Our Values

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At Dean Close, our values are the foundations on which our schools and nurseries are built.

We call them our ‘Foundation Stones’.

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Our Foundation Stones Dean Close has always had a strong sense of what is important and visitors frequently comment on the warm, family feel of the School and the sense that every pupil is valued and encouraged to ‘find their thing’ in which to excel and thrive. In the past, this culture has been largely, to quote George Herbert, ‘something understood’, without ever being fully crystallised into words. It stems from the School’s Christian foundation and from the many decades of reinforcing and reapplying vital truths; for example, that every human being is made in the image of God and that we are intended to experience life in all its fullness.

With the advent of the Dean Close Foundation and the addition of new schools and nurseries to the group, it has been important to find a way of capturing these vital but intangible characteristics of the Dean Close culture, so that all members of the community can identify with them, promote them and unite around them.

In 2020, we embarked on a process of establishing our Foundation Stones, the key values at the heart of the Dean Close Foundation. This involved wide consultation, with a working group drawn from across the schools, nurseries, business and administrative areas, to ensure that the values were applicable not only to children and young people but also to staff with a variety of areas of expertise and responsibility.

In September 2020, we launched the Foundation Stones; our key overarching aim of Flourishing, with its supporting values of Courage, Contribution and Love.

To flourish is much more than just to do well academically or to excel in one or more areas of school life. It is about really thriving; being healthy in mind, body and spirit, reaching one’s full potential. As John 10:10 puts it, it is about ‘life in all its fullness’.

It is a big aim, but we don’t apologise for that; we want every child, young person and adult involved with the Foundation to find it a place that supports them in becoming their very best self.

To do so, we want to encourage each individual to develop the Courage to try new things and to keep trying, seeing temporary setbacks as opportunities to grow and learn. We want to develop a culture of Contribution, where each individual knows that they have something to offer, both within school and later in the service of wider society. And we want to celebrate and promote Love; not a sentimental love but one which looks to make life better for friends, family and wider society, and challenges selfishness and apathy.

These Foundation Stones are big ideas, but we want our young people and our colleagues to think big, aim high and set challenging standards for ourselves.

Message from the Warden / CEO

Emma Taylor Warden / CEO

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Selfless love is always costly; fear cannot afford it, pride doesn’t understand it and friends never forget it.

Bob Goff

Love We encourage everyone within the Foundation to love each other with integrity, openness and generosity of spirit, and we promote trust and vulnerability to enable our love for others to

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be deepened and strengthened. We see love as a practical virtue, which looks to meet the physical and psychological needs of each person. This is a love based on the intrinsic value and equality of each human being made in the image of God. Our mission is that all people within our community will feel valued, respected and loved.

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Courage is the commitment to begin without any guarantee of success.

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Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Courage Courage is not about being the strongest or the most powerful, but is about giving things a go and believing that in order to learn and grow we must take risks. For the Christian, this courage is rooted in the belief that our strength comes not only from ourselves, but from God himself. We recognise that everyone can show courage no matter how strong or weak they may feel. Our aim is that each person will have the assurance that they are accepted for who they are and in turn will be encouraged to show courage to stand for truth, try new things, take risks and bring about positive change.

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Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

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Theodore Roosevelt

Contribution Sharing our gifts is essential for flourishing both individually and collectively.

We know that each person has something valuable to offer. With a sense of humility, we aim to contribute greatly to each other and more widely beyond our immediate community.

Our responsibility as individuals is to bring what we have and share it for the benefit of others, while at the same time recognising the gifts and qualities others can offer and encouraging them to do so.

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My mission in life is not merely to survive but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour and some style.

Maya Angelou

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Flourishing Our desire is that our staff and pupils lead a full and fulfilled life, in which we flourish and reach our potential.

Flourishing is the aim that anchors the values of love, courage and contribution. We deeply care about quality in our teaching, high standards, inclusion and the desire not to leave anyone behind. By sincerely loving others, enabling people to feel confident and to show courage and encouraging generous contribution from everyone, we believe every member of our community will flourish, living a full and fulfilled life.

As Jesus puts it, we want to be ‘those who bear much fruit’.

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Of course Christianity has always been about

someone before it is about something. As such, it is my prayer that these values echo the character of Christ as we see them embedded in our community, as we let Him define them and his Spirit grow them in us. I know no other way to lasting flourishing!

Chaplain

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www.

deanclosefoundation .org.uk