A group of children, staff and Governors worked together to develop the vision by which we can all live at St Mary’s. Taking inspiration from the fact that the famous fifth Astronomer Royal, Nevil Maskelyne (1732 –1811), is buried at St Mary’s Church, we felt our ethos could build on an astronomical analogy. This was supported by verses from Daniel 12:3, "Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever" and Genesis 26:4, "Your descendants will become as numerous as the stars of the sky, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed." We brought these elements together in our 'shining brightly' ethos:

 ‘Faith in Everyone to Shine Brightly’ 

We feel this phrase encompasses our strong belief that everyone at St Mary’s has the capacity to shine brightly in all they do. All St Mary’s children are stars who can shine through their talents, attitude and efforts. 

We use our ‘shining brightly’ ethos and the ‘stars and space’ analogy across the school to inspire everyone.

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BRITISH VALUES   

We have British Values flowing through our school, in the curriculum, behaviour policies and worship themes. Primarily these teach and reflect the values of:

• democracy
• the rule of law
• individual liberty
• mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs

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Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development

Children's Social, Moral, Social and Cultural development flows through everything we do at St Mary's. We aim to provides pupils with opportunities to explore and develop:

• their own values and beliefs, religious or otherwise, whilst showing respect for different people’s faiths, beliefs, feelings and values;
  
  
• their own spiritual awareness, developing their self-knowledge, self-esteem and self-confidence;
  
  
• to have a positive, caring attitude towards other people and to understand how they can contribute to their school and the wider community;
  
  
• an appreciation of their social and cultural traditions and the diversity and richness of other cultures;
  
  
• to be responsible for their own high standard of behaviour and understanding the consequences of their behaviour and actions and the difference between right and wrong. 

Our worship themes underpin our SMSC work and you can find out more about them here.

Another key area is our approach to Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) which you can read about here.

St Mary's sensitive approach to behaviour issues also builds on our SMSC philosophy. You can read about 'good behaviour' here.