Why is Character Education Important?
The choices an individual makes determines their future, and the purpose of developing good character is the ability to make good choices. Character allows us to flourish as individuals, and as a wider society. This is why the development of character, as well as achieving academic attainment, should be the purpose of education.
“Character becomes your destiny,”Lao Tzu, Philosopher
We believe that for a school to be rooted with Character it should be planned, intentional and fully embedded across the whole-school or organisation. We strive for character to be ‘taught,’ ‘caught’, and ‘sought.’
Where is The Duston School in our Character Journey?
In 2020 we started our journey on instilling a greater degree of Character within our pupils. We chose virtues that are relevant to our pupils.
Within the Primary phase of TDS our pupils strive to:
•Care, Challenge and Succeed
Within the Secondary phase of TDS our pupils strive to show:
•Respect, Aspiration and Resilience
We have successfully achieved the first recognition in the form of an ACE Quality Mark from the Association Character Education. ACE are the UKs leading Character Education Community for teachers, leaders and practitioners who inspect schools and their successes with Character education.
How we deliver Character Education at The Duston School?
The Duston School is founded on a clear mission statement and set of aims that inspire our pupils to ‘climb the tree of knowledge so they can access University, Higher Education, Employment or an Apprenticeship and be the very best edit of themselves.’ The school firmly believes in the power of over-communication and of visually displaying clear messaging across the entire school. The school’s mission statement is visible across the school and looks as follows:
At The Duston School we believe that education should provide our young people with both the currency and character to succeed. We work relentlessly to nurture our pupils to unlock and achieve their potential. Our pupils are actively encouraged to make a valuable contribution to society and thrive in a mutually supportive environment. All of our pupils are educated to enter the adult world with a strong moral compass, a real sense of resilience and to be armed with the key transferable skills that will allow them to succeed in an ever changing and fast paced globalised labour market. Our curriculum is broadly traditional in nature, with over 75% of our pupils following an EBaac pathway. Knowledge is the ultimate key to academic success. We endeavour to help our pupils gain the highest qualifications, acquire flexible life-long learning skills, and be ready to act responsibly as global citizens. We also promote the social, moral, spiritual and cultural development of our pupils, including a recognition and understanding of Fundamental British Values.
The school’s overall ethos is built on the premise of you permit what you promote and you promote what you permit, with all pupils inspired to ‘Dream, Believe and Achieve.’ The school operates a mutually supportive approach, built on respect and a can do culture. This is underpinned by our values; resilience, respect and aspiration. In its broadest sense the school promotes the following:
•A supportive working environment
•Key stakeholders all work together for the good of the school as a whole
•Respect for the school and the community
•Focus on preparing pupils for the adult world
•A ‘can do’ culture
The school operates in a traditional and evidence informed manner, with an improvement plan that hones in on the embedding and refining its culture and further refining and embedding our knowledge rich curriculum approach.