VALUES & ETHOS
"Nurturing potential, encouraging independence"
Mission Statement
Oak Tree School’s mission is to recognise each and every one of our students as individuals, and to nurture their potential, developing the whole child by challenging and supporting them, intellectually, emotionally, socially, and physically.
Schools for the community, schools as a community
Maiden Erlegh Trust aims to build a community of schools in which a community ethos prevails in order to nurture, challenge and celebrate young people. Through our Trust, communities will be sure to have access to distinctive, inclusive and excellent schools for the youngsters, and venues which offer learning and other opportunities to the wider community.
We consider each school to be a working community, led by strong, positive and ethical leaders and enriched by staff, parents and pupils/students from diverse backgrounds, each one contributing an array of different interests and talents. In this context we actively promote mutual respect, equality, an understanding of other cultures, empathy with the wider world and a strong and collaborative work ethic.
Our priorities for each school in our Trust are the education, well-being, happiness and personal development of every pupil/student in our community. Equally important is the professional development, support and encouragement of our talented teaching and support staff and our Local Advisory Board members and Trustees.
Each school which comes into the Trust takes on the goal to be “a school of opportunity, diversity and success for all”. This means that learners of all abilities and from all backgrounds make the most progress possible, gain the best possible qualifications/results and enjoy the challenges of learning at the highest level.
Each school will ensure its pupils/students develop socially and thrive personally as well as academically. We want them to become confident and articulate children and young adults, motivated by a strong sense of personal worth, respect for others and commitment to service to others and hard work. In this way, they will be ready to move positively into the next phase of their education/lives. In order to do that we provide a calm, well ordered, secure and caring community; one which values as much the effort, participation and contribution to the community during their studies, as the end results.
We understand that education does not only happen in classrooms and so the curriculum in each school is designed to provide opportunities to extend learning and personal development. We therefore nurture strong local partnerships to support this aim (eg: with businesses, agencies, parents). In return, we expect students to participate positively in the life and wider work of the school and the community. In this way, they develop the skills they need to become highly effective and positive citizens, employees and employers in an ever changing and complex world.
Vision Statement
Maiden Erlegh Trust Schools will continue to excel at bringing out the best in students of all abilities. To do this we will place students at the heart of what we do and work closely in partnership with parents. We will provide:
- A safe, calm, respectful and happy place to work and learn
- Stimulating and challenging learning for all
- High quality and inspiring teaching
- A rich and relevant curriculum
- Varied and exciting extra-curricular opportunities which allow students to flourish outside the classroom
- High quality and personalised pastoral care
- Strong leaders and staff who serve their schools and communities with courage, wisdom and optimism, and who adhere to the principles of ethical leadership.
We will not be complacent – we will compare our work with that of the best schools in the country and continue to improve.
Oak Tree School aims to:
- Provide a safe environment in which all students are able to express their problems and learn appropriate strategies for dealing with them;
- Meet its statutory obligation of providing a curriculum offer, which reflects that of mainstream education. The delivery will be modified to meet the needs of the individual students. All students have access to external accreditation and exams;
- Operate within a caring and therapeutic ethos, thus developing a feeling of self-worth;
- Treat students as functioning members of the Oak Tree family and will work in partnership with parents/carers in the education of the student;
- Assist students in developing an understanding of society through providing a comprehensive enrichment programme including developing skills for life, employability skills;
- Develop emotionally and socially intelligent young people so as to equip each student with the skills required for success with their transition from Oak Tree School to the world of work or College.