British Values at King Edward Primary School

At King Edward Primary School we uphold and teach pupils about the British Values which are defined as:

• Democracy
• Rule of law
• Individual liberty
• Mutual respect
• Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

These values are taught explicitly through Personal, Social, Health and Emotional (PSHE), Spiritual, Moral, Social & Cultural Education (SMSC) and Religious Education (RE).  We also teach the British Values through planning and delivering a broad and balanced curriculum.

The school takes opportunities to actively promote British Values through our assemblies/collective acts of worship and whole school systems and structures such as electing and running a successful School Council. We also actively promote the British Values through ensuring that our curriculum planning and delivery includes real opportunities for exploring these values. Actively promoting British Values also means challenging pupils, staff or parents expressing opinions contrary to fundamental British Values, including ‘extremist’ views.

At King Edward Primary School, these values are reinforced regularly and in the following ways:

Democracy

Democracy is an important value at our school. Pupils have the opportunity to have their voices heard through our School Council. The elections of members of the School Council and House Captains are based on pupil votes. The Head Teacher and the Care Guidance and Support Leader awarded individual children (or classes) who show they are modelling the values of respect, responsibility, resilience, kindness and care.  Our children on the school council together review, amend and agree our discipline and behaviour policy and school rules on an annual basis.  This results in our school code which we actively work and live by.  These rules along with our agreed behaviour ladder are actively used by children and adults, influencing what is an agreed acceptable behaviour.

The Rule of Law

The importance of laws and rules, whether they are those that govern the class, the school or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout regular school days. Our system for behaviour management is aligned to an agreed set of rules (see above) and if children are given verbal warnings this is always set against the agreed school behaviour rules. Children are made clear about which rules they have broken and are reminded about the impact of this on our children in school.  They are reminded about how their behaviour has impacted on  themselves and others being happy, cared for and being able to achieve, this ensure that a connection is made and understood between behaviour and our school mission. House Points, our golden awards and Friday afternoon class biscuit time celebrates and rewards children for always following the school expectations and living their life by the chosen set of rules. 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. Visits from authorities such as the police, fire service, lifeguards etc. are regular parts of our calendar and help reinforce this message.

Individual Liberty

Pupils are actively encouraged to make choices at our school, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. As a school we provide boundaries for our children to make choices safely, through the provision of a safe environment and planned curriculum. 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 teaching and PSHE lessons. Pupils are given the freedom to make choices, e.g. signing up for extra-curricular clubs, choose the level of challenge in some lessons and are expected to develop their ‘learning power’ through taking active responsibility for their own learning.  Our children have the opportunity to plan and deliver through events like our Harvest assembly and also through running clubs and supporting others.

Mutual Respect

Part of our school ethos and behaviour policy are based around core Christian values such as ‘respect’ and ‘responsibility’ and these values determine how we live as a community at King Edward Primary School. Assemblies are based on SEAL/SuccessThemes and Values for Life’ and are central to how we expect everyone to go about their life at our school. Children and adults alike, including visitors, are challenged if they are disrespectful in any way. Values are visible around the school and can be seen in posters and are celebrated through certificates.

Tolerance of Those of Different Faiths and Beliefs

This is achieved through enhancing pupils’ understanding of their place in a culturally diverse society and by giving them opportunities to experience such diversity in our local community which is by large white British. Assemblies and discussions involving prejudices and prejudice-based bullying have been followed and supported by learning in RE and PSHE. We celebrate culture days, international children’s day, LGBT day, Down’s syndrome awareness day as a whole school, encouraging children to research and discover differences and similarities between ourselves and others. Likewise we use opportunities such as the Olympics and World Cup to study and learn about life and culture in countries such as Brazil .