated into our culture for learning.
Character and a shared culture are developed through the school's House and Student Leadership structure. The school strives to ensure it is fully inclusive and we achieve this by ensuring all students have a strong sense of association with their Form and House and that students are able to succeed and show resilience in failure.
Students develop their character within their Forms, Year Groups and Houses in a number of ways including: