British Values

The Department for Education are clear that:

“Keeping our children safe and ensuring schools prepare them for life in modern Britain could not be more important. This change is an important step towards ensuring we have a strong legal basis for intervening in those schools where this is an issue. The vast majority of schools already promote British values. This is about making sure we have the tools we need to intervene if children are being let down.”

British values are fundamental to British society and promoting cohesion and integration. The promotion of these values also seen helps us to protect children from extremist ideologies and to help prepare them for life in modern Britain.

The fundamental British values are:

Democracy: making decisions together, for example giving opportunities to develop enquiring minds in an atmosphere where questions are valued.

Rule of law: understanding rules matter as in Personal Social and Emotional development for example collaborating with children to create rules and codes of behaviour.

Individual liberty: freedom for all, for example reflecting on their differences and understanding we are free to have different opinions.

Mutual respect and tolerance: treat others as you want to be treated, for example sharing and respecting others’ opinions.

Overall, promoting British values is about helping our pupils develop a sense of identity, become responsible citizens, and understand the importance of living in a diverse and tolerant society.

We actively promote values, virtues and ethics that shape our pupils' character and moral perspective, through our ethos, curriculum, and the example all adults set. At Mendip Green Primary School, learning about British values is an integral part of school life and these values are woven into the school day in a wide variety of ways.

School culture

• The ethos of the school and our high expectations for how all stake holders conduct themselves at school and within the community is built around our core values - We embrace individuality; We do the right thing; We work together. These are underpinned by the principles of British Values.
• We are confident that our continued focus on the school’s values will give our pupils the necessary awareness of what it means to be a good citizen in Britain today, and embed in them the building blocks of a future successful and productive life.
• We have a fair behaviour policy that is consistently implemented across the school. We do not apologise for having incredibly high expectations of our children – we want every child at Mendip Green to be proud of their school, be a positive role model and act with integrity and honesty at all times.
• 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 through our behaviour policy and school assemblies.
• Children learn that their behaviours have an effect on their own rights and those of others and that their actions have consequences.
• We encourage pupil voice through school councils and committees: school council, Eco Council and Online Safety Committee.
• Mendip Green is situated in an area which is not greatly culturally diverse; therefore we place a great emphasis on promoting diversity with the children. We value the diverse ethnic backgrounds of all people and undertake a variety of events and lessons to celebrate these. We have found this approach to be enriching for all parties as it teaches tolerance and respect for the differences in our community and the wider world.

Curriculum

• British values are integrated into subjects like history, religious education and PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education). Through themes in these subjects we are able to make real links between the values of our pupils and the lives of others in their community, country and the world in general. Pupils learn about the strengths and weaknesses of democracy, how laws are made and enforced, and the importance of individual rights. They also learn about different religions and cultures around the world and the similarities and differences between these and their own.
• Our humanities curriculum in Key Stage 2 is incredibly rich and the roots of British Values across time and around the world are unpicked in great detail allowing children to grow a deep understanding and appreciation of the world they live in.
• 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. Enrichment opportunities such as Life Skills in Year 6 and visits from the emergency services, including Police Force, Fire Service and RNLI reinforce these key messages.

School community:

• Each year the children decide upon their class charter and discuss their rights and responsibilities within this.
• Children have many opportunities for their voices to be heard. We have a school council and Eco Council who meet regularly to discuss issues. Both of these councils are democratically elected. We also have an online safety committee.
• School council recommends areas for development to the Headteacher. It is able to genuinely effect change within the school. Each council member for each class is voted in by their class. The school also has a Health and Safety Council with two representatives from each class. These children are elected by their classmates and join the Headteacher and Health and Safety governor on walks around the school on a termly basis. We also have an Eco-Council who organize events to raise the profile of green issues around the school.
• 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 young 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 advised how to exercise these safely, for example through our E-Safety and PSHE lessons
• Members of different faiths or religions are encouraged to share their knowledge to enhance learning within classes and the school.

Assemblies:

• Assemblies can be a platform to discuss British values and explore real-life situations where these values come into play.
• Assemblies are regularly planned to explore the principles of British Values either directly or through the inclusion of stories and celebrations from a variety of faiths and cultures.
• Through assemblies, our committees and councils have opportunities to talk to the children across the school to share ideas, announce important events and projects or raise awareness of important issues.

Our aim, in all that we do, is to ensure that when our children leave Mendip Green they have all the values, skills and knowledge they need to make a positive contribution to their family, community and wider world. By embodying our school values and British values, as they grow, children will:

• understand their own and other’s cultures and traditions
• understand their British heritage and how other’s cultures and traditions may be similar or different
• have a strong sense of their own place in the world
• be well-prepared for life and work when they leave education
• be able to work cooperatively with others
• act with respect and integrity
• appreciate the benefits of diversity and importance of inclusivity
• challenge injustice, recognising their rights and the rights of others as well as the responsibilities associated with this
• strive to live peacefully with others
• do their bit to sustain and protect the environment both locally and globally
• take account of the needs of present and future generations in the choices they make can change things for the better