British Values at Woolston CE
Promoting Fundamental British Values at WCE
In accordance with The Department for Education, we aim to actively promote British values in our school 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 British Values are:
- democracy
- rule of law
- individual liberty
- mutual respect
- tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs
We help children to remember the British Values through the thumb and finger model:
- Thumb – Democracy – up or down to give opinion.
- Index finger – Rule of Law - pointing
- Middle finger – Tolerance of different faiths and beliefs – tallest finger pointing to God.
- Ring Finger – Mutual respect – wedding ring – respect for other people
- Little finger – Individual Liberty – sticks out on its own.
Implementing British Values into our School Family
Rule of law – what do we do?
- Ensure school rules and expectations are clear, consistent and fair;
- Class rules and celebration of adhering to these rules;
- Help pupils to distinguish right from wrong;
- Help pupils to respect the law and the basis on which it is made;
- Help pupils to understand that living under the rule of law protects individuals;
- Explore within our PSHE lessons laws and what to do if peer pressure is trying to persuade children to break these;
- Promote the Rights Respecting School Articles (on policies, around school, in assemblies etc);
- Invite visitors to our school to promote Rules of Law e.g. Magistrate, PCSOs.
Individual liberty – what do we do?
- Support pupils to develop their self-knowledge, self-esteem, self-confidence;
- Encourage pupils to take responsibility for their behaviour, as well as knowing their rights;
- Model freedom of speech through pupil participation, while ensuring protection of vulnerable pupils and promoting critical analysis of evidence
- Challenge stereotypes;
- Implement a strong anti-bullying culture;
- E-Safety units of work are taught throughout school and parents and staff receive training on these.
Mutual Respect and tolerance of different cultures and religions– what do we do?
- Mutual respect is at the core of our school life;
- Pupils are supported in the understanding that we are all God's children and are made in His image and likeness, all of equal value;
- The children learn to treat each other and staff with great respect. This is evident when walking around the school and in the classrooms;
- Explore positive role models (where possible) through our curriculum, who reflect the protected characteristics of the 2010 Equality Act;
- Challenge prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour;
- Organise visits to places of worship and ask our own children and parents to talk about their faith to others;
- Year groups perform a celebration assembly for Christmas, Easter, …
- Help pupils to acquire an understanding of, and respect for, their own and other cultures and ways of life; Through Equality and Diversity as an integral part of PSHE, E-Safety Days and Anti- Bullying week, the children are taught to value differences in themselves and others and most importantly to show respect to all;
- Staff and pupils are encouraged to challenge prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour.
- Links and visits are promoted with local faith communities and places of worship;
- Through the PSHE and RE curriculums pupils are encouraged to discuss and respect differences between people, such as differences of faith, ethnicity, disability, gender or sexuality and differences of family situations;
- Take part in Go Green Day – promoting respect for the environment we live in.
- Collective Worship and discussions involving prejudices and prejudiced-based bullying have been followed and supported by learning in Religious Education (RE) and PSHE.
Democracy- What do we do?
- Pupil voice is significant at Woolston CE Primary School;
- Our pupil elected school council plays a strong role in our school. They are elected by their class peers and are involved in making the school a better place to learn;
- Additionally, House Captains are elected each year by the whole school in a democratic election process;
- We know that the formation of the school council and the active participation of our pupils will sow the seeds for a more sophisticated understanding of democracy in the future;
- Children were asked to come up with new key figures to represent our houses. These ideas were then chosen carefully by our school council. The 4 figures chosen represent a diverse selection of society and our Christian values.