Gospel Value of the Month

A value is a principle that guides our thinking and behaviour. In order to keep our values in the forefront of the children’s minds, we highlight a different school value each month. You can read about each one on this page.

September - Perseverance

The value of perseverance can be found in many of Jesus' teachings. Perseverance is the ability to not give up even when faced with a problem. It's important that we teach our children about:-

•     How to persevere when faced with difficulties in school over work
•     How to bounce back when faced with difficulties with friendships
•      Trying their best in in new situations- change of year group/ new teacher/ sporting events

October - Respect

The value of respect is mentioned a lot in the bible. One of the most famous is: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you - Matthew 7:12.  We can show respect by-

• Treating others the way we would like to be treated 
• Respecting others’ thoughts, ideas and beliefs 
• Embracing difference 

• Looking after belongings and equipment 
• Taking care of our school 
• Taking care of our environment 
• Gaining respect by giving respect 

November - Kindness

The Value of Kindness is shown many times throughout the bible. Kindness is the the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. At school we can all show this by: 

•  Holding the door open for peers, teacher, visitors to school or headteacher.
• Letting someone else go in front in the queue.
• Helping a friend who's stuck on their classwork.
• Clearing up a mess you didn't make.
• Offering to hand out classroom resources etc
• Hanging up someone's coat if it's fallen off its peg.

December - Hope

 Christians see their hope in God’s promise “ that love and goodness have, and will ultimately overcome all evil.” This hope is manifested in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Hope is a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen. We can hope for many things at our school. 

• good friendships
• doing well in lessons
• good test results
• fun playtimes

It's also really important that children have something to hope for and our aim is that through teaching them this value they will raise their goals and expectation in life. 

January – Understanding/ Fairness

The Value of understanding and fairness is really important to all of us in school. Understanding and the concept of fairness is taught through many different lessons. Understanding is the ability to understand, comprehend or simply to be aware of something. An awareness of fairness enables us to be sympathetic, tolerant and help us make good judgements.  At school staff and students try to show our understanding by:

• listening to each other
• responding kindly
• forgiving each other
• playing other people’s games
• having an understanding of right and wrong.
• Being fair in playtimes
• Being genuine in what we intend.

February - Love

We can show our love in many different ways, through words, through body language (a smile) or through physical contact (a hug). At St.Richard`s we encourage staff and pupils to show and recognise love in many different ways:

• through friendships
• sharing
• kindness
• spending time with or on something
• not always wanting to get our own way.
• caring for our school community

March – Courage 

Courage is being yourself, leading by example and standing up for what you believe. We can all show courage at school by:

• Being brave to face challenges and setbacks
• Facing fears such as going to a new club and making new friends
• Encouraging others and helping them to face their own challenges. 

April – Forgiveness

 Christians place great value on forgiveness and it is written about constantly throughout the bible. To create a state of mutual harmony between people or groups, especially in personal relations is very important that we focus on forgiveness.  Children can show forgiveness :

• Forgiving other people
• Accepting an apology
• stopping feeling anger towards other after the incident has passed
• Finding time to be still and reflective

May - Thankfulness

Thankfulness is closely linked to our other values ‘Respect’, ‘Courage’ and ‘Love’ . Thankfulness is about being able to make the most of the good times but also cope effectively with the bad times, in order to experience the best possible life overall.  We can show we are thankful by- 

• Spending quality time with  family and friends.
• Trying your best and encouraging others.
•  Smiling and making people laugh.  
•  Being kind to others.
•   Listening to others.  
• Including others in your games and not leaving anyone out.
•  Praising others when they have done something well.  
• Saying thank you. 

June - Friendship

The Christian Value of friendship offers a chance to share in our community the opportunity to reflect what a friend is and how we can be good friends. In the bible it says: ‘A friend loves at all times.’ (Proverbs 17:17) 

A feature of friendship is empathy, to be able to listen to your friend’s thoughts and ideas. Ways that we can be good friends:  

• Trust and respect others 
• Accept others for who they are 
• Support and stay with others, in good times and bad 

• Congratulate others and enjoy their success 
• Compromise and share 
• Be truthful and honest 
• Forgive others’ mistakes 

July - Compassion

The Christian Value of Compassion offers us the chance reflect on ourselves and how we treat others. In the bible it says “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” 

Compassion is the concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others. There are lots of opportunities in school to show compassion and the children are encouraged to do this.

Ways that we can show compassion in school: 

• Helping someone who is struggling with work in the classroom.
• Helping friends on the playground when they don't feel included. 
• Caring for friends who are struggling due to problems at home.