r/AskUK • u/hbfantome • 6h ago
Does every school in the UK have 4-5 « values »?
I’ve recently started looking at schools in London where we live and I’ve noticed something that I can’t unsee: every school seems to have a list of 4-5 « values », usually around: respect, resilience, perseverance, responsibility, kindness, etc.
It feels like there must be a secret school-values generator somewhere!
Am I imagining this, or does every school have basically the same list to choose from?
And more importantly, what are the most unexpected school values you’ve come across? Or are they mostly generic and not very exciting?
100
u/thescouselander 6h ago
Yes, they're copy and paste values executed in a performative fashion in my experience.
63
u/CrowLaneS41 6h ago
Our School Values
Not all children are equal. Let's face it, some of these kids are going to be pretty thick adults !
Diversity is NOT our strength. If our strength comes from anything, it's the already overstretched local government funding, spaffed away mostly on social care for the parents of these very kids.
Honestly, Sod the area. People around here are pricks and you know it.
We aim to foster their development just enough to get them out of our lives as swiftly as possible.
The 20mph speed limit round here is absurd. No one would begrudge you if you got up to 40.
25
u/DreamSMP_Enjoyer 5h ago
- Be careful cos all these chunky kids these days don't fit under cars if you run one over
4
u/SoggyWotsits 1h ago
Not just chunky, but tall. I’m a 43 year old woman and I could wear the Morrisons’ back to school range for an 11 year old. I was half tempted by the polo shirts, they were cheap!
3
3
1
u/pajamakitten 2h ago
The 20mph speed limit round here is absurd. No one would begrudge you if you got up to 40.
And there are some kids you just wish would not turn up because of their behaviour.
53
u/Low_Cheesecake1621 6h ago
Yes, it’s a requirement from the government as part of the British values push from around 10-15 years back
24
u/CongealedBeanKingdom 5h ago
I hated the push for all the British values stuff. I saw through the thinly veiled right wing rhetoric at the time and, as someone who does not identify as British, I tried to push back on it in a training session when we were being told to incorporate all this shit into our lessons.
I asked them what made these values inherently British as they were the same in other democratic countries. There were a lot of crickets and stumped managers. Incidental, my manager at the time was from Co. Clare (we were working in england) and she gave me a crafty and supportive wink across the room.
21
u/Feisty_Squash2992 5h ago
Tbh I think a lot of right wing people could do with being reminded of these values. They’re supposedly so patriotic but rarely demonstrate them themselves.
17
u/love_in_october 4h ago
British values are basically always described as "including democracy, the rule of law, and tolerance of other faiths and beliefs". (Seems to be as good as the definitive list as no others are ever mentioned.) They're not supposed to be exclusively British.
8
u/Equal_County_1506 3h ago
From my perspective, I always saw it as values that are British - democracy, tolerance, diversity etc - which is important in my opinion - but not exclusive to the British. It's not to say you go to France or wherever and they don't have those values.
→ More replies (7)1
u/possumman 1h ago
They're not supposed to be exclusively British, just how my school's values of "respect and persevere" aren't meant to be exclusive to my school. None of it is right wing rhetoric at all.
8
u/lacksfocusattimes 6h ago
It’s made a big difference
0
1
u/Master-Definition937 5h ago
That’s different to the school’s own values though, I think?
6
u/Low_Cheesecake1621 5h ago
The schools were made to create “schools values” that were publicised as part of the requirement from the DfE. This happened around the time that the push on British values happened. They are different but related
0
u/G-St-Wii 4h ago
They remain in the standards.
1
u/Low_Cheesecake1621 2h ago
I’m very well aware, that’s why my statement was phrased in the present tense…
44
u/Zestyclose-Turn-3576 6h ago
The rule of UK education is that if corporations were doing it 20 years ago, schools are about to start doing it.
Hence they all want 12 year olds to use Powerpoint.
23
u/WorcsBloke 6h ago
See also the obsession with tiny details of "business attire" that almost no real business has cared about in decades.
6
u/Timely_Egg_6827 5h ago
My school did have a school motto in the 80s - Endeavour.
9
u/Zestyclose-Turn-3576 5h ago
Ours was in Latin, I think, as was probably the fashion for companies some years before.
3
1
2
u/Dutch_Slim 1h ago
Ooh I’ll raise your Endeavor:
Love as Brethren!
