British Values
British Values at Church St Nicholas C of E Primary School
‘Pupils at St Nicholas CE Primary School are accepted and loved. They understand their worth and potential as life-long learners and as a child of God.
‘Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.’ Proverbs 22:6’
We are a Church of England School and the Christian values are at the heart of everything that we do and believe in. Children are immersed in a set of values for life and are the best ambassadors at showing our values in action.
At Church St Nicholas C of E Primary School we also 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), and Religious Education (RE). Whole school worship assemblies are based around a value each half term and explored through a range of different experiences such as Bible stories, stories from other cultures and reflection questions. 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 daily assemblies 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. All staff carry out annual Prevent training and resources are used in the classroom to look at issues such as stereotyping people by their colour and sex.
At Church St Nicholas C of E 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 Parliament are based on pupil votes. The children have worked together and agreed two sets of codes which we at St Nicholas CE Primary School actively work and live by; these are our ‘Class Charters’. These charters are available in each classroom and actively used by children and adults influencing what is an agreed acceptable behaviour.
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 ‘Class Dojo System’ for behaviour is aligned to an agreed set of codes (class charter) and if children are given verbal warnings this is always set against the agreed school behaviour code. Children are asked to identify which aspect of the code they have broken to ensure that this connection is made and understood. Certificates have been introduced to reward children for 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 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 becoming increasingly more involved in child–led learning, e.g. and planning and delivering child led assemblies and evaluating assemblies, influencing how adults deliver content in future assemblies.
Mutual Respect
Part of our school ethos and behaviour policy are based around core Christian values such as ‘respect’ and ‘love’ and these values determine how we live as a community at Church St Nicholas C of E Primary School. Assemblies are based on ‘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 highly visible around the school and can be seen in every classroom.
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 are very proud to be linked to The Bethany Project in Tanzania. Linked projects encourage children to consider similarities and differences between our two schools. Our last SIAMS report stated: ‘They have a keen sense of stewardship for their school, their community and the world beyond. The strong links with the Bethany Project from Tanzania ensures that pupils appreciate Christianity as an international and culturally diverse faith.’ We also use opportunities such as the Olympics and World Cup to study and learn about life and culture in countries such as Brazil.
