Headteacher’s Assembly: What Does a Sidlesham Learner Look Like?

In this week’s Headteacher’s Assembly, we had a challenge: imagine a brand-new pupil, Sam, had arrived at Sidlesham knowing absolutely nothing about our school. There was just one catch – Sam couldn’t ask anyone what Sidlesham was like; Sam could only watch.

The children became detectives, thinking about the clues Sam would spot around school – in classrooms, corridors, outside and at lunchtime. We explored what someone would actually see when children are living out our school values: persevering when learning gets tricky, having a go when they are unsure, helping somebody who needs it and learning from mistakes.

We then “cracked the Sidlesham code”, linking these everyday behaviours to our three values:

Ambition – I want to learn and improve.
Confidence – I’ll have a go, even when I’m not sure.
Kindness – I care about other people.

We also talked about how our three school rules – Ready, Respectful and Safe – turn those big values into things we can do every single day. Being Ready shows that our learning matters; being Respectful shows that other people matter; and being Safe helps everyone to learn and belong.

The children left with a detective mission for the week: to “catch” someone being a Sidlesham learner. They need to remember who they spotted, what they actually saw them doing, and which value or rule it demonstrated. We’ll be sharing some of their examples in next Monday’s assembly.

Our final thought was a simple one: while we are watching others, somebody might be watching us. What will they notice?

Growing together in ambition, confidence and kindness.