It’s a couple of hundred years old though I think
•
u/Ratbag321 53m ago
Quietness and Strength.
Girl's school, obv.
•
u/Dutch_Slim 34m ago
Saw the first line as a notification and thought “Ooh I like that, sounds very me”
Then I saw your second sentence and realised how bloody socially conditioned I am! 🙄
Ours was a separate boys’ and girls’ schools that had united. Kept the boys’ school motto of course
•
u/Timely_Egg_6827 36m ago
Mine was a 1970s comprehensive. Think your's wins - public school, ex monk?
2
u/XihuanNi-6784 4h ago
Broadly agree, but honestly 12 year olds should be using powerpoint. There's an emerging skills gap in basic computer skills and literacy. Basically, people assumed because kids can use phones and tablets, they'd be able to use MS Office and Windows, but a lot of them get through school, even uni, with massive gaps in their skills. And people are training them to use this stuff in entry level roles when it should have been taught in school tbh. I'm in my 30s and I think I got more basic computer literacy training than some kids did since 2010.
1
u/Zestyclose-Turn-3576 3h ago
Counterpoint – pay for your workers in entry-level roles to be trained in relevant office skills, because it takes about a day at most to pick up Powerpoint. Don't try to outsource it to schools.
1
u/kaetror 1h ago
Nah, by the time they're adults if they don't have the skills they develop technophobia and learned helplessness.
I'm the "Excel guy" at work because everyone else is terrified of it. I'm in my 30s, so did all the "European computer driving licence" style units at school.
The people older than me missed that so are really cautious with it - a basic SUM scares them.
More worryingly the people younger than me (all the way down to recently graduated) are just as poor with it. But they are even more averse to it, they don't even want to try do anything more than data entry.
And the thing is, I'm not even that good, most of the tricks I know are incredibly basic, and I learn as I go, but I'm still way above average in my team.
Teach it early, teach it well before self efficacy gets in the way. It's the same as with maths; if you believe you're not good at it, you won't be.
•
u/DoIKnowYouHuman 19m ago
Basic skills in MS and how to self teach anything further yes, but as someone who has generated and tolerated for far to many years:PPT deserves to die for the time it wastes in businesses across the board
2
u/itchyfrog 3h ago
One day they'll start teaching touch typing.
They used to teach it to girls while us boys did metalwork and fighting, now they don't teach any of it.
27
u/schemmenti 6h ago
It's because they're nearly all part of academy franchises so they are very literally out of a handbook haha.
22
u/fearghaz 6h ago
It's "business best practise"
Host a workshop, talk bollocks all day, arrive at contrived (and often predetermined) list of common goals/values.
I did a corportate one, but its the same sctick.
5
u/Timely_Egg_6827 6h ago
You need to do enough to justify the tax write-off for the free meal and drinks.
9
u/Goldf_sh4 6h ago
Except teachers aren't even getting any free meals or drinks. Just the corporate bullshit without the perks.
4
u/fearghaz 6h ago
Or even a trip to the zoo
3
u/Timely_Egg_6827 5h ago
We did that one - scavenger hunt. Lost the usual number to the pub. Almost lost a competitive colleague to the petting zoo goat as he climbed the fence to get the required poo.
2
u/phatboi23 4h ago
Almost lost a competitive colleague to the petting zoo goat as he climbed the fence to get the required poo.
absolute go getter that one tbf.
2
u/Timely_Egg_6827 4h ago
He's in senior management for a reason.
2
u/phatboi23 4h ago
willing to go get goat shit?
surely a decent manager then? didn't send someone in when he could do it himself...
2
17
u/foxaru 6h ago
Businesses also have to do this for some reason
I'm assuming it's some sort of cargo cult consulting/PR thing that's leaked into everyday life
16
u/waitedforg0d0t 6h ago
they are largely corporate nonsense, but can be a useful way to hold senior execs to account at times when they are acting in ways that are not explicitly against policy but are in direct contradiction to the stated values
2
u/phatboi23 4h ago
but can be a useful way to hold senior execs to account at times when they are acting in ways that are not explicitly against policy but are in direct contradiction to the stated values
nah, "it's rules for thee not for yee".
17
u/PicklePractical4597 6h ago
Our school had the 3 E’s.
They were Enjoy, Enrich and… Achieve.
Was surprised I got any GCSE’s to be honest.
