Act Responsibly and Respectfully
In line with the Gospel values central to the Christian Faith and our calling to "love one another" (John 15v17), we believe that everyone in our school should behave in a responsible and respectful manner with each other, with the school and as part of the wider community.
We model these Christian values to students in the way the school is run by being a responsible employer and consumer as well as being clear about how we support our local and global community.
Students participate in various community programmes and charity work to achieve these goals.
Support all students to achieve their greatest academic potential
Becket Keys is committed to the highest possible academic standards through the delivery of a broad and balanced curriculum. We value and support the achievements and aspirations of every student, whatever their starting point, ability and potential. This is key to our ambition to "bear fruit" (John 15v16)
Importantly, we strive to see all our students excel in the core curriculum and Ebacc subjects. To this end we have identified that for students to excel in a modern foreign language they need to have 4 lessons per week and 4 hours of homework right from the start of Year 7. This intensive approach is seeing great success in students mastering the two languages that we teach: Mandarin and Spanish.
Aim high in life and learning
We know how important it is for our students to thrive in all kinds of ways beyond academic achievement and to "live life in all its fullness" (John 10v10).
Our school focuses on more than just exam results, encouraging self-esteem and respect for others, independence and responsibility, creative thinking and innovation, problem-solving and a passionate interest in the world.
These things are demonstrated through our rich extra curricular offer and through things like our annual Festival of the Arts which links to our Patronal Festival each summer.
Four strategic filters
Our distinctive school uses four strategies to deliver on our ambitions:
- A Church of England School - families specifically choose our school for its Christian ethos. Our motto is 'Faith in Learning' because we have faith in learning but also because we bring faith into learning. Our school fulfils what former Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie said we should do: "Nourish those of faith, Encourage those of other faiths, Challenge those who have no faith."
- An independent school feel - our aim is to provide an education that is so close to that achieved in the private sector that families cannot believe that they do not have to pay for it! Our aspirations are extremely high for our students and this means we expect a great deal from parents, teachers and students who choose our school!
- An expert trust involved - we are proud and blessed to be part of the Russell Education Trust which is one of the highest performing trusts in the country. Their input and collaboration ensures the best standards at all times.
- Where every student is known by name - our ambition is for every teacher to know every single student in the school by name. This 'family feel' makes our school a very special place to be. Our Head Teacher leads by example and strives to know every single student and greet every single one by name every day.
Encourage parental engagement
Many local parents are very engaged with their children's primary school, both educationally and socially. We know that schools can provide valuable social networks for families in our community, and we encourage continuation of that close involvement at secondary level.
Our two founders were both primary school head teachers and they wanted to bring the ethos of primary parental engagement to the secondary school environment.
Encouraging parental volunteers and an active PTA are just two ways that we do this. We have benefited from parents active support right from the start when the school was proposed. Now with nearly 800 applications for our 150 places each year, we are in a place where every parent specifically chooses Becket Keys.
No one is here by accident. We have no catchment area so everyone here has specifically chosen to be here. The buy in that comes from this makes a tangible difference to our school.