SMSC
SMSC stands for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils.
The Citizenship Foundation defines spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils in relation to pupils’ ability and willingness to do the following:
- Spiritual: Explore beliefs and experience; respect values; discover oneself and the surrounding world; use imagination and creativity; reflect.
- Moral: Recognise right and wrong; understand consequences; investigate moral and ethical issues; offer reasoned views.
- Social: Use social skills in different contexts; work well with others; resolve conflicts; understand how communities work.
- Cultural: Appreciate cultural influences; participate in culture opportunities; understand, accept, respect and celebrate diversity.
How do we promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of our pupils?
At Morley Victoria, teachers promote SMSC in lots of different ways. Obvious ways are in Religious Education lessons and assemblies, but SMSC can be developed in all subjects and lots of aspects of school life. These could include:
- English, where children will read a range of different fiction books set in different countries and cultures.
- Maths, where children might look at Islamic art when learning about shape and symmetry.
- Science, where values and morals are considered, such as when teaching about evolution in Year 6.
- Relationships and Sex Education, where we make sure we talk about different attitudes and beliefs held by different faith groups and individuals
- Weekly PSHE sessions, where we promote the social and emotional aspects of learning.
- Character Education, which is weaved through our curriculum.
- Theme weeks or days in school.
SMSC development is also the golden thread that runs throughout our curriculum, it is embedded into our ethos and can be sensed in our day-to-day practices and in many of our policies and procedures. A key part of the social development of pupils is their acceptance and engagement with British Values.
*Please see each curriculum area for how each leader has weaved SMSC through their subject*
Statutory context of SMSC for schools
We value SMSC as a way to enrich our children’s experiences and their outcomes. When we were last inspected, Ofsted judged the extent of our pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development to be outstanding along with all other aspects of the PSHE curriculum.
Our current curriculum is split into different sections and an equal weighting is given to our children’s PSHE skills. We aim to send our children off to the next stage of their education as happy and well-rounded individuals.