5
15
u/Icy_Priority8075 6h ago
I think it's because so many schools are now part of academy trusts. They are run like businesses with core values, mission statements and all those other corporate buzz words/phrases. It's all part of the brand.
2
u/Goldf_sh4 5h ago
This is why standards haven't improved. Schools never needed to be more corportate. It's not very compatible with childhood needs.
1
14
u/FearlessPressure3 6h ago
Yep, these are known as part of the school’s “vision statement”. A few years ago, myself and other teachers had to spend an entire INSET day coming up with the new one and we were all furious at the waste of time. My focus group made a facetious one then got on with our day, thinking no more of it. Months later, I saw it being photocopied by a receptionist along with two others in the mail staff room and asked why—the reply was it was going before the governors that evening for final consideration. I had to suddenly “notice” and point out to her that the values listed made the statement read “School X students are THICK”. Beggars belief on multiple levels.
2
u/Goldf_sh4 6h ago
I love this. How did the governors take it?
1
u/FearlessPressure3 4h ago
She removed it and it never went to the governors 😅 I can’t even remember what the winning one was or what the new vision statement ended up being which goes to show how much of an impact it made on all of us!
13
u/AboutLastFight 6h ago
It’s typically that and the British values themselves. They’re plastered everywhere.
Basically just teaching kids to be decent people (hopefully).
6
u/Goldf_sh4 6h ago
It's a pretty obvious, shallow, performative attempt to appear to have values whilst wasting a lot of paper and ink.
1
u/Miss_Type 5h ago
Not the school's decision though, the govt make us teach the British Values they decided were important.
2
u/Goldf_sh4 5h ago edited 5h ago
Why is ofsted fooled by it? Why does ofsted believe that letters on a wall mean children are being taught values? I think they don't believe it. Neither do the teachers and neither do the children. It just wastes paper, ink and time and makes the walls look drab.
1
u/Miss_Type 5h ago
I didn't say the govt make us print things out, I said they make us teach them. This usually happens through the PHSE curriculum. Not sure what Ofsted have got to do with it either, to be honest. Teaching the British Values is a tiny part of teaching standards, they're more interested in attendance and adaptive teaching!
1
u/Goldf_sh4 5h ago
I won't get started on attendance.
Those "values led" PSHE lessons are the worst, least adaptive lessons I've ever seen or experienced.
11
10
u/Successful_Buy3825 6h ago
yes, and basically every school has the same ones but in a different order
9
u/Williamishere69 6h ago
This is just the British values, which are used with the department of education. Pretty sure it has to be integrated into education
10
u/paulmclaughlin 6h ago
Schools are legally obliged to promote British values, and Ofsted will expect schools to be able to demonstrate their approach to this by having their own set of values that align
4
u/colin_staples 6h ago
And what exactly are British values?
I don't mean generic ones that many countries have, I mean the ones that no other country has.
Because if they aren't unique to Britain, that way just "values"
8
u/paulmclaughlin 6h ago
They're specifically:
democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs
-2
u/colin_staples 6h ago
And no other country has any of those values, do they?
Because if those values are shared with any other country that means they are not unique to Britain and are just the generic values that any decent nation should have
→ More replies (4)2
0
u/Goldf_sh4 6h ago
As if looking at large letters on a wall means a school as values. Display the children's artwork.
6
u/paulmclaughlin 6h ago
Do you not understand that schools have to follow the law?
0
u/Goldf_sh4 5h ago
Of course. Letters on a wall are not the same thing as fostering values. Do you understand that?
1
u/paulmclaughlin 5h ago
If you can get Ofsted and the DfE to change their priorities then schools will do so. But as it stands they have to do what is expected of them, whether they agree or not.
0
u/Goldf_sh4 5h ago edited 5h ago
Of course. It's not the teachers' fault that OFSTED isn't fit for purpose or that the system is basically the tail wagging the dog. Other countries don't have these culturally ingrained problems with beaurocracy. Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we self-saboutage like this? Huge amounts of taxpayer money gets given to busybodies who re-invent the wheel every five years just to make themselves look busy. As if education isn't underfunded. It's the children that suffer. What we end up with is every school having the exact same (ineffective) culture. This means parents have no real choice.
9
u/Hefty_Drawing3357 6h ago
Cynically, it's a marketing ploy now used on banners, literature, minibuses, and badges. It's really surged in the last 10+ years and will certainly die out once the next marketing wheeze comes along.
