School Ethos and Values

The Joseph Rowntree School is ambitious and on a journey to become outstanding

Our school was founded by The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) in 1942. The JRF is a charity whose vision is for a prosperous and poverty-free UK. Our school values this heritage and recognizes the importance of education in reducing poverty, transforming lives, and enhancing life chances for all students. Our relationship continues through JRF’s appointment of three governors who play active roles in our school’s governance. 

We are committed to tolerance, inclusion, and respect for each other. We are ‘The Right School to Grow in’ because we:

• Respect all members of our community
• Overcome obstacles to success
• Work together collaboratively
• Nurture talent
• Teach and learn through inspiration
• Recognise excellence
• Embrace diversity
• Encourage wellbeing

Our ethos and vision are at the heart of our work and we strive to realise these by modelling and promoting personal responsibility and appropriate behaviours based on courtesy and respect. We celebrate tolerance and inclusion and place great emphasis on developing relationships which engender confidence, pride, and self-esteem.

Our aim is to inspire and prepare our students to become confident, resilient, tolerant, aspirational individuals who work hard to meet their goals in life and who actively contribute to the wider world. This aim underpins our strategic development plan and helps students and staff to thrive and adopt a love of learning and teaching that moves beyond the classroom.

Our school embraces and celebrates diversity in our local, national, and global communities. We welcome all children, parents, and carers and foster strong partnerships with our local community based on openness, empathy, mutual understanding, and a desire to work together. The collective wellbeing of our school community is central to everything we do. We give students and members of staff information, strategies and support that help them to look after and improve their own and others wellbeing.

We provide a safe, healthy, stimulating, and enjoyable learning environment in which all students and staff feel valued and grow in confidence to make the very best of their personal talents and skills. We identify potential barriers to the success of our students and staff and do all we can to remove those barriers.

Our curriculum is broad and balanced and delivered in an engaging manner, which inspires students to realise their full potential and achieve the best possible outcomes. We implement systems that recognise and reward excellence and encourage all to strive to do their best.