SMSC Policy
Governors Committee Responsible: Achievement
& Climate
Lead Governor: John Taylor (Chair)
Nominated Lead member of staff: Daniel Tucker
(Associate Vice Principal College)
Next Review Date: June 2016
Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development Policy
Overview
At DHC we recognise that the personal development of students, spiritually, morally,
socially and culturally, plays a significant part in their ability to learn and achieve. We
aim to provide an education that provides students with opportunities to explore
and develop their own values and beliefs, spiritual awareness, high standards of
personal behaviour, develop high expectations of themselves and others, a positive
and caring attitude towards other people, an understanding of their social and
cultural traditions and an appreciation of the diversity and richness of cultures. The
school will ensure that students should understand how the culture(s) in which they
live influences individual thinking and behaviours.
All curriculum areas and each school have a contribution to make in the student’s
spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and opportunities for this should be
planned for in Learning Guide programmes and across each curriculum area.
All members of DHC staff will model and promote SMSC, treating all people equally
as unique and valuable individuals, showing concern and respect for students and
their families.
The “schools within schools” system will provide a community where students can
find acceptance for themselves as unique individuals and where opportunities to
develop character, collaboration and creativity support an ethos of developing the
whole student.
Students will learn the difference between right and wrong. They will be aware that
their actions affect others. They will be encouraged to value themselves and others.
Students will develop an understanding of the need for rules, routine and discipline
in establishing an effective climate for learning. College and classroom rules will
reflect, emphasise, promote and reward positive behaviour and provide
opportunities to celebrate students’ work and achievements.
All schools and areas of the curriculum will seek to use examples and illustrations
drawn from as wide a range of cultural contexts as possible. This will be reflected in
teacher’s planning, teaching and resources.
General Aims
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All staff are aware of and aligned to DHC’s mission, values and ethos.
There is a consistent approach to the delivery of SMSC through the
curriculum and Learning Guide programme including the overall college
ethos.
Students’ education is set relevant to their context.
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Students are aware of expectations of them and the reasons that underpin
them.
Students are given opportunities to reflect and discuss their feelings, beliefs
and responses to personal experiences.
Students develop an understanding of their individual and group identity.
Students develop an understanding of their social and cultural community
and an appreciation of how it may be similar or differ to others locally,
regionally, nationally and internationally.
Students are provided with the opportunity to explore social and moral
issues and develop a sense of social and moral responsibility.
Spiritual development:
At Dyke House Sports and Technology College we aim to provide learning
opportunities that enable students to:
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Sustain their self esteem and learn through failure;
Develop their capacity for critical and independent thinking;
Express their feelings with control;
Experience moments of reflection;
Discuss their beliefs, feelings, values and responses to personal experience
confidently and without fear of judgement or ridicule;
Form and maintain worthwhile relationships;
Develop a sense of curiosity, questioning and investigation to foster a growth
mind set.
Moral development:
At Dyke House Sports and Technology College we aim to provide learning
opportunities that enable students to:
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Recognise the unique value of the individual;
Listen and respond appropriately to the responses and opinions of others;
Develop emotional resilience and learn from mistakes;
Take responsibility and consider others in their actions;
Distinguish between right and wrong;
Respect the environment;
Make informed and balanced judgements.
Social development:
At Dyke House Sports and Technology College we aim to provide learning
opportunities that enable students to:
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Develop an understanding of their individual and group identity
Learn about service within school and in the local community
Develop acceptable behaviours within and outside of school
Develop effective relationships with stakeholders, parents and carers
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Work effectively independently but also as part of a team, developing
techniques to be collaborative
Develop skills in creativity and traits of good character
Cultural development:
At Dyke House Sports and Technology College we aim to provide learning
opportunities that enable students to:
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Recognise and value the richness of cultural diversity in Britain and how this
has influenced individuals and society;
Develop an understanding of their social and cultural environment;
Develop an understanding of Britain’s local, national, European,
commonwealth and global dimensions;
Participate in sport, literature, drama, music, art, crafts and dance
Develop an understanding of how student’s geographic, economic and social
context can effect future opportunities.
Teaching and Learning:
SMSC development will take place across all curriculum and school areas of the
college, providing opportunities for students to reflect on the significance of their
learning and recognise any challenges their may be to their own attitude and
lifestyle.
All curriculum and school areas will use examples drawing from as wide a range of
cultural contexts as possible.
Teaching will provide opportunities for students to:
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Talk about feelings and personal experiences;
Learn to share, work independently and collaboratively;
Treat others as equal despite differences;
Express and clarify their own ideas and beliefs;
Speak about difficult events (bullying, death etc);
Share thoughts and feelings with others;
Explore relationships with friends, family, staff etc;
Consider the needs and behaviours of others;
Show empathy;
Develop self esteem and a respect for others;
Develop a sense of belonging.