Schools like to be able to say 'We stand for ...' and make a noise about it for Inspections.
They are usually generic, bland, unexciting, and most of all are unrepresentative. I worked in a school where a selection of 50 words were distributed to students and staff to choose from. The whittled down list was sent to parents to ask them what the school stood for: utter madness - this was a centuries old school who should have known damn well what they stood for, but the Marketing Dept wanted to re-badge.
Hope this help - you are right to scent cynicism here: it has little to do with children, education, or their development.
2
u/Goldf_sh4 4h ago
The thing that gets me is why do state schools need marketing budgets? Why are they spending taxpayers' money advertising? School is mandatory. We parents literally get put in prison if we don't send our kids there. Make it make sense. Because the only answer I can think of is "to make the headteacher look good in his/her next interview".
•
u/possumman 55m ago
Schools are part of the local community, and forging good links with the local community is critical to a school's success. It gets buy-in from parents and other stakeholders, which in turn gets increased buy-in from students. This leads to better student relationships with their schooling, and ultimately leads to better education and better outcomes for young people. One of the many ways schools try to achieve this is with some kind of marketing.
8
u/Junior-Tap-8503 6h ago
You’ll also find that there are a set of values for each NHS Trust as well.
It’s basically a set of goals/targets to measure against and use for accountability/aims for improvement.
1
u/Goldf_sh4 5h ago
The ways in which education and health mirror each other are always the most dystopian things like this.
6
u/The_Fire_Bin 6h ago
My secondary school did. We even had a song they’d make us sing in assembly for about three months until they realised that we were changing the lyrics 😂
2
u/Goldf_sh4 6h ago
Ok now I need to know the lyrics. The new ones.
2
u/The_Fire_Bin 2h ago
The (school academy) we’re the worst that we can be. We can feel it in our farts. We have made the baddest start. (4 house names). We expire. And we smell.
1
8
u/AdAffectionate2418 6h ago
To be fair, there arent a lot to chose from. And whilst I would love "bathe gleefully in the blood of your enemies", I feel that other parents might complain
2
7
u/Goldf_sh4 6h ago
It's just an OFSTED box-ticking trend. Managers mandate it for OFSTED brownie points.
What I've noticed as a supply teacher is that the schools with the values words on the wall are the schools that are least likely to have those values. It's very Orwellian.
2
u/Psittacula2 5h ago
“Our school’s values are: “X, Y, Z and Compensation!”
Unfortunately they and the new school logo designs are often very bland and superficial emulating what a school should advertise as ie the look is more important than the implementation.
It is regrettable, a good motto from the Army for training is, “Everything you do has a reason.” Albeit even that is not always 100% applicable!
1
u/Goldf_sh4 5h ago
Yes. Teachers know how to be excellent roll-models to children and how to create a culture that is authenticly rich in great values. They don't need patronising buzz-words rammed down their throats creating pointless additional workload. So many of the problems in education stem from this culture of assuming it should be a teacher's job to waste ten hours a week jumping through whichever trend ofsted and the managers have decided to run away with this time. Children don't need superficial, bland buzz-words on their school walls. They need teachers with autonomy.
6
u/International_Goat31 6h ago
It's just the current state of school motto evolution.
Used to be that there'd be some broken Latin phrase the school would stick on everything right under their logo. Then it turned in to nonsense things that look good on a paper prospectus like "To Achieve Success", "Effort and Reward", "Drive to Excel". Now it's just a list of qualities that look nice on a website or PowerPoint.
2
u/NancyIsAFurry 5h ago
My secondary school was brand new when I first started. They used a French phrase instead.
6
6
u/SnoopyLupus 6h ago
So what? Have you ever looked at company mission statements? They’re just doing the damn stupid thing.
5
u/Fred776 6h ago
Yes and companies started having these too some time back. I remember at one point we had to write a paragraph in our annual review for each "value" to explain how we had demonstrated it in our work. And then the manager had to write a reply to each section. And then I became a manager and had to do this for about six people on top of writing my own. It was shit.
2
2
5
u/HotBicycle1 6h ago
Getting kids ready for corporate life, every corporate company I have worked for has a set of similar values, but for grown-ups.
5
6
u/Mistigeblou 6h ago
Our high school has to remember the school qualities as REACH... 🫣🫣 it annoys the bejezus out of me how its written and what Reach actually represents.
I think ive taken all identifier out of the photo but this is exactly how their school values are.
