education » Moorfield Primary School

The Value of Values: 6 questions to help you understand what we are all about.

Can you remember answering questions like this at primary school?

I don’t. This question was asked in a 2014 test for our highest attaining students. Quite often you read in the press of a decline in standards with the implication being a call for the return to ‘the good old days’. I believe that the opposite is true: education on the whole is much better than it was a generation ago. The best schools are confident enough to value what worked from the past and blend it with a modern understanding of how children learn best.

Do you shop at Aldi?

I do. Discount supermarkets are currently flavour of the month and as the fastest growing supermarket, Aldi has won many accolades for its products and customer service. This is no accident, and I am certain their success is down to the people that they employ. Even for their top jobs (according to their website a regional manager will earn £67,000 after four years on the job) they demand not a raft of qualifications but instead: ‘focused, resourceful people bursting with charisma, who treat individuals with respect and decency’.

Formal qualifications are hugely important but without strong values you are unlikely to succeed in a modern world.

Which is more important to your life chances – your handwriting or your hairstyle?

I asked this question to the staff at a recent professional development day. The implication being that if the primary reason for spending time practising handwriting was ‘to give a good impression to other people’ then perhaps we should be spending equal time teaching children how to shine their shoes and comb their hair neatly. In reality, children need to write legibly and be presentable, but we also need to ensure that we are preparing children for the future by teaching them high value skills such as the ability to understand others or imagine alternative possibilities.

How was your day at work? Was it lots of fun?

Fun can be often used as a tool for engagement to further understanding. Schools now have to compete with a wide range of hugely engaging media; I dread to think how long my own children would watch CBEEBIES for if they were allowed unlimited access! However as an adult, either at home or in work, you soon realise that there are large parts of the day that aren’t fun. It is important that children learn to appreciate the rewarding feeling that comes from working hard, challenging themselves and succeeding. At Moorfield we have fun, but we also learn the value of hard work.

Are you a good multitasker?

I’m not. Too often if I try to multitask I end up doing several things badly at the same time. There is research which indicates that to become really proficient at something takes around 10,000 hours. In reality, we need to teach children to prioritise and demonstrate the value of monotasking on challenging activities for sustained periods of time - success won’t be easy, but you will get there in the end.

Do you value competition?

Competition is important. It raises standards and challenges us to do our best. As I am sure you are aware, schools have their results publically available and placed into league tables. The intended consequence is that schools compete with one another which in turn raise standards. In my opinion the benefits of pooling resources and learning from each other (collaboration) far outweighs those of rivalry. Which is why as a school we value collaboration alongside competition.

I hope these 6 questions have given you some insight into what we are about. As for me, I’m off to buy my tea from a certain German retailer…

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