"The strength of the personal development curriculum has been pivotal in establishing a culture of learning in school."

OFSTED 2022

Character can be defined as the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual. At Robert May’s School we believe that character is important. ‘Positive Change’ will be an area that will be pushed through our new enrichment programme for the 2023 - 2024 academic year.

Character education is intrinsic to our school curriculum. The character values at Robert May’s School: Respect, Motivate and Support, underpin some of the many character traits that are valued in society today. 

In July 2023, students at Robert May’s decided on the key character traits that lie within our key areas:

As you can see, we want all students to be upstanders in their community and feel that by developing these key traits, our students are able to conquer any obstacles on their learning journey.

Respect  focusses on our students’ ability to work with one another and see strengths in our differences.

Motivate is very much focussed on the individual being the best version of themselves and striving for the best outcomes possible in whatever they are doing on a day to day basis.

Support  looks more closely at students' wellbeing and how behaviour can affect people in different ways, and therefore to look out for one another.

The development of character is too large to sit just within assemblies where students are supported to be kind to one another. It is driven in all lessons, in and outside of the classroom. Character values are the base to our RMS 6 which teachers use to deliver high quality lessons.

Specific lessons are delivered in our PDL curriculum and are woven into the curriculum to support their development. There are plenty of other opportunities through the extensive extra-curricular activities. The House system provides students with plenty of leadership roles along with the opportunity for healthy competition in all areas of the curriculum, and students see House competitions as a perfect structure through which the character values can be developed.

Student ambassadors for anti-bullying and well-being as well as school council, digital leaders and librarians are further examples of where we engage students in the development of the school.

We further support character development through various themed days throughout the year, such as our Tri-Service days, and have opportunities such as the Duke of Edinburgh Award to support growth outside of the classroom.

This year will see each House support a charity of their choosing and students will be encouraged to give back through volunteering in the local community throughout the year. Each charity supported is found within our local community further increasing our ties with people in the surrounding area. Please see our Houses page for more details.

Our school's ‘Pivotal Approach’ sets the tone for students to see how we work with one another towards common goals and we work hard to show students that their actions can form good habits that will underpin a positive character to support them in their future pathways. 

Our ultimate goal is for every student to be an ‘upstander’; someone who recognises injustice, has a strong moral code and takes a stand when they see something that is not right.