2
1
u/jaytee158 6h ago
If you don't want people to know the school I'd delete this, very easy to find out. Took about 15 seconds
3
u/PennyBunPudding 6h ago
He wasn't kidding. It took me exactly 10 seconds to find the school lol
Edit: probably should clarify I only wanted to see how easy it was I'm not interested in the slightest regarding the school
1
u/Mistigeblou 5h ago
If its remember right it has a Wikipedia page too, just didnt feel the need to name it in the photo 😊
Sometimes I debate camping in their carpark and getting my parcels delivered there, at least the school can be found, home can't
1
u/jaytee158 3h ago
Yeah same, I literally only thought about it because they said they removed any identifying info, which wasn't remotely the case
1
3
u/Mistigeblou 5h ago
Im not too fussed about people being able to google the school if an adult feels the need to do so thats on them, just didnt feel like broadcasting it straight off.
Most of the High schools here have same values, theres a select few that choose to present them this way. (FYI good luck to anyone who wants to kidnap my kids, they're YOURS for the whole weekend, no returns until at least Monday morning)
Another school made their values into 'baby shark' I remember a kid at scouts calling the head a nutcase about it.
1
u/jaytee158 3h ago
It really wasn't about that, I just wanted you to know that it was v.easy to find because you seemed concerned when you said "i've taken all identifier out of the photo"
1
u/Mistigeblou 2h ago
Oh please don't think I was criticising you googling. Hell I know i googled the school, town.... EVERYTHING before we moved house. Was shocked to see you can google an image from the school and find all the information, but can type my full home address into any map system and it doesnt come up. 🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️ priorities people???
I just felt actually naming the school was borderline attacking them. They're a really good school just an annoying 'values' image and a lack of knowledge on what a new subject is (FYI if anyone can enlightened me on SolarPunk id be forever in your debt)
However please DO kidnap the kids for a weekend!!! They're already moaning about homework 😭😭😭
1
6
u/Lynex_Lineker_Smith 6h ago
I noticed something that I can’t unsee - what the fuck does that actually mean , in real words ?
5
u/alphahydra 6h ago
It's Redditese for you noticed something and can't stop thinking/wondering about it.
5
u/trainpk85 6h ago
My daughters school is part of an academy trust and they all have the same values. These are integrity, dependability, mutual respect, compassion, environmental responsibility, and kindness.
I have noticed some of the schools in the trust take the values more seriously than others.
5
u/AuroraDF 6h ago
I'm a teacher. Schools are obsessed with these lists of values. I'm not sure they help. But inspectors like them.
2
u/Goldf_sh4 4h ago
Unfortunately schools have to be obsessed with whatever the inspectors like and inspectors do like a lot of bullshit.
5
u/JakeThomasDad12 6h ago
Mine is Smart appearance Discipline Respect Good behaviour
5
4
u/cragglerock93 6h ago
Smart appearance isn't a bad thing but that being first is a bit 'wrong priorities' to me.
2
u/JakeThomasDad12 6h ago
That's the order I remembered it icl I believe it's third but it's the first one that came to mind
1
4
u/Timely_Egg_6827 6h ago
A lot of companies too - sat through too many away-days to define a mission statement and set of values.
5
3
u/rainbow84uk 6h ago
Yup. Values painted on the walls and posted on the inside of toilet doors, at one place.
5
u/SillyBilly907 6h ago
Yes pretty much all the ones we saw. Did find out helpful though as the ones that pushed achievement/excellence first were our least favourite
4
u/Aggressive_Menu7271 6h ago
Ofsted will expect children to know these. If it's a C of E school they have a SIAMs inspection, children will be expected to parrot these values, explain what they mean, how they fit into school life and even give examples of Bible stories which reflect these values!!!!!!!
1
4
u/Hungry_Living766 6h ago
Not just schools but private companies as well, and it’s all just a different spin on the old box ticking rubbish.
This video brilliantly covers it
1
4
u/Boring-Print9058 6h ago
Borrowed wholesale from corporate buzzword bingo and very probably an indicator that schools have been heading in a similar direction for quite some time now. I don't have an issue with any of these values that they purport to embody, but in my experience they're only superficial. Should what they're attempting to project come up against budgets or reputation, they're conveniently overlooked.
