Sutton Public School NSW: The 'Fair Dinkum' Values Project

For Celebrating Democracy Week, Sutton Public School made an i-movie of the many facets of the 'Fair Dinkum' Values Project. This project grew out of the schools ongoing involvement in the Discovering Democracy programme.

By Ray Claydon, Principal

Summary of Project

Our i-movie of the Sutton Public School's 'Fair Dinkum' Values Project was screened at a community assembly on 22 October 2004 with 200 people present.

Included in the movie was:

  1. A collage of scenes from our 2003 School Play entitled 'The Royal Quest'. In this play King Boredalot went on a quest to discover what really mattered in life.
  2. An overview of interviews conducted by Year 6 students. Guest speakers visited our school to explain what they valued and to tell a life story that illustrated their values. Speakers included:
    • Mr John Brogden, MLA, leader of the Opposition in NSW
    • Mrs Mabs Hadlow, an 80-year-old local resident who talked about honesty, and her survival of the 1979 bushfires
    • Mr Noel Elliot, who talked about his survival after being shot down over France in WWII. He talked about his gratitude to the French Resistance who saved his life.
  3. Students also received replies to their letters from the Prime Minister Mr John Howard, Peter Cosgrove, Ian Thorpe, Bob Carr, Gabi Hollows, Bishop Allan Fewings, Bob Ross, the Director of Education and more.
  4. We also unveiled our three metre by two metre banner, which states what we believe and stand for. This featured in the movie.
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What we have discovered in our learning journey has and will have a great impact on school direction and policies. We have reviewed our Code Of Behaviour and related this code to our values statement. This statement is proudly displayed in the school hall.

The cost of our celebration includes the purchase of our banner. The movie was produced through donated time by school staff.

Sutton Public School
Values and Code Of Behaviour

We value:
Care, Friendship, Loyalty, Integrity, Responsibility, Honesty, Courage and Respect

To be "Fair Dinkum" about our values we will behave in the following ways:

Our Code of Behaviour

  • Hands Off
  • Speak Politely
  • Be Safe
  • Care for Property
  • Work Well
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