British Values
British Values
In support of the Department for Education (DofE) document: Promoting fundamental British values as part of SMSC in schools, Departmental advice for maintained schools, November 2014.
At Spring Lane Primary School, we value the diversity of the backgrounds of all pupils, families and the wider school community and strongly believe in upholding British values through all aspects of our school provision, alongside our school values of respect, integrity and resilience.
The DofE states that there is a need:
“To create and enforce a clear and rigorous expectation on all schools to 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”.
Our school reflects British values in all that we do.
We aim to nurture our children on their journey through life so they can grow into safe, caring, democratic, responsible and tolerant adults who make a positive difference to British society and to the world and the wider world."
We believe these values will help our
children become 21st Century Learners.
What is meant by British values?
Learning about British values forms a key part of children’s spiritual, moral, cultural and social education. The five British values that the Government has identified for schools to focus on are:
- Democracy
- The rule of law
- Individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs
- Developing personal and social responsibility
- Respect for British Institutions
How should we help our children prepare for adult life as citizens of Britain?
- Develop their self-confidence and self-esteem.
- Develop their understanding of right and wrong, and their respect for the law.
- Encourage them to take responsibility for their behaviour.
- Encourage involvement in the community and wider society.
- Encourage respect for the public services and institutions of Britain.
- Promote tolerance of and respect for all cultures and faiths.
- Encourage participation in the democratic process.
How does Spring Lane Primary School develop children’s understanding of British values?
We uphold the British value of Democracy by;
- facilitating a democratic process for electing pupil leadership roles, including Pupil Parliament and the running of the parliament.
- teaching about the democratic process in Britain. We teach about democracy through class debates, for example children argue, persuade and justify for and against all subject areas
- taking turns in class, at lunch and break time and in after school clubs.
We uphold the British value of the Rule of Law by
- teaching children an understanding of human rights, including the UNICEF rights of the child.
- implementing our class rules and school values which have clear and agreed statements, and ensuring that the children know their own right and respect the rights of others.
- teaching children to learn about the process of law-making and the part that citizens can play in that process.
- implementing our procedures and protocols for dealing with any behavioural or bullying issues and the very rare incidents of racial, homophobic and other forms of discrimination, which demonstrates to pupils that we take these issues very seriously, mirroring the attitudes of British society.
We uphold the British value of individual liberty and work to identify and combat discrimination by
- teaching an understanding of the concept of freedom and choice as part of everyday learning opportunities and in our PSHE curriculum.
- teaching our RE curriculum, which teaches understanding, tolerance and respect for others, including those of other faiths.
- hold and respect celebrations from cultures around the world, for example Diwali, Chinese New Year, Eid
- teaching children an understanding of human rights through assemblies and class lessons.
- providing our extra-curricular provision, which offers equal opportunities for all children, boys and girls, and children with Special Educational Needs in sport and other areas.
- holding discussions in RE, English and other subjects, which allow children to develop respect for the opinions, values and beliefs of others.
We uphold the British value of tolerance
- expecting children to demonstrate respect in many ways in school, towards themselves, each other and their environment.
- encouraging children to respect their own possessions, show respectful behaviour and attitudes, both at school and at home and to always do their personal best in all aspects of school life, living by our school values.
- running workshops for parents to help them to support their children to be respectful and tolerant citizens, for example our behaviour parent session, online safety, PSHRE parent session.
- reinforcing the Campfire Academy message of ‘stronger together’ and educating our children to appreciate it is our differences that bring our community together.
We uphold the British value of respect for British Institutions by:
- celebrating many British festivals and special events, e.g. Remembrance Day, November 5th, Christmas, Easter, World Book Day, Children in Need, Red-nose day etc.
- regularly inviting representatives from various groups, such as Police, charities, care home and the local church to visit our school and talk to the children in both lessons and assemblies.
- keeping children informed of major and minor events which can be discussed.
- providing extra-curricular opportunities that build a culture of respect in the school community, such as sports clubs, games clubs, nurture clubs and playing/reading alongside others in our reading cafe.
- Building a curriculum with collaborative learning opportunities that develop respect between peers.