Improving skills and attitudes that enable students to develop SMSC are at the heart
of DHC and therefore the focus of the college is in the development of:
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Character – respect, responsibility, discipline, determination, reflection, grit,
curiosity, adaptability, aspiration.
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Collaboration – synergy, teamwork, partnerships, relationships, cooperation,
group work, alliance and coalition.
Creativity – critical thinking, inventiveness, ingenuity, resourcefulness, vision,
inspiration, problem solving, innovation, imagination
Partnerships:
Visitors are welcomed into the school and follow all safeguarding procedures.
DHC’s structure of “schools within schools” ensures a close community within the
college and through the use of learning guides creates regular, effective and
purposeful communication between students’ homes and the college. Systems are
such that all students are supported in their development and academic progress.
Partnerships with other schools, local, regional and global businesses, involvements
in progress clubs and opportunities to work alongside guest speakers enable
students to develop high aspirations, experience a variety of enriching opportunities
in the development of SMSC.
Students are taught to respect their school, community and environment and
develop a sense of responsibility to it.
Monitoring and Evaluating:
Provision for SMSC development should be monitored and reviewed by:
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Monitoring of progression maps, lesson observations, learning guide
programme planning;
Quality assurance processes (scrutiny of work, conversations with students
etc)
Behaviour incidents;
Audits of schemes of learning;
Team teaching, lead teaching coaching triads and peer observations;
Assembly Rota;
Students’ Learning Logs;
Number of educational visits and residential activities.
SMSC in the curriculum:
ICT
Opportunities within subject
Spiritual
Use of technology to identify the digital divide within groups.
Moral
Strong emphasis on helping each other, camaraderie, team work. Also promotion of
fairness/fair play, treating people by the same rules. Looking after each others
property – the unacceptability of stealing.
Acceptable use of digital media and social networking sites.
The morality of digital technology explored through the digital giants: Alan Turing,
Steve Jobs, Bill Gates
Discuss and embed e-safety showing an ethical and moral message
Social
Designing for a range of clients from specific backgrounds/professions/age groups e.g.
older people, police force, industrial manufacturing.
Marketing a product to appeal to a social group.
Gender issues in the ICT sector.
The growth of social networking sites.
Digital technology as a business eg. Iphone apps.
Game creation.
Cultural
Drawing on historical art movements to stimulate design decisions.
Reviewing the cultural impact the digital sector has had on society and culture both
locally and globally
Development of the internet
History of computing.
Growth of Youtube.
Generation of critical judgement as this generation uses digital applications more than
previous generations.
Economic well being across groups of people, the use of personal digital devices,
growth of the internet and connectivity and its effects on cultures.
English:
Opportunities within subject
Spiritual
Biography/autobiography, group projects, war poetry, writing to describe. Confidence
in use of language to express opinion and feelings.
Novel, Shakespeare, newspapers, pre 1914 poetry, newspapers, travel writing.
Other culture poems, post 1914, play text, identification with drama, fiction, poetry
and television programmes.
Moral
Myths and legends, novels, Shakespeare, morality plays, campaign leaflets,
newspapers, travel writing, autobiography, journalism.
Social
Writing to inform, novel, Shakespeare, newspapers, war poetry, travel writing,
autobiography, choice and use of language, social attitudes to language.
Cultural
Poems from other cultures and traditions, travel writing, cultural influences on
language.
Maths:
Opportunities within subject
Spiritual
Coping with problems and puzzles, confidence in helping others and asking for
support.
Moral
Hypotheses testing, group work, investigations and questionnaires and surveys
analysing smoking, birth rates, death rates etc.
Social
Use of maths in the financial industry, working with others to solve problems.
Cultural
Influence of other cultures on mathematics eg. Arab societies, Islamic patterns in the
history of maths and tessellations
Science:
Opportunities within subject
Spiritual
Contribution to the world we live in and the effect on the environment, where life
comes from, awe and wonder of the natural world, complexity of all things and the
wonder of how they work together, creation of new life through reproduction,
photosynthesis, the purpose of oxygen in maintaining life, carbon and nitrogen cycles,
patterns within the periodic table, extent of geological time, our place within the solar
system, interest in natural objects. Big bang theory.
Moral
Hypotheses testing, group work, drawing conclusions from fact rather than opinion,
benefits and harm of science, ethics, give honest results in experiments where results
are not what was expected, selective and genetic breeding, caring for the
environment, respect for all living things, moral issues such as fertility treatments,
cloning, transplants, selective breeding etc. Discussions around ethical issues, location
of a new quarry, intensive and organic farming.
