In accordance with The Department for Education we aim to actively promote British values in schools to ensure young people leave school prepared for life in modern Britain. Pupils are encouraged to regard people of all faiths, races and cultures with respect and tolerance and understand that while different people may hold different views about what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, all people living in England are subject to its law.
The Key Values are:
The government set out their definition of the British values in the 2011 Prevent strategy, and they were reinforced in 2014.
At St. Michael's, these values are reflected within our school vision and we reinforce them through the life of our whole school. Our collective worship reinforces these values, as does our broad curriculum. The British values are taught through PSHE, SMSC and RE, and are reinforced through subjects such as History and Geography.
To support the children even further in their understanding of British Values, on Monday 22nd April'24, we collapsed the timetable for the afternoon and - working in mixed age groups - all children participated in a carousel of activities focusing on British Values.
The aim of the afternoon was:
- to highlight / revisit the British Values
- to provide opportunity for pupils to articulate their knowledge and understanding of the British Values
- for children to explore what they do both in and out of school to reinforce their understanding of British values
Democracy - with Mrs Parfitt
Here the children worked as a democratic team to complete a Quiz about Democracy, wherein the pupils voted on which they thought was the correct answer. Then the fun really started: they debated on what they would change about the school if they could vote on it democratically? Would they change (some of) the timings of the school day? Would they change the subjects they learned? Would they change lunchtime activities? Collective Worship? Etc. etc. Again, all decisions were voted on democratically. And in the course of this the children learned about the power of shared decision making.
Rule of Law - with Mr Hirons
Here the children played a simple PE-style game - working as teams to put bean bags in a central hoop - but a game in which the rules kept changing. And changing. Until finally the rules were abandoned altogether. Naturally chaos ensued. And in the process the children learned that "if one person breaks the rules, other people then break the rules and everything goes wrong", "we need laws to live by".
Individual Liberty - with Mrs Legge
Here the children learned that Individual Liberty means that we are free to do things as long as they do not take away someone else’s freedoms or break the rules or laws. To achieve this they were then presented with a series of scenarios, (e.g A boy decides that he wants to play with the bike at nursery, so he takes it away from the girl who is already playing with it; A girl thinks school is really boring so decides not to go anymore; A father is late taking his children to school so decides to drive at 35 mph in a 30mph zone to get there quicker.) where the children discussed which they thought were acceptable expressions of liberty and which were unacceptable in that they take away other people’s freedoms or break the rules. If it was unacceptable, the the children were asked to explain why.
Mutual Respect - with Mrs Bradshaw
The children were shown an image of two children shaking hands before a football match with the words 'Mutual respect'. Two pupils then went to the front and modelled this moment. We built up to it, with the two pupils doing a warm-up and some stretches. Other pupils were encouraged to make suitable crowd noise. We then asked: 'Why do players shake hands before a match?' and established the handshake is a way of showing you intend to play fairly and value your opponents: 'A handshake is a mark of respect. And mutual respect - respect between one another". Then they watched a short video clip about two pupils from another school - Amelie and Shaeya - and what they found out when they asked people in their school community what respect means to them.
British Culture - with Mrs Reindorp
The children worked in small groups to explore "What do you think being British means?", "Are there certain things that make you a British person? Perhaps it's a tradition you follow, the values you have - or maybe it's a British person in history you identify with." The children then brainstormed all the things they think of when we say Britain (eg. food, places, traditions, people, sports, etc.). Here the children learned "what makes living in Britain special and unique".
We uphold the British value of Democracy by:
surveying pupils and parents regularly and the results of those surveys inform aspects of the School Development Plan.
encouraging children to voice their opinions in formal and informal ways. (suggestion boxes, questionnaires)
We uphold the British value of The Rule of Law by:
having clear rules and expectations of behaviour and a Whistle Blowing policy which is adhered to by all pupils, staff and other stakeholders.
teaching includes e-safety, road safety and caring for the environment.
promoting strong attendance and punctuality and all stakeholders are aware of the importance of being at school.
following, respecting and understanding the need for different rules in different situations, i.e. PE lessons, school visits, classrooms and the playground.
celebrating pupils with positive learning behaviours.
arranging visits from emergency services and MPs/councillors, reinforces the rule of law and the reasoning/purpose behind them.
supporting pupils in regulating their own behaviour to make choices for the well-being of themselves and others.
We uphold the British value of Individual Liberty by:
encouraging children to respectfully express their views and beliefs.
providing opportunities and encouraging pupils to take part in a broad range of extra-curricular activities including; sports, drama, dance, art, and reading.
We uphold the British value of Mutual Respect and Tolerance of those with Different Faiths and Beliefs:
We also support pupils to develop Personal and Social Responsibility by:
We also respect British Institutions by:
In all our provision, both academic and otherwise, we endeavour for our school community to develop an understanding of British values and a strong desire to uphold them both now and as future British citizens.