There are five attributes which are integral to the school community, and these are fundamental to our aim that our students leave school with great attitudes to learning as well as a good set of results.

Established now for a large number of years these characteristics were born from the desire for our students to develop into independent learners. We considered as groups of staff and students what in essence this self-sufficiency and self- direction in learning consisted of. What emerged from the dialogue between us over a focussed six month period were five qualities, each with a finely honed definition.

• A curious learner is interested in learning and asks questions.
• An organised learner is prepared for learning and completes tasks on time.
• A reflective learner evaluates their work and tries to improve.
• A pro-active learner looks for opportunities to learn and takes the initiative.
• A resilient learner doesn’t give up and keeps trying.

These attributes form the basis of our teaching and our assessment, whatever the year group and whatever the subject as we hold the belief that when we grow these five characteristics then we become independent, self-regulated learners.

If you visit us, or become part of our community you’ll find the outworking of these attributes everywhere. From our transition process through to our UCAS and job applications we work with our students on the meaning and value of each of the five attributes, increasing the challenge of displaying these and the complexity of the contexts around them as students move up through the school.  And importantly, as a community, we look for opportunities to champion them and also recognise where we see them in action in the day to day living of school life. So they appear in our Schemes of Work, our assessments, our reports home to parents, not to mention our merits and the wider reward system. We even have Sheriff Learner stickers designed by two of our students!