Values-based Education 

Values-based Education (VbE) is an intrinsic way of life at Hilden Oaks, supporting social interaction and creating an enhanced learning environment. We focus on a set of twenty-two lifelong values, selected by pupils, parents and staff, which provide the common thread to link everything we do throughout the school. 

We explore the meaning of a specific value during assemblies by giving the children the opportunity to act out value-related stories and to contribute to their class assemblies. Children are rewarded with wooden acorns for demonstrating the desired values. Parents may also nominate their own children and friends of their children for Oak Leaf awards for continuing to show the values at home. Preschool children will also start to learn about the more basic values, such as sharing and self-control. 

Hilden Oaks is one of only three schools in Kent to be awarded the International Values Education Trust (IVET) Values Quality Mark. This is in recognition of the school’s implementation and use of Values-based Education.

The ability to make and sustain friendships is a life skill that impacts every facet of our lives. The value of kindness is the conduit through which we make friends, and an attribute which underpins all human relationships. Kindness is a core value at Hilden Oaks that children are encouraged to explore and challenged to demonstrate in their interactions within the whole school community and beyond. 

Together, we are stronger than we are alone. Sharing our time, our talents, our ideas and our possessions enriches us all. Children at Hilden Oaks are taught how to share in a positive, open-hearted and proactive way that improves the quality of the school experience for all. Whether it be in the classroom, the playground or on the sports field. Learning at a young age that sharing is a mutually beneficial activity embeds it as a life-long mindset.

Human curiosity is the hallmark of intelligence. The desire to understand, to learn and to discover has driven great men and women throughout history. At Hilden Oaks we regard fostering and nurturing this value in all our pupils as one of our primary responsibilities. The quality of curiosity is the foundation of a lifelong love of learning and it is our aim to instil this in every child, enabling them all to fulfil their true potential.

We strive for excellence in every aspect of school life. Our Academic results are excellent. The overwhelming majority of pupils leave Hilden Oaks to go to their secondary school of choice. The most recent Independent Schools Inspectorate report evaluated the School as Excellent in all areas and Outstanding for the Nursery which are the highest possible ratings. Children’s achievements both within and outside of school are recognised in our weekly ‘Celebration Assemblies’. We believe that this culture of excellence provides our pupils with the best possible stepping stone to future success. 

The value of democracy is central to the success of society as a whole. Our pupils are given the opportunity to experience democracy through their involvement in many decisions about school life. More importantly, they learn that true democracy is more about responsibility than rights, and to recognise their shared accountability in the decisions they make.

It is a central value of Hilden Oaks that all pupils are equally valued, equally important and are offered equal opportunity. All children learn that they have a shared responsibility for each other’s experience of school life and that each has an equal right to participate in all aspects of school life at the level appropriate to their age, experience and ability. This is reinforced through the moral teaching of the school and our behaviour management processes. Our differentiated and individualised teaching practices ensure that every child has access to the curriculum and an equal opportunity to fulfil their potential.

 All pupils at Hilden Oaks learn that the value of consideration enables each child to voice their opinions, share their talents and to feel recognised and valued for who they are. Children know that they are expected to demonstrate and experience this value in their day to day interactions with each other and the wider community.

The ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes is the hallmark of emotional intelligence. In the curriculum, children are introduced to this concept through their study of characters in literature, history and current affairs. They experience it first hand in the behaviour of staff and are constantly encouraged to demonstrate it in their interpersonal relationships with all members of the school community.

The value of modesty is highly prized at Hilden Oaks. Children quickly learn to generously celebrate and enjoy the achievements of others and to appreciate praise and congratulations for their successes graciously and modestly. The support, encouragement and appreciation of each other is a hallmark of the Hilden Oaks community.

Children at Hilden Oaks learn that gratitude goes a long way beyond good manners, important though those are. They come to understand that they have much to be grateful for, through thinking about others who are less fortunate in their study of current affairs, through charitable activities, fundraising throughout the school year and through the mindfulness curriculum.