Social
Respect others ideas and work collaboratively to achieve a goal, take responsibility for
their own and others safety, social economic and environmental factors when looking
at fuel use and energy production including nuclear power, location of new quarries,
movement of the earth, plate tectonics, aware of the impact of sexual reproduction
smoking, alcohol and drug use.
Cultural
Scientific discoveries e.g. Louis Pasteur, Galileo and Jenner, sound and light
discoveries, solar system, evolution of man (Darwin’s theory) selective breeding and
genetic breeding, genetic differences dependent upon location and culture, consider
spontaneous creation of life, intensive and organic farming.
Geography:
Opportunities within subject
Spiritual
Reflection on the earth’s origin, fair distribution of earth’s resources, reflect on how
it would feel to live in various countries (developed or developing), empathise with
victims of natural disasters. Providing opportunities for ‘awe and wonder’ with
regard to e.g. volcanoes, earthquakes, waterfalls
Moral
Exploitation of the rain forest, wind farms, distruction of the countryside to prvide
housing, coastal and countryside management strategies. The need for and the
provision of International Aid, issues related to population change and aging
populations
Social
Studies of various countries and practices, empathizing with people in countries in
different states of development working in groups and field work experiences.
Cultural
How practices change dependent on culture (types of farming, housing), learning
about international trade, history and patterns of settlements, migration of
populations, spatial distribution of ethnic minorities, the world as a global
community and globalisation
History:
Opportunities within subject
Spiritual
Moral
Social
Helping pupils to appreciate the achievements of past societies. Also to understand
the motivation of individuals who made sacrifices for a particular cause. The focus of
this is local history as we study the life and death of Margaret Clitheroe other
examples include:
The role of the church in medieval society, the Crusades, Henry VIII and the English
Reformation, the causes of the Spanish Armada Gunpowder plot, the puritans and
levelers, religious justifications of slavery,
Catholics in the pre 1832 electoral system, the religious side of the holocaust, the
bombing of Coventry in WW2, Nazi persecution of the Protestant and Catholic
churches,
religious discrimination against immigrants in 1920s USA and the religious aspect of
the KKK
Helping pupils to realise that actions have consequences by considering the results of
events and decisions, and to explore how different interpretations of the past reflect
different viewpoints and values. These themes run throughout both Key stage three
and Key stage four history. Examples include: the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings,
Thomas Beckett,Richard III – hero or villain? Henry VIII and his six wives, the morality
of the Gunpowder plot,
Charles I and the divine right of Kings, the morality of the regicide, morality of slavery
in the British Empire, the morality of the Industrial revolutions,
Victorian values, the moral side of the holocaust, the morality of carpet bombing, the
morality of the actions of the League of Nations, the morality of appeasement, the
morality of Communism and Capitalism, US economic and immigration policy,
morality of cultural developments in 1920s USA, the economic boom of the 1920s and
the morality of it,
morality of the New Deal.
Identifying how different societies were organised in the past and considering
different political structures. This is delivered several times throughout the two Key
stages from the feudal system, to Cromwell’s Britain and obviously the different
Cultural
political systems evident in Europe in the 1930’s. Examples include Britain in 1066, the
social changes causes by the Norman Conquest, the Feudal system, the social effects
of the black death, life in Tudor England Social changes of the civil war, social change
during the industrial revolution, slavery and society, the Chartists, Luddites and Swing
Rioters, the British Empire, the social side of the holocaust, the home front in World
War One and World War Two, social changes caused by the Treaty of Versailles, social
changes in the USA in the 20s and 30s, social changes caused by the Nazis with
particular regard towards women and minorities.
Helping the pupils to recognise differences and similarities between cultures and
within culture over time, and explore a range of sources and different interpretations
of what constitutes culture and cultural development. For example: the Bayeux
tapestry, French and English culture, words that came from the Normans, portraits of
Elizabeth I, cultural consequences of the English reformation, England and Scotland –
the clash of cultures, the influence of the Dutch after the industrial revolution,
similarities and differences between African and European culture regarding slavery,
working class culture during the industrial revolution, the cultural side of the
holocaust, changes in culture during WW2 especially regarding women, cultural
differences between Communism and Capitalism with regard to the cold war, cultural
changes caused by the Nazi march to power, cultural changes caused by prohibition.
MFL:
Opportunities within subject
Spiritual
Favourite things, family, relationships and hobbies, environmental issues
(coursework)
Moral
Tolerance for others, listening, speaking, links to healthy lifestyle and impact of
smoking, alcohol and drugs
Social
Nature of subject encourages speaking and listening, team work and pair work.
Discussions of health, world of work, hobbies and interests. Development of social
skills through communication exercises. Impact of smoking, alcohol and drugs.