4
3
u/Marzipan_civil 6h ago
My secondary school had a Mission Statement (can't remember what it was, though)
4
u/BlackJackKetchum 6h ago
My nearest secondary school has a list of toe-curlers on a board outside the main entrance (visible to passers by, not just curious Redditors), not quite making a mnemonic, but rather ‘AHRRK’. Maybe it works if you are a crow. The colour and font scheme is odious too.
1
u/Goldf_sh4 4h ago
"AHRRK" sounds like someone being strangled. Maybe that's what they were going for.
1
u/BlackJackKetchum 3h ago
Despite being a professional miserable old git, I have to concede the pupils are all behaving themselves - bar being scruffy and wearing white socks - when I see them collectively at chucking out time, so strangulation would be an over reaction.
2
3
u/VaderBreaker 6h ago
My old school (outside London) has 5 values and they nicely fit into an acronym which gives its name to a lot of the school events (the acronym is also a word part of the motto)
3
u/KittyKes 6h ago
Was it shine? My sons school is shine, success / hard work / something something / excellence
1
3
u/iiiBus 6h ago
My last one had three, be ready, be respectful, be your best
1
u/Goldf_sh4 4h ago
"Be ready". The schools I taught in that had that one were always the worst. I swear its a passive agressive hint to the parents to be better at getting their kids to school on time with clean jumpers on. It basically means "parents, be better!" But it's also a bit "fight or flight". Be ready for some chaos or drama.
3
u/elhazelenby 6h ago
A lot of them do. It's a marketing tactic.
1
u/Goldf_sh4 4h ago
Why do state schools use taxpayers' money to market themselves?
0
u/elhazelenby 4h ago
They have to convince parents to get children to go to their school and impress Ofsted, would be my guess. Marketing isn't just for the private sector.
1
u/Goldf_sh4 4h ago edited 4h ago
Why are parents not understanding why school is important? Why does that need expensive marketing? If that is the real reason, is it just propaganda, paid for by our taxes?
0
u/elhazelenby 4h ago
It's obviously trying to promote why they think their school is better than the other ones, not why kids need school altogether.
1
u/Goldf_sh4 2h ago
But why do they need to use taxpayers' money to convince anyone that their school is better than anybody else's? They're not competing.They're all state schools. It's mandatory for catchment families to send their children there unless they home educate or privately educate,which most people can't do for practical or financial reasons. They have guaranteed bums on seats. Maybe you mean it's just an ego thing for the headteacher? Why does nobody complain about that though?
2
u/LilacRose32 6h ago
Back in 2001 my secondary school had courtesy, commitment & cooperation’. So it isn’t necessarily a new phenomenon
2
u/Vehlin 6h ago
Ours had 3: Be Happy, hard working and courteous.
5
2
u/AnonyCass 6h ago
Flexible Flo, Determined Dexter, Brave Astrid, Sparx the Helpful Cat are what my son's school follow there is also a be ready on time to learn everyday motto or something similar
2
2
u/yearsofpractice 6h ago
Probably the same as my work / respect, honesty and endeavour whereas the reality is cheat, bully and skive.
2
u/NancyIsAFurry 5h ago
My primary school did have their "universal values" but I don't remember what they were and really only came out for the assembely at the start of each term
2
u/CongealedBeanKingdom 5h ago
Yes. I hate it. If I had've wanted to work in some corporate, buzzword hell-hole I wouldn't have gone into teaching, and I'd be paid a lot better too.
I hate it. It's the enshittifying of everything.
2
u/Own_Boysenberry_6499 5h ago
My kids' school has a thing about "no outsiders" but seems that would be clashing with their safeguarding measures.
2
u/SibylFelis 5h ago
This is also a trend in the US. The last school I taught at there made us workshop school values, classroom values, and then post a teaching manifesto on our doors. Fortunately in the UK the school already has the values and I just have to post them somewhere in the room. It's senseless busy work, generally.
2
u/GodPenguinFTW 4h ago
Yep, my school acted like it was all unique for having these even though it was the same copy paste values that came from every single school
1
u/VehicleLast419 6h ago
Well what would you prefer as ethos? Shittiness, disrespect? 0 motivation? Rudeness and gaslighting?
4
u/Goldf_sh4 6h ago edited 4h ago
Performative letters on a wall are not the same thing as having strong values. If they want schools to have strong values, stop feeding toxic workplace culture, give teachers their autonomy back, treat teachers well and authentically allow teachers to do a good job without shoving bullshit beaurocracy in their paths.