The mindfulness curriculum also encourages pupils to reflect on how they respond in a variety of situations, in both school and home life, and to explore alternative strategies that might serve them well. Self-control is a value that enables children to stop, reflect and chose a considered response to events, enabling them to put both triumph and failure into an appropriate perspective and master their own behaviour. There is a Latin Proverb that says: “It is absurd that a man should rule others who cannot rule himself.” Self-control is the seed from which leadership grows and flourishes.

At Hilden Oaks we actively look for opportunities to boost pupils’ confidence. We want children leaving Hilden Oaks to be confident in their own abilities and in their potential to achieve anything they put their minds to. We do this by providing numerous opportunities for all pupils to showcase their talents, encouraging them to voice their thoughts and opinions, and by celebrating their successes.

Children learn that courage comes in many forms; from performing in school concerts or productions, owning up to something they may have done wrong or tackling something they find particularly challenging. Demonstrations of courage, great and small, are recognised and celebrated by the whole school.

The value of patience allows us to experience the inevitable frustrations of life without letting them impact negatively on our well-being. It is an essential skill in living as part of a community and the children are encouraged to consider it as part of our mindfulness curriculum, which focuses pupils on the benefits of living in the moment and helps them to develop relaxation techniques.

Children at Hilden Oaks learn that their path through life will not always be smooth, that they will inevitably encounter occasional set-backs and disappointments. They also learn that it is their choice whether these become stumbling blocks or stepping stones to eventual success. The person who never makes a mistake, makes nothing.

The ability to stick to a task, to ‘keep on keeping on’, is a vital element of daily school life. Children at Hilden Oaks are constantly challenged to stretch themselves to try new things and set themselves new targets. The value of perseverance is taught, to instil the understanding that occasional failure is an integral part of learning and growing and that two steps forward and one backwards is still one step forward!

Children are introduced to the value of responsibility in a variety of ways throughout their school life. As they progress through school they assume increasing responsibility for managing their own work through homework books and self-directed learning, by taking responsibility for small tasks and duties, through the buddy system, which pairs up new pupils with current pupils and, in year six, through the monitor system and by the election of a Head Boy and Head Girl.

At Hilden Oaks, integrity is constantly reinforced as a core value. The children are helped to understand that integrity means using all their Values to do the right thing, even when nobody will notice except themselves. Children are challenged to self-evaluate, to recognise their own accountability, and to understand the fundamental truth that dishonesty can only make a situation worse. They learn that integrity goes beyond honesty, in that it demands that they are true to themselves and their beliefs.

As another core value of the school, trust, hand in hand with honesty and responsibility, is reinforced throughout the school. The introduction of group work, team sports and ensemble performance in music and school productions, teaches mutual trust and interdependence. Residential trips and team building days also offer opportunities for children to explore concepts of self-reliance and trust in non-school based activities.

The value of respect is reinforced by the high standards we set for all members of our community in our behaviour to each other, the courtesy we extend to visitors and the way in which we interact with our community. Pupils know that they are expected to behave respectfully to each other in both social interactions and in peer evaluation of each other’s work. Pupils show respect to staff and visitors and they know that they are expected to show respect to the school premises, property and environment. Furthermore they are taught the value of self-respect through their attitude to their work, their appearance and attitude to their learning. 

At Hilden Oaks we are an inclusive community which embraces pupils from a variety of cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds, and with a range of abilities. We place high importance on the acknowledgement and celebration of diversity in all its forms. This is communicated overtly through the PSHEE curriculum and assemblies, by encouraging parents and children from all traditions to share insights into their beliefs and cultural backgrounds, and by inference through the behaviours, attitudes and inclusivity of staff and the whole school community.

Children at Hilden Oaks are taught that our differences are a gift that enrich the whole school community. They are encouraged to recognise and celebrate those differences, whatever form they take, and to value the unique contribution that each individual makes to the life of the school.

The values are integral to everyday life at Hilden Oaks, supporting social interaction and creating an enhanced learning environment for both pupils and staff.