Students and staff at a Didcot school are celebrating a Gold level of National SMSC Quality Mark after developing its Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural provision across the school.
Manor School has spent over 24 months gathering information and reflecting on how it could fulfil the various sections of criteria required, before receiving a validation visit from a SMSC Quality Mark verifier. During this visit pupils, parents and staff had the opportunity to talk about their school, and the report noted they did so with warmth and enthusiasm.
The SMSC Quality Mark is a programme run in conjunction with Young Citizens, an educational charity who aim to equip young people with the knowledge, skills and confidence to make a positive difference in society.
The school, a member of GLF Schools which runs 42 schools across the country, was particularly praised for its strong sense of community and how well the children understand their place as citizens in the modern world.
It also recognised how much the children value the additional opportunities the school provides, such as learning a musical instrument and partaking in Forest School.
The award is recognised for three years with the opportunity to seek re-verification after that.
What is SMSC?
The Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) development is personal development across the whole curriculum. Strong evidence shows that promoting SMSC in schools can contribute to raising academic standards and improving children’s life chances.
Ofsted continue to put SMSC ‘at the heart’ of school development. It requires schools to think about the kind of people we aspire to be, the kind of world we aspire to create, and the kind of education we aspire to provide.
