Mission, values and drivers

Mission

To ensure that, regardless of background or barriers, all students have access to a country leading educational experience.

Values

At Dixons Sixth Form, South Manchester, we have three values that underpin the way we work together in and outside of the classroom. Our three values, integrity, curiosity and respect are at the core of what we do and we work together to live our values in our behaviours, communication and relationships.

Integrity: The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.
As individuals we are honest and fair. Individually and collectively, we acknowledge where we are in order to learn and grow. We communicate honestly with others because we value people, and our honesty builds strong, trusting relationships. We choose to do the right thing in order to uphold justice and fairness.

Curiosity: The desire to learn, to explore and explain the world we live in.
We believe everyone has a natural curiosity and we work to encourage this in our approach to academic learning and also when learning about ourselves and others in and beyond our college community.

Respect: We forge a community of student, staff and wider stakeholders that demonstrates genuine respect for all.
We seek to move beyond tolerance as we build a community that understands difference. We value and celebrate each other and continually challenge ourselves and the views we hold and we grow closer together as one cohesive community.

Drivers 

Self-determination theory explains that all humans have a natural desire to learn and develop and that we are powerfully motivated by intrinsic factors. Theorists such as Deci and Ryan developed the theory further suggesting there are three universal and innate needs that must be fulfilled in order to achieve a sense of well-being and motivation: 

More recently the work of Daniel Pink in the book Drive described these three needs as drivers and listed them as mastery, autonomy and purpose.

Mastery: is the urge to get better at things that matter

Autonomy: is the drive to direct our own lives

Purpose: is the drive to connect to a cause larger than ourselves