Cultural
Appreciation of the cultures of countries who speak the language and understanding
of their traditions. Interaction with pen pals/exchange students. Educational visits to
Germany and France to develop students’ appreciation of culture and language.
World War II and its impact in France. Develop an understanding of the multi cultural
make up of France and other Francophone countries, appreciating French speaking
countries and societies.
Technology:
Opportunities within subject
Spiritual
Reflect on inventions and ingenuity and the impact on lifestyle and life in general.
Moral
Dilemmas created by development of products and technological advancements in
terms of winners and losers. Issues regarding food production in developing
countries.
Social
Opportunities to work as part of a team and share resources. To consider the target
audience of product innovation. Impact of food and pricing on affluence and socio-
economic status
Cultural
Influences on technology from different cultures including innovation and invention,
food and diet.
Physical Education:
Opportunities within subject
Spiritual
Dedication to achieving your best, mental rehearsal, resilience and determination.
Self discipline, self reflection, self awareness and self challenge. Developing
relationships with others.
Moral
Sportsmanship, cheating, team work, communication and fair play, use of drugs in
enhancing performance, the morality of using advancements in technology to
improve performance, gamesmanship, appreciation of own and others’ skills and
limitations, etiquette, following rules, developing a sense of responsibility for actions.
Social
Team work, communication and fair play, appreciation of own and others’ skills and
limitations, etiquette, to handle and use competition to enhance performance, to
peer assess and take into account SEAL when giving feedback.
Cultural
Traditional sports native to certain countries and cultures, history of sport
development and invention. Comparison of elite sport provision and Olympic and
Paralympic Games. Cultural factors affecting performance in sport e.g. religion,
stereotypes, provision, race etc.
Religious Education & Learning Guide Programme:
Opportunities within subject
Spiritual
Understanding of and reflection of spirituality and religions, develop beliefs and
values, reflections on world events (war, murder, natural disasters etc), marriage,
divorce, abortion,
Moral
10 commandments, use of pilgrimages, discussion of right and wrong in treatment of
faiths and religions (holocaust), religion and sexual relationships, homosexuality,
discrimination, human rights and life and death,
Social
Develop an understanding and appreciation of how others may hold different beliefs
and traditions. Influence of religion on society, religious festivals,
Cultural
Appreciation of different religions, cultures and traditions, different cultures views on
marriage, life and death,
Art:
Opportunities within subject
Spiritual
Art and Design encourages the highest degree of self – knowledge , to develop ones
inner self where feelings and imagination are allowed to ripen and then be expressed
in many different forms.
Art gives a sense of awe and wonder through the wide diversity of human activities
and the natural world around them
Reflect on nature, surrounding and beauty, opportunities to study artists with
religious or spiritual themes.
Moral
Examine pieces of art that address morality (war, racism, sex, violence etc). Reflect on
the context and time in which these were made and how they relate or impact or
resonate in the world in which we now live.
Through critical studies students are encouraged to understand the world and also
appreciate the wide diversity of forms in which art may be presented.
Art and design encourages self-reliance. The ability to be self motivated.
Social
Understand and appreciate and accept others’ opinions, tastes, talents and
interpretations.
Art and Design encourages communication and teamwork, students have to work as
part of a group.
It is a method of communication that is worldwide. It is a form of language that may
be communicated without any writing or speaking.
Cultural
Influences of cultures on art, traditions depicted, key milestones in a culture’s history.
Students are encouraged to understand their own and others’ environments and
cultures by experiencing and expressing them through the medium of Art.
Music:
Opportunities within subject
Spiritual
Empathy with lyrics of music, the effect of music on mood and behaviour.
Moral
How music can deliver messages to unite or divide groups,
Social
How music can deliver messages to unite groups or cause conflict. Working in groups
to produce melodies, songs etc. Peer assessment of group work and solo work, giving
feedback taking into account how to give feedback along with developing confidence
Cultural
Influences on modern music from different countries, experiences and cultures. How
cultures have produced different types of music (jazz, dance, rock etc)
Citizenship
Opportunities within subject
Spiritual
Question and reflect upon different ideas, opinions, assumptions, beliefs and values.
Moral
Weighing up fairness and unfairness. Rights and Responsibilities, Children’s rights,
Human Rights, Controversial issues (e.g. animal testing), the role of justice systems as
fundamental to a democratic society, laws to maintain order and resolve conflict
Social
Decision making and voting to influence public life, democracy, justice, diversity,
toleration, respect and freedom as cornerstones of society, the role of citizens in
holding to account those in power, taking informed and responsible action to bring
about change (Issue, Action, Change), the work of school and college councils
Cultural
What it means to be a citizen of the UK, Europe and the world, the diverse national,
regional and ethnic groups and communities within the UK, exploring community
cohesion and the factors bringing about change in communities.