British Values
The DfE have identified that all schools should promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of children, whilst also actively promoting British Values. The DfE state that: “Schools should promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. This can help schools to demonstrate how they are meeting the requirements of section 78 of the Education Act 2002, in their provision of SMSC” (From the DfE document, ‘Promoting fundamental British values as part of SMSC in schools’, November 2014).
Mutual Respect
Mutual respect is the acceptance of others with consideration of their feelings, wishes and rights.
Mutual respect is linked to our school value of respect: we all ensure we respect everyone and everything around us.
Mutual respect is at the heart of our values. Children learn that their behaviours have an effect on their own rights and those of others. All members of the school community treat each other with respect. We continually reinforce the importance of respect whilst understanding what it means and why we must show it. We incorporate the importance of respect into everything we do.
Democracy
Democracy is where decision-making occurs through a democratic process: where there are elections and voices are heard through a chosen person.
Democracy is linked to our school value of honesty: the children’s voices and honest thoughts are heard through the elected school council.
Children have many opportunities for their voices to be heard. We have an elected school council which meets regularly to discuss issues raised in class council meetings. The children’s voices are heard through questionnaires which are organised and carried out by the school council so that every child’s voice is heard.
Each year the children decide upon their class charter. All the children contribute to the drawing up of the charter. Pupils are always listened to by adults and are taught to listen carefully and with concern to each other, respecting the right of every individual to have their opinions and voices heard.
During our British Values theme week, we will be electing house captains in a democratic election. Those who wish to be elected as house captains will have to plan a speech and then make this assembly so that all children are involved in the democratic process. Then using ballot boxes and voting booths, we will elect our house captains.
Rule of Law
Rule of law is where everyone is accountable to the law which is essential for everyone’s wellbeing and safety.
Rule of law is linked to our school value of responsibility: we all take responsibility for our actions.
The importance of Laws, whether they be those that govern the class, the school, or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout regular school days, as well as when dealing with behaviour and through school assemblies. Pupils are taught the value and reasons behind laws: that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken. All of the children are involved in writing their class charter. The children then take responsibility for following this. We encourage pupils to take ownership of not only their school but also of their own learning and progress. This encourages a heightened sense of both personal and social responsibility and is demonstrated on a daily basis. Visits from authorities such as the Police and Fire Service help reinforce this message.
During our British Values theme week, we will have a mock court case where children will understand what laws mean within society and how crucial it is in our everyday lives. We are also hoping to have some visitors from the court and those whose work relates to the rule of law.
Individual Liberty
Individual liberty involves having independence and making our own choices.
Individual liberty is linked to our school value of co-operation: we all make our own choices in the school environment, whilst also considering others.
Within school, pupils are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. As a school we educate and provide boundaries for pupils to make choices safely, through provision of a safe environment and empowering education. Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are advised how to exercise these safely, for example through our E-Safety and SEAL lessons. Through the provision of a safe, supportive environment and empowering education, we provide boundaries for our pupils to make choices about: learning challenges; participation in our numerous extra-curricular clubs and opportunities; choice of enrichment time activities; or design of working walls, pupils are given the freedom to make choices.
Alongside rules and laws, we promote freedom of choice and the right to respectfully express views and beliefs. Our pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are taught how to exercise these safely.
Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs
Tolerance is the prevention of discrimination through an understanding and acceptance of the different faiths and beliefs
Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs is linked to our school value of tolerance: we all show tolerance towards each other in our diverse society.
We place a great emphasis on promoting diversity with the children. Assemblies and lessons are regularly planned to address this issue either directly or through the inclusion of stories and celebrations from a variety of faiths and cultures. Our RE reinforces this as we learn about different faiths and beliefs and the meanings of these.
In our British Values theme week we will understand this further: each year group will explore a country from a different continent and learn about: the religion, faiths, beliefs, commonwealth links, state visits to the country, state visits from the country and royal links.
Being British
We value and celebrate being part of Britain. We recognise, value and celebrate international and British events throughout the year. These are wide ranging and include Harvest Festival, Remembrance Day, a Christmas Carol Concert, the Nativity, Easter celebrations, Mothering Sunday and Trooping the Colour. We also explore different faiths and beliefs and compare this to being British. This ensures we can develop spiritually and deepen our understanding of the world we live in.
To develop our understanding of British Values, we took part in a very exciting theme week. During this week we explored British Values, with continuous links to spiritual, moral, social and cultural education. We link mutual respect into everything we do, as we do during all lessons. We spent a day exploring democracy: we learnt what democracy is, elected house captains and understood how the Queen oversees Parliament.
We then moved to rule of law. The children learnt about what laws are and how the courts work. They also gained an understanding of the role of the law in society and our everyday lives through a mock court case and visit from the Magistrate’s Court and Local Police Team. We explored what individual liberty means and how it is important that we demonstrate the rule of law whilst making our own choices. The children worked within their classes to discuss their learning environment.
We have also been lucky enough to visit the Houses of Parliament! We were able to go into the House of Commons, meet our local MP Dr Sarah Wollaston and develop our understanding of the role of Parliament. We have also been to see Buckingham Palace to recognise the importance of this, whilst also seeing other significant British locations in London.
We also spend time promoting tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. The children, working in their year groups will focus on one country. They will investigate and learn about the religion, faiths, beliefs, commonwealth links, state visits to the country, state visits from the country and any royal links.
We recognise the importance of Celebrating Diversity and we spend a great amount of time developing our understanding of the differences we all have. This also helps us to realise how we are all special. We also spend time exploring our dreams, ambitions, personal life goals and professional life goals.
