Culture in any organisation can be defined as “the way we do things around here.” In 2023, we embarked on a project as a school to define what that means for us here at the Dixie. We see our school community as encompassing not just pupils and teaching staff, but support staff, catering & facilities teams, finance, Governors and parents and it was important that everyone had their say. Surveys were completed during the Autumn Term and the work then began to take that feedback and use it to define our aims and values. At the end of the process, we define our main aim as “fulfilling potential through aspiration and integrity” and we talk in school about pursuing success through challenge, consistency & high expectations. Underpinning that aim are our core values of respect, resilience, courage, commitment and care and it is these values that are forming the basis of many of our conversations in school this year. We have devised a document that puts more detail behind each of these and is our attempt to define what each value looks like in practice. This is displayed in all classrooms, is printed in the student planner and is reproduced below as well. Through conversations at school and at home, as well as through assemblies, form time activities, PSD lessons and a wide range of other activities, we hope to embed these in all aspects of school life and we hope that you will join us in trying to put these core values at the heart of all we do as a school.