Character Education Quality Mark

We are absolutely delighted to announce that following an evaluative visit on Wednesday 19th November Robert May’s School has been awarded the prestigious Character Education Quality Mark by the Association for Character Education (ACE).

This national recognition is a tremendous accolade that clearly validates the quality of our learning and the values-driven personal development provision enjoyed by all members of our school community.

The assessors spent time with our students, staff, and leaders and the report highlights several key strengths that underpin our school’s positive culture:

• A Clear Ethos and Values: The school's very well-understood ethos is consistently reinforced and celebrated by all members of the community. As noted on our website, we believe “Robert May's School is a place where values-driven education meets academic excellence.”
• Quality of Relationships: A key strength is the warm and respectful relationships that permeate the school. Assessors noted that personal relationships across all parts of the school are respectful and positive, providing students and teachers alike with confidence and security.
• Strategic Integration: The strategic planning ensures that character activities are successfully blended across both curriculum and pastoral activities. Our extra-curricular programme was highlighted as an outstanding feature of school provision that robustly supports character development.
• Student Pride and Growth: Students spoke with noticeable pride in their school and its wider community. They were praised for developing the ability to reflect individually on their character journeys and expressed confidence in the support provided by the school.

The award specifically acknowledges our determined four-year "character journey". Our approach focuses on developing positive personal strengths, ensuring our students become more reflective and model how to be an upstander in our community.
Our work is built upon four categories of virtues which we actively teach and celebrate:

• Moral Virtues (Respect and Support)
• Performance Virtues (Motivate)
• Civic Virtues (developed through our Houses system, including charity work)
• Intellectual Virtues (linked to learning and the pursuit of knowledge)

The assessors noted that both school leaders and Trustees understand that a successful character programme involves input from all three key stakeholders: students, teachers, and parents. We thank you, our parents, for your ongoing support of our values and commitment to your children’s growth. We look forward to extending our programme to engage the parent body even further to help us achieve the QM+ Character Award in the future.

Congratulations once again to our students and staff on achieving this fantastic mark of excellence!