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Original poster

Does your school live upto it's moto?

28 replies

3asAbird · 12/12/2015 13:59

Does your school primary or seniors live upto it's moto?

My daughters c of e infants has a moto of 3 words it's failed to live up to this month with recent actions.

With many schools run as academies/ business models I see so many glossy prospectus with its moto or mission statement.

Some over the years of 3 children have been a bit washy small hands big world perhaps the weirdest.

Are these buzz words important and underpin everything the school does or are they just there make school look good as one of the words is caring I mean shouldn't every school be caring?

OP posts:
YeOldeTrout · 12/12/2015 15:03

"cares" is in our primary school motto... makes me laugh, too.

Sadik · 12/12/2015 17:11

DD's is roughly 'work wins all' - fair enough, the pupils that work hard on the whole do well . . .

Going back a long way, my secondary school's motto was 'members one of another' (from St Paul) - again I'd say it was reasonably well stuck to, they were very strong on emphasising that everyone has their talents and that society needs everyone's input to succeed.

eddiemairswife · 13/12/2015 10:29

Mine was 'Mind Measures Man'. It was a girls' school!

crazycatguy · 15/12/2015 17:46

All schools now must have 'vision' and a catchy model. A backbench MP once told me (of people), if they tell you they have vision, they don't actually KNOW anything. I largely hold this to be true.

My school motto was 'Reach For The Stars' (albeit in Latin). At no point was I ever invited to join S Club 7.

roguedad · 21/12/2015 20:54

I did not know what DS's school motto was until this thread provoked me to find out. It's Misericordias domini in aeternum cantabo - "I will sing of the Lord's mercy forever". OK, so they do a great deal of singing, but it's usually about, er, other stuff. Fortunately.

DD's school has a motto which is Inopiam Ingenio Pensant. I am not sure what the official translation is but Google Latin to English just spewed out "Lack of wit". Hmmm. Anybody with proper Latin here who can tell me what it really means?

Antimobiles · 25/12/2015 15:21

Eddie 'Man' depending on how it's used can represent both male and female, as in the example you gave. 'Mankind'.

Antimobiles · 25/12/2015 15:22

Ignore the 'mankind' bit. Typo.

senua · 27/12/2015 18:45

Inopiam Ingenio Pensant

Arf @ "lack of wit".
It appears to come from Saxo Grammaticus, a twelfth century Danish historian, talking of Icelanders. It translates as "they compensate for poverty by ingeniousness".

thelaundryfairy · 28/12/2015 01:19

The school I went to had the motto (in Latin), "the father is the glory of the son." I´m female.

My prep school´s was "Reliable, Respectful, Resolute" and I still remember it regularly almost 25 years on. I think they´re great values by which to try and live.

The school I work at has the motto, "Honesty, Faith, Courage", which kind of chokes in my throat given the general level of dishonesty and cowardice that seems to run through the very fabric of the institution on all levels.

TurduckenForDinner · 28/12/2015 01:28

My DC's school doesn't have a motto, but they will go to the same secondary that I went to and the motto there is 'test all things, hold fast that which is true' which has always seemed like quite a good one to me.

AndreaJ1976 · 29/12/2015 00:04

Very much agree with much of this thread, it's not so much about what you promise but far more about what you deliver. Not many senior managers seem to understand that concept. Thelaundryfairy just about sums up the education system as we speak, too many bloody imposters with big ego's, no real love of children or teaching, all looking to make a name for themselves, not the school.
Why don't they just go away and play with some big kids in the city!

roguedad · 29/12/2015 08:55

Thanks senua, though given the fees charged by the school I am wondering how that should be interpreted.

BoboChic · 29/12/2015 12:51

One of the issues with school marketing is that, unlike a lot of consumer choices, undoing your choice of school is really hard.

LBOCS2 · 29/12/2015 12:54

Amor Vincit Omnia; love conquers all, for the girls.

Serve and Obey for the boys.

Nothing like a bit of institutional sexism in this day and age!

thelaundryfairy · 29/12/2015 14:38

LBOCS2 wow! That´s quite remarkable - I wonder why none of the governors, staff, parents or pupils has commented on it. (Or maybe they have?)

LBOCS2 · 29/12/2015 14:42

I think it's because it was originally two schools (run by the same guild but each as single sex) which have since joined up, and they kept the original mottoes.

Lancelottie · 29/12/2015 14:52

We don't seem to have one.

Though possibly it's 'Tuck your shirt in.'

AChickenCalledKorma · 29/12/2015 20:50

My daughter's secondary school has a three word "vision" - and every summer they hold a celebration evening to show all the ways that have aimed to deliver on the three parts of the vision during the academic year. They really do take it seriously and the vision is a very accurate description of the ethos of the school. It's one of the things that has really impressed me about the place.

thelaundryfairy · 29/12/2015 21:15

LBOCS2 That kind of makes sense. Maybe now is the time to ask the students to come up with a new one to unite the two previous schools completely?

Lancelottie Star That´s brilliant! In which case, my school´s is definitely, "BLAZER!" accompanied by an angry pointing motion and a stern eye.

balletgirlmum · 29/12/2015 21:22

My school wasn't push enough to have a motto

Dds school motto is "Where performance matters" & yes, performing is at the centre of everything.

Ds's motto is in Latin & I'm not quite sure what the first part of it actually means. It translates into never not new, strive for the highest. Sounds gobbledegook to me.

Lancelottie · 30/12/2015 11:15

Ooh, a star! Thank you LaundryFairy!

SkibadeeDoodle · 30/12/2015 11:23

Just looked up my DC's school mottos, and my own.

DS's is 'Planting the seeds of success'. He hasn't been to school for a whole term (autism, school anxiety) and they haven't done much to help, so I scoff at that one.

DD's is 'Enjoy, Endeavour, Achieve, Together'

I think that may be grammatically incorrect... .

Just looked at my old school website and apparently it is now a glossy academy with the typical old tripe: 'Learning Together, Achieving Together'
It was a huge, rough, inner London secondary school in my day. We learned little and achieved not very much in those dark old days Grin

MrsLeighHalfpenny · 30/12/2015 11:27

Mine was 'Gorau arf, arf dysg". (The best weapon is the weapon of learning)

AChickenCalledKorma · 30/12/2015 15:16

Our nearest Free School was set up with the fairly blatant aim of providing an alternative to our local (perfectly acceptable) comprehensive.

They have adopted exactly the same motto as the school they are all avoiding.

They have, however, translated it into Latin.

You couldn't make it up!

EssentialHummus · 30/12/2015 15:19

Mine was "Free to Build", and the logo was what looked like a trowel with wings. Confused Pretty accurate though, they let us get on with a wide range of stuff and were really supportive.

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