The nine 'Golden Rules'
To help us live out our ethos of Love • Care • Excellence on a daily basis, we have been using for many years our own scheme of nine golden rules, which all children learn from Kindergarten up. They provide a behavioural compass for everyone at the school – during their time at Herne Hill School and beyond.Social and emotional skills
The scheme enables the children to learn nuanced aspects of each golden rule in assemblies, the classroom and other school life opportunities. It includes comprehension and award medallions, a sticker booklet and tokens for collection as well as a special metal coin for our Year 2 leavers as a lasting memento of the social and emotional skills they learned at Herne Hill School.
Our golden songs and friends
Our golden songs and golden friends provide important additional learning tools to help us embed the golden rules in daily school life. You can hear the children singing each golden song, see its lyrics and discover our golden friends and their related stories below.
Helping Jelly
Jelly’s mummy, Peanut Butter, has just had a very big litter of puppies and is very busy and tired all of the time. Jelly is always helping her mummy with the puppies.
Honest Cecile
Cecile doesn’t like to go to her swimming lessons on a Saturday morning because she is a bit scared of swimming. Every Saturday she used to hide in her room, and tell her mummy and daddy that she had a tummy ache. One day she told her daddy that it was really because she was frightened. Because she was honest her daddy was able to help her with her problem.
Gentle Nelson
Nelson has a best friend called Wellington. Wellington is a very bouncy bear who sometimes gets very over-excited, and sometimes gets a bit rough with the other bears. Nelson helps Wellington by showing him how to be very gentle and quiet.
Kind Shabbit
Shabbit has enormous floppy ears so he always notices when people feel sad. He wraps his ears around anyone who is upset and cuddles them until they feel better.
Compromising Snoopy
Snoopy has a best friend, Kipper. Snoopy loves to run in the parks, but Kipper doesn’t; Kipper likes to sit quietly and read. Snoopy thought of the idea that they should go to Dulwich Park together with a picnic blanket and some books so that Kipper can sit in the field whilst Snoopy runs around it.
Sharing Lili
Lili has a friend called Tom. Tom borrows all sorts of things from Lili without asking, but she never gets sad. She always just smiles and says ‘That’s ok Tom, we can share.’ Now Tom is learning to always share with her too.
Listening Pandora
Pandora has beautiful black eyes and ears. She has a tiny mouth, and she doesn’t really ever speak. Even though she doesn’t like to talk to her friends, she notices everything and always listens to what they say. She always knows what to do next.
Striving Roo
Roo is not as good as jumping as the other kangaroos, but she is trying hard to be better. She practises for 10 minutes every day so that she can be the best jumper in the Outback.
Forgiving Algernon
Algernon has 12 naughty little gibbon brothers and sisters who always take his toys, and sometimes break them. He is very good at forgiving them once they have said sorry.