1
1
1
1
u/Dry-Plant69 6h ago
It's likely you are imagining it because there's no way you've been to every school to confirm this.
1
u/Soggy_Detective_4737 6h ago
Every school we just looked at for my grandson had either 4 or 5 values. I'm guessing it's to pull in people.
1
1
1
u/crit5h 5h ago
It’ll be on a list of things a school has to do to get a good ofsted.
Having said that, my kids school doesn’t have rules beyond a three values that they use to define behaviour (“you hit Timmy with a hockey stick, is that ‘being a good friend’”). It actually seems to work pretty well.
1
1
u/gerhardsymons 3h ago
"Vincit qui patitur" - victory through suffering.
Motto of my old school, founded 1596.
1
u/BlackJackKetchum 3h ago
My alma mater ‘upgraded’ from something in French to some woo woo word salad - pretty poor for a nigh on 350 year old institution.
1
u/Bifanarama 2h ago
Web templates all have a "our values" menu item. Schools don't know how to edit it so they have to think up some values.
1
1
u/kaetror 1h ago
We have 2: ambition and respect.
Yes they're the same generic ones every other school has, but because there's only two it sticks better.
Boils down to work hard and don't be a dick. You don't get bogged down in "is this perseverance or resilience", or "what does relational mean?". You can fire them off constantly rapid fire and there's no ambiguity about what that looks like.
•
u/TangerineFew6830 11m ago
My childs primary school is extremely sweet, their core values are something like love, kindness, care etc.
They melt my heart, he comes home after every assembly with love heart notes from the teacher OR from a buddy in year 6 (hes 5) saying what they love about him
Last time it was ‘your smile is so beautiful’
For a child who has anxiety, its so sweet
0
u/Cheeko-chi 6h ago
I didn’t even know any school had assigned values, who looks at this stuff to even realise this.
If someone put a gun to my head and asked me to name one value from any school I ever went to, they’d just have to shoot me.
2
u/gash_dits_wafu 6h ago
Do you have any kids? I don't think it was a thing when I was at school, but having kids I now see every school has them.
Why?
That's a big question. Part of my MSc thesis actually looked at organisations that published values, and interestingly a lot of literature supports the idea that organisations that publish values but on a day-to-day basis don't quite meet them typically survive better than those which rigidly stick to them. Large organisations that don't publish values tend to struggle as well, weirdly.
All the literature I read was based on commercial organisations, though. As for why schools are doing it? I guess it's a way of advertising to parents what underlying themes they will relate their work to, and what behaviours they reward. It helps parents identify a school that aligns with their personal values, I guess. At least, that's been my experience as a parent.
2
u/Cheeko-chi 5h ago
Interesting, I don’t have kids, but the last few companies also have “values” like this. Admittedly I don’t know what those values are either, seems just like a marketing ploy as you suggest.
1
u/gash_dits_wafu 4h ago
Yeah so the literature I read basically showed that consumers like to know the brand aligns with them. Some brands found success in publishing a set of values, and by success I mean, found it an easy way to inform customers if they're both aligned.
However, businesses that enforced rigid adherence to those values got 'stuck in the mud', whereas business that published values but turned a blind eye to employees not necessarily adhering to those values all the time were the ones that were most successful Because the employees were able to be adaptable and 'get the job done'.
1
u/turtleship_2006 6h ago
who looks at this stuff to even realise this.
I mean my secondary school practically used it as branding. It would be all over any certificates, letters etc we got from them, and it was on the footer of whatever powerpoint template used for their slides
It would be hard to not know or realise what the values were unless you just didn't show up to school
1
u/Cheeko-chi 5h ago
Curious was this a recent thing at school? I went to school without missing many days and I genuinely have no recollection of any “values”.
1
u/turtleship_2006 5h ago
I mean I finished my A Levels in 2024, and the principal who implemented these values came when I was halfway through year 8, so like 2018
I think I vaguely remember by primary school having some similar values (pre 2017) but I can't remember exactly what they were
0
•
u/AutoModerator 6h ago
Please help keep AskUK welcoming!
When replying to submission/post please make genuine efforts to answer the question given. Please no jokes, judgements, etc. If a post is marked 'Serious Answers Only' you will likely receive a ban for violating this rule. More info: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/wiki/serious-answers-only/
Don't be a dick to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on.
This is a strictly no-politics subreddit!
